December Slough Big Trout

Hey Roy here are the pictures I owe ya. 

During the crappy weather last week this nice trout was caught. It is 17" and was caught at the Slough of course just north of the Bait Shop Hole. I tried and tried to revive it and I had to keep it since it would just float off.  Anyway I would have normally released it. I did have it for dinner.

How I cook em.

I use garlic butter and lemon in the cavity, lightly wipe it down with some oil. Wrap in aluminum foil, several times. Warm up the grill (I use propane) place on the rack close the lid, Cook for 10 minutes a side or longer if a thick trout. 

With fork in hand, enjoy. My two cents, small trout taste better!

The last pic is Charles Engles with a bent rod!!

Patrick Humphress

Blizzard Christmas Eve

The fly fishers I talked to all said they would come to the  creek on Christmas Eve, regardless of the wind and weather.  I was determined to take pictures showing how they did it.  But you know, "Only the Bold fish in the snow and the rain and the wind and the cold" (http://www.cantos.org/fishing/music.html

It was amazing enough that my wife let me go.  But she stayed up late sewing gifts, and I got up early to go fishing.

For five hours I had the place all to myself.  I started at the noth end and finished in the south end.  I spent a lot of time wading in the creek.  My legs and feet did not get cold, nor my body or hands.  However, the wind was hard on my fingers, and my toes froze.  In case you did not notice, the wind chill was around zero during this time, and the snow came down in big flakes.  The wind was very strong.  Of course there are plenty of places on the creek that are protected, even from a northern wind.

Vic's Lake had cars parked here and there, but I did not see any lines in the water.  I did stand on the north shore, wade out a ways, and loft my fly line out into the lake a few times.  The wind just makes it hard to keep you fingers alive.

The biggest problem I had was when I tangled.  The tangle just got worse and worse.  I finally went into the store and cut it all loose and put on a new tippet.  I was lucky it happened when it did, because she closed at 11 am (after cleaning up the mess I dragged in on my snow packed felt-soled boots.  Those did serve me well as I clambered over the dams and up and down the banks without ever slipping on the snow or ice.

If you have not fished in the wind and snow and ice and cold, there will be plenty of cold windy day in the last 10 days of December.  It should be very nice for the Flatland Fly Fishers annual "Single Fly Tournament" on New Years Day: high 36°, Real Feel 35° (no wind).  Of course, with so many cold days before that, there will be ice.
http://www.flatlandflyfishers.org/

Single Fly Tournament - Jan. 1st - Slough Creek, Sedgwick County Park.  Breakfast 8:30 - 10:00am  Tournament  10:00am - 2:00pm

Winter Program - Feb. 6, 2010 - Speaker Ed Engle

Beaver

The beaver in the Big Slough Creek have big ambitions.  Can you imagine how long it would take, and what a spash it would make when this tree is finally felled!  The fishers don't really like how the beavers leave such a tangled mess for  their lines and lures to get lost in the water.

When the Flatland Fly Fishers cleaned up this spot, they found lots of line and lures for their trouble.  Then they stayed and caught many fish.

The water is the lowest I have seen this season.  Therefore, every hole looks different than before.  Also, someone brought heavy equipment and tore out part of a dam, changing the channel.  It is the dam where I stepped into a 7 foot deep hole, then wrote a song about it http://www.cantos.org/fishing/music.html
"Only the Bold Fish in the Cold"
This song has attracted hits from all over the US and Europe.  People are searching for waders and wading in the mud.

Then they got their kids and came back.  Their kids are very great fishers, too.  Kids start fly fishing early, and learn well.




Each person who comes to the creek not only carries out all their trash, they clean up after the beavers!

The fish were biting today with the overcast, foggy day on wooly buggers.  By far, most of the catches are also releases.  Some fishers keep a few during the year.  Some keep NONE all year.



The lake fishers do best with minnows fished deep.  Vic's Lake has been productive this season.

Big storm coming tonight, a Christmas Eve BLIZZARD.  Come on down to the creek.  There will be plenty of fishers in the wind and the ice tomorrow.

Trout treats

Trout are biting in the Big Slough Creek.  Every gets something.  Some catch dozens in a few hours. Those are the really good fishers who tie their own ply or jig patterns.

Some of these guys come here several times every week.  Most return their catch.  Many take home some during a season.  Some take all they can get every time.

They are still stocking lunkers.  The song I wrote for the big catfish still applies today.  See http://www.cantos.org/fishing/music.html and look for "Down in the Deep of the Big Slough Creek".  This song makes reference to wading in the mud.  That is certainly the case today, as the temperature was in the high 30s.

P.S.  It feels very cold out here, and not every pattern works.  You have to change up if your fly is not getting strikes.  The fish are in there!

Cold Water

It is cold this week, but everyone is still fishing.  Keep your line in the water!  I walked across the ice in the foreground of this photo on the right to get to the open water you see in the distance at the Big Slough Creek.  In the photo on the left you can see the open water is lined with ice.  You can drift along the edge of the ice looking for fish. The fly fishers are out in force, but so are the bait fishers.  The fly fishers are especially upset when the bait fishers (illegal) encroach on a hole they are working and crowd them out.  "I guess they have rights too".  No they don't. It is illegal to bait fish or use treble hook spinners in the Big Slough Creek.
P.S.  There are a lot of fish in the stream.  You can see them in some places.  You can see them line up with the current when you are quiet.  You can see them scatter when you cast into the school instead of drifting down into it.  They also scatter when you make noise by wading in the water the wrong way.

December Fishing

The fly fishers are getting more enthused every day as the cold and storms arrive.  I have been fishing quite a bit since Thanksgiving, but not as much as some.  I keep forgetting my camera or my battery or something.  No pictures yet, and today is a doctor visit day.  We are down to one car, and it is getting harder to compete for the use of the car to go fishing.

The December Fly Fishers meeting was well attended and there was a lot of food and fellowship.  The next event is the "One Fly" Contest on New Year's Day.