Post by darrelln09 on Oct 7, 2018 12:10:12 GMT -6
2018
I was very fortunate to spend last weekend fishing in the Black Hills of South Dakota with two of my three. What a beautiful part of the country this is, especially in the fall. The scenery was spectacular both in and out of the trout streams, and with summer all but gone, the crowds were all but nonexistent.
On Friday we fished, with a guide, at Pactola Reservoir which is a little ways up into the hills west of Rapid City. He took us to a small inlet where several creeks dump into the reservoir. That action, along with a little crosswind made it behave like a slow-moving river. Jig-style Prince Nymphs under indicators were the guide's fly of choice and they really produced some nice fish! Can you imagine if this was the first trout you ever caught? I captured her reeling this bruiser in on video as well. It’s priceless! She did a really great job.
My son and I got in on this action as well. Yeah that's snow in the background and on the brim of my hat!
Later that day we went upstream and fished Rapid Creek not too far from where it dumps into the reservoir. There we found some medium-fast water with an abundance of riffles followed by deeper pools. Those pools were holding plenty of both rainbow and brown trout and we caught a bunch of them. We continued with the Prince Nymphs and occasionally slipped in some small streamers, dead-drifted, which also produced fish.
On Saturday, we took a drive up the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway that runs southwest out of Spearfish and proceeded to fish Spearfish Creek. It was such a beautiful drive that we just kept going and didn't stop until we got well above a village called Cheyenne Crossing. What we found there was pool after pool filled with "natural" brown trout. My old standby fly (Fl. Chartreuse Sexy Walt’s) and my new goto fly (Fl. Green Mohawk Pheasant Tail) were very effective.
On the way back down the canyon we stopped at a spot where we had seen a carload of fly fishermen and women gathered earlier in the morning. They were gone when we got there so we just stopped to see what they were all looking at. And I'm glad we did because we found a pool of rising trout, and they were thick! My son had never fished topwater flies with any success before and man did he have a ball in that pool. Tight quarters with the big pines along the edges but he managed to get strike after strike on a #18 Adams Parachute. My daughter caught him here with her camera just after a hook set. This could be one of the best-timed fishing photos I've ever seen. It certainly captures his "pose", the mountain creek, and the autumn colors. That's an old hydroelectric plant in the background which added even more color to the shot.
On Sunday, we went back to Rapid Creek, further upstream this time, where I tried out my new Syndicate 10-ft, 3-wt rod, Euro Nymphing. It's a very lightweight and sensitive rod and within a few hours it definitely sold me on that style of nymphing. I actually out-fished my son on this day, which I've found to be no easy task. I can't wait to continue learning the technique on some medium-fast water that is closer to home.
If you ever go to the Black Hill I strongly recommend renting a cabin. There are plenty of them out there. Here is a shot of where we stayed. This particular cabin is called the Wolf's Den. Very cozy.
Of course, no trip to the Black Hills would be complete without a visit to these national landmarks. A little sunshine would have been nice but at least it wasn't snowing. Mount Rushmore is just so majestic when you come around the curves and it pops into view. How anyone envisioned carving those guys into the rugged hills there I'll never understand. Crazy Horse Monument is really impressive as well and it has certainly grown up since I was last there 45 years ago. If you look closely, you can see (a) the outline of the horse's head near the front, and (b) guard rails aligned on top of the chief's outstretched arm. The rails were there for the next day's event where you can actually hike up the mountain and, supposedly, go face-to-face with the chief. We were told they have that event only two or three times a year.
I was very fortunate to spend last weekend fishing in the Black Hills of South Dakota with two of my three. What a beautiful part of the country this is, especially in the fall. The scenery was spectacular both in and out of the trout streams, and with summer all but gone, the crowds were all but nonexistent.
On Friday we fished, with a guide, at Pactola Reservoir which is a little ways up into the hills west of Rapid City. He took us to a small inlet where several creeks dump into the reservoir. That action, along with a little crosswind made it behave like a slow-moving river. Jig-style Prince Nymphs under indicators were the guide's fly of choice and they really produced some nice fish! Can you imagine if this was the first trout you ever caught? I captured her reeling this bruiser in on video as well. It’s priceless! She did a really great job.
My son and I got in on this action as well. Yeah that's snow in the background and on the brim of my hat!
Later that day we went upstream and fished Rapid Creek not too far from where it dumps into the reservoir. There we found some medium-fast water with an abundance of riffles followed by deeper pools. Those pools were holding plenty of both rainbow and brown trout and we caught a bunch of them. We continued with the Prince Nymphs and occasionally slipped in some small streamers, dead-drifted, which also produced fish.
On Saturday, we took a drive up the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway that runs southwest out of Spearfish and proceeded to fish Spearfish Creek. It was such a beautiful drive that we just kept going and didn't stop until we got well above a village called Cheyenne Crossing. What we found there was pool after pool filled with "natural" brown trout. My old standby fly (Fl. Chartreuse Sexy Walt’s) and my new goto fly (Fl. Green Mohawk Pheasant Tail) were very effective.
On the way back down the canyon we stopped at a spot where we had seen a carload of fly fishermen and women gathered earlier in the morning. They were gone when we got there so we just stopped to see what they were all looking at. And I'm glad we did because we found a pool of rising trout, and they were thick! My son had never fished topwater flies with any success before and man did he have a ball in that pool. Tight quarters with the big pines along the edges but he managed to get strike after strike on a #18 Adams Parachute. My daughter caught him here with her camera just after a hook set. This could be one of the best-timed fishing photos I've ever seen. It certainly captures his "pose", the mountain creek, and the autumn colors. That's an old hydroelectric plant in the background which added even more color to the shot.
On Sunday, we went back to Rapid Creek, further upstream this time, where I tried out my new Syndicate 10-ft, 3-wt rod, Euro Nymphing. It's a very lightweight and sensitive rod and within a few hours it definitely sold me on that style of nymphing. I actually out-fished my son on this day, which I've found to be no easy task. I can't wait to continue learning the technique on some medium-fast water that is closer to home.
If you ever go to the Black Hill I strongly recommend renting a cabin. There are plenty of them out there. Here is a shot of where we stayed. This particular cabin is called the Wolf's Den. Very cozy.
Of course, no trip to the Black Hills would be complete without a visit to these national landmarks. A little sunshine would have been nice but at least it wasn't snowing. Mount Rushmore is just so majestic when you come around the curves and it pops into view. How anyone envisioned carving those guys into the rugged hills there I'll never understand. Crazy Horse Monument is really impressive as well and it has certainly grown up since I was last there 45 years ago. If you look closely, you can see (a) the outline of the horse's head near the front, and (b) guard rails aligned on top of the chief's outstretched arm. The rails were there for the next day's event where you can actually hike up the mountain and, supposedly, go face-to-face with the chief. We were told they have that event only two or three times a year.