I have been fishing the Poudre River as much as I can until it just gets too low to fish. Most of the time I was wading in ankle deep water looking for deep holes that hopefully would hold a fish.
I was using an Alexandra, and searching for fish was tough. Last week it was tough as well but I managed to get seven nice fish to the net, saw two herds of Rocky Mountain sheep, a huge bald eagle flying 20 feet over me going down river looking for food, and then had a cow moose come out of the bushes and all it did was look at me looking at it and she just went on her way, no hurry at all. All that in my book is a 100% fantastic day of fishing.
But today, not the case. I struggled. I couldn't find a fish anywhere in any hole or deep run that I know that usually holds a fish. The riffles were not producing at all either. I then went to a rock that's the size of a VW bug and it has a nice deep run right along side of it. This spot usually holds one big fish or a few smaller ones. You just never know what you're going to get from this run.
I cast my fly into the run hoping for at least a nice cutthroat but nothing was taking. I thought I wasn't getting down deep enough so I changed to a nymph. I hated doing it because I'm really not into nymphing, but when in Rome, do what the Romans do I guess. So I put on a red Copper John. I wasn't expecting anything but then I noticed my line stopped so I set the hook. There was some good weight on the other end and I saw the fish rise up. It didn't look like a trout. Mercy! I think I just caught my first grayling. What was it doing down here? They stay higher up in the canyon. I wasn't going to question it but just enjoy the fight and hopefully bring it to net.
The fish fought hard and I got it closer and saw it rise again. No! It isn't a grayling. A sucker? yo gotta be kidding me! I was able to net it and to my surprise it wasn't a sucker but a white fish. The largest white fish I have ever caught. But what's it doing in the Poudre River? There aren't any white fish in this river. The only thing I can think of is we had a lot of rain Sat. night and the Michigan River does meet up with the Poudre higher up in the canyon. Maybe it got washed into the Poudre? Possible I guess.
Even though it was the only fish I caught all day it was a nice birthday weekend surprise. I could barely get my hand around the fish and I don't know exactly how long it was, but if I had to guess it was somewhere between 18 to 20 inches.
I love fishing for white fish. They are tanks and they are thick and heavy, but fragile at the same time. I don't like to handle them very long because they seem to struggle after you release them if you play them too long or keep them out of the water too long too. I released it and it stuck it's head under a rock and just stayed there. I was worried about it and tried to get water in it's gills and finally it swam a few feet away. I just watched it sit there and not move and after a few minutes I walked up to it and it took off fast. I felt better knowing it was going to be alright.
