Blue Ribbon Backwaters
We pulled off of the mainstem, plucked the 8-weight from the rod rack and entered the mouth of the slough. The demeanor in the boat morphed from jovial catch-and-release anglers to focused predators…we were hunting now. My friend and I spotted the fish at the same time and before I could speak, he made one false cast and dropped the fly expertly a yard ahead of the cruising pike. The fish engulfed it with full force on the initial strip. T’was a fine representative of Esox lucius, over 30″ long, which qualified as perfect “eating size”, so we bonked it, threw it in the cooler and resumed the hunt. I took the bow and spotted a nice bass cruising the shoreline. The cast fell short but the fish was apparently hungry and turned on the fly instantly, putting a deep bend in the stick like a fat bass will do.
After a couple of hours of such shenanigans we had a slew of goodies from the slough and the high sun was beginning to wane.
This game was played out and the trout would be active again soon, so we rowed out of the backwater, re-joined the river, and fell in line with the trout fishermen. We caught a few nice rainbows, browns, and cutthroat that afternoon, but nothing was exciting as the action we had prowling the backwater with bass and pike patterns.
Much to the chagrin of many mesh-vested clad folks, pike, bass, and other “warmwater” species now share habitat with trout. In my opinion, many fishermen hold a rather peculiar and irrational disdain for such fish, and the practice of “club and release” is encouraged on any stream deemed “trout” water. There’s a misconception that the trout belong and the other species fall under the maligned term “invasive”. The truth is that in many Rocky Mountain rivers where trout share water with pike and bass, most of the denizens were initially introduced, some intentionally by fish and game departments to encourage sport and tourism, and some by “bucket biologists” that took it upon themselves to add a few of their favorite specimens to the river system. No matter the method or the initial “manager”, at this point, in the now decades-long co-existence between coldwater/warmwater gamefish and the divided sides that pursue them, I beg the question, “can’t we all just get along?”
Variety being the spice of life, what better way to spend a day by dividing time between dropping dry flies on persnickety trout and stripping streamers for voracious pike? Personally, I prefer the latter over the former as table fare, and I like the idea of heading home with a little protein to show for my efforts. Not that I really care, but we garner praise over prejudice (and maybe a free round) from our limp-wristed brethren at the local watering hole when we’ve done our duty and removed a nasty pike from an otherwise pristine trout fishery.
