Here's a more detailed report with some pictures.
It looks like I have mostly fish pictures and a few food pictures in my camera. I wish I would have taken more "social times" pictures...
But anyway, here it is.
Trout camp started early on Thursday night for me. I actually set my tent and unloaded my gear at the wrong spot initially.
Big thanks to David for stopping by, letting me know that I was not where I thought I was, and helping me transfer all my stuff to the actual Trout Camp site...
Friday morning was chilly at camp and the exposed roots of the Cypress tress across looked pretty cool in the cold and still air.
I started fishing at the rock pile in the morning, with the plan to make my way up and fish Spillway for most of the day.
I used a euro setup with a weighted rubber legs stonefly pattern at the bottom, alternating between a copper john, beadhead rs2 and Frenchie in sizes 18/20 at the dropper.
Things started pretty slow in the morning, besides a few stokers at the lower rock pile. Maybe because I was distracted by the thread of sausage texts going wild in the TC group text started by Sulross, haha!
Fishing started to pick-up when I got into mid Spillway (probably my favorite section of the river post flood), where I would connect consistently with several feisty and pretty little browns.
Things peaked at the whirlpool below the big waterfall, where I ran into a pod of fish.
For a while, every single drift on the side of the main current and into the back eddy would yield a fish or a hit. Talking about shooting in a barrel! Mostly 10-12" stockers, but a few small browns were mixed-in too.
It was a lot of fun and I was still getting hits when I decided it was time to move on.
I fished Spillway for a bit more, with a few more fish caught here and there, including some of the awesome little brownies. I was hoping to maybe reach upper Spillway and meet with David and Bill up there, but it looks like I never made it.
Took the hike back down all the way to my car at the rock pile and then headed back to camp.
Smallfry was setting up her tent when I got there and more people started to show up.
Great times were spent by the campfire with food, drinks and stories over the evening.
Steak and soup cooked over the fire were on the menu.
Friday night felt much warmer than the previous night, but maybe that was just an effect from beverage consumption.
Saturday morning we went down to zone II with Smallfry, Darrell and Jonbo. Things were pretty slow, with a few fish caught around "The Island".
Here is a pic of Darrell and Smallfry prospecting good looking waters.
I made my way further downstream zone II while the others headed back to their cars.
The next rifles would end up actually working out very well for me, with double digits in both series of riffles.
I stayed there for the rest of day, swinging a green wooly across flat areas with swifter current behind boulders, which I really like to do in zone II (it's sort of my "fishing confort food").
All fish caught were stoker rainbows. Nothing of significant size, but man, those hard hits on the swing are always so satisfying!
Here are a few pics of some of the fat ones, with the last one maybe pushing into 15-16".
Saturday night at David's cabin was awesome again.
Highlights were the steaks & rosemary potatoes and the fly-tying demo by Darrell.
The few of us that went back to Trout Camp kept the party going by the fire pit. Good times and a lot of laughs!
The bottle of chartreuse took a good hit that night.
Sunday morning I went back to the Spillway for a couple of hours of fishing in the lower mid-area.
I did pretty good again euro nymphing, catching several little browns and a few stocked rainbows.
The highlight was this little stream-born beauty:
Trout camp was a blast again! I got some good fishing time on the water this year, to try and keep on learning to euro-nymph better.
Really enjoyed meeting new people and seing old trout camper friends. Too bad some of you guys from the previous camps, including our first leader hankinsfly, could not join this time.
Looking forward to seing you all again!