Westward we go again

[Devan S.]

I had been planning 2 trips out west this year. I knew plans for AZ/NM were solid but my second options was less set in stone. If the opportunity arose I would go.

The wife let me loose Thursday morning pre-daylight and I raced to pickup @Prifish for our 13 hour drive. The weather in Northwest Nebraska looked good so we were off to try our luck at the Nebraska Trout Slam. There is a location in far Northwestern Nebraska in which one could reasonably catch all four required species(Rainbow, Brown, Brook, and Cutthroat). 

Rainbows are scattered/stocked all over the state. Browns fairly common. Cutthroats are stocked in very limited numbers. Brooks are supposedly the difficult species as they have a very narrow limited range and are not stocked with any significance. 

I had a very good plan going in but there really isn't a lot of information out on the internet where we were headed. Right before we left I emailed the Nebraska Game and Fish and got bad news. Cutthroat are only stocked every other year and this was the off year so we were looking for a highly limited number of hold overs. He made some suggestions and basically said good luck. When we left, the forecast said sunny highs in the mid-high 50's and lows in the low 40's. We had intended to camp but arrived to drizzle/rain and roughly 36 degrees. We made the decision to skip camping and found a hotel about 20 miles away. 

Day 1

In this area there is multiple ponds, many mixed stockings(coldwater/warmwater species) I had detailed out several ponds that offered multiple opportunities. When I say ponds many of these are small much less than 1 acre and many down to .25 acre size. The first pond we fished was said to contain Rainbows and Brooks. We fished it and only caught stocked rainbows. No signs of Brooks. While we were both 25% complete after about 5 minutes, I didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling. The rainbows were small and obviously stocked. Off to pond 2, rumored to have Rainbows, a 1 time stocking of Cutties, and Tiger trout. Again we blanked on anything but Rainbows. 

Here is pond 2.

And one of the many rainbows.....

This is all in a state park.....easy access as you can see. You drive right up to them. While the park area is relatively remote, I assume these ponds are easy pick-ins for people visiting. I did have a backup plan a little bit more off the beaten path so we headed out to a small stream that required a bit more work. Rumor has it this stream has brooks and browns and there is another set of ponds much more off the beaten path. 

The creek itself is really a nightmare jungle. Small water and really, really brushy. You can't see the creek in this photo since is goes through a whistle here but it gives you an idea what we are fishing on either side of the path.

We suit up and immediately start scaring fish. There is a bunch of them too but they are spooky and hard to sneak in the thick brush. Within the first couple hours I had nothing to show for it but losing about 5 elk hair caddis. I left @Prifish and headed to check out the ponds. 2 people together is just too tough to work that kind of water. 

 

[Devan S.]

I finally got to the first pond(there is 4) and could see fish swimming. Pond is maybe a quarter acre maybe 6ft. deep at the deepest....lots of moss and vegetation and clear as tap water. I can see fish. The ponds were rumored to hold Brooks and potentially Cutts. Good news is I could clearly see Brooks by the white fins. I tried dry's to no avail. Decided to strip an olive woolie where I could and immediately caught fish. 

Brookies are done. I was somewhat relived as they were rumored to be the most scarce. However as we would learn later....in this location there is a bunch of them and they are hungry. I caught 2 or 3 and moved onto the next pond. About that time, @Prifish shows up and he has checked off Browns and Brooks in the stream. I don't catch anything in the second pond I fished. I also noticed there is someone else fishing the 3rd pond(its a very small pond) so we move onto the 4th pond. 

The 4th pond has even more vegetation and I just wasn't able to fish it effectively. We are talking and I am just dipping a Woolie in the small holes in the vegetation and jigging it when I see a really big fish grab it and take off. It immediately took me into a bunch of moss and was just too much for my 3wt rod and finally broke the line. We didn't get a great look at this fish but it looked to be a large brown(4-5lbs). We were excited and I went back to jigging the holes in the vegetation when @Prifish sees another big fish come up in the same spot and grab my woolie. This time I was able to keep him somewhat out of the vegetation and he got a good look at a nice Tiger Trout before it broke me off. At this point, the other person comes over to check all the commotion out. He is fairly local and advises all the ponds could have cutts, brooks, and potentially tiger trout in them and that he cleared as much vegetation as he could off the ponds the day before and he was fishing for some cutts in the other pond he was at.

We go check out the pond he is fishing and there is 5 or 6 cutts swimming in it and they have zero interest in anything the 3 of us threw at them. 

@Prifish went back to the stream to fish and I went back and started dipping a pink san juan worm in the holes in the second pond. Suddenly started catching really nice brookies. 

You can see how nasty the pond is in this picture.....but the fish are there and just working through the vegetation. 

This was the biggest and prettiest of them all but we caught several that had vibrant colors.

This fish was just slightly over 14" which qualifies as a Nebraska Master Angler fish. 

 

 

[Devan S.]

We're about 6 hours in and I've got 2 of my 4 fish and @Prifish has all but the Cutthroat. It didn't take long and he was done as he found one in a pool in the small stream.

I knew Browns could be had in the stream fairly easily so Cutthroats was my focus. I hammered the Cutts in the pond all day and had 1 lazy half hearted take I missed. @Prifish was completely focus on the big fish I broke off in the other pond. We fished until dusk and walked back to the car. I gave it the old college try on the last creek crossing for my brown but they weren't having it. 

We formulated a plan for day 2 on the walk back. He would focus on the pond I broke the fish off in. I would focus on the cutthroat pond. If I hadn't caught a cutt by noon we would go where the Game and Fish told us to go. 

 

 

[Devan S.]

Day 2

We got hiked in shortly after daylight. This set of ponds are all side by side....we can easily talk loud and hear one another. All these ponds are small too, like the size of a normal yard. For example, here is the pond I broke the fish off in. It has a lot a vegetation even in the clear areas that really prevent you from working say a jig in it. 

In fact the more we considered it we were sure I broke off the same fish, back to back about 5 minutes apart. There's just almost no way this pond could support 2 or 3 fish that size. I hooked him under that tree both times. @Prifish plan was to essentially do the exact same thing but this time he was armed with a spinning rod, bigger line, and a jig. He dipped it in the exact same spot and sure enough.

Just like that he has the bonus fish. This was a really nice fish and they haven't been stocked here in awhile(according to the stocking database). Logic tells me this is the same fish, however it didn't have either woolie I broke off in its mouth. We will never know at this point but if it is the same fish it makes for a cool story. 

I kept working the Cutt pond.....you can tell I was pressing and bummed out.

Rubbing it in that he is stress free.

Ultimately we never caught a single fish from that pond. There was probably 4-6 nice cutts constantly swimming around but they are wise. I knew the very first pond had some fish that weren't brooks. I couldn't get a good view but never saw the white fins. First cast with a jig and this joker hammered it. 

I still needed a brown so down to the river. @Prifish had found a pool that was easier to get to and work. Right away we checked off the brown and we were done. I would highly recommend this area. I wont publicly out it....but I have given enough information for anyone to do some research and arrive at a conclusion. I wont be driving 13 hours just to do this again but it would make a very nice middle point stop if driving to Wyoming.  

Originally we had planned if we finished early to try and do some hunting....maybe try to kick up some grouse, call for coyotes, or look for some prairie dogs. The more we talked we weren't sure we wanted to buy out of state hunting tags for maybe 1.5 days. Instead we formulated another plan and took off driving west first and then south.

I'll give you a hint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Devan S.]

Colorado

We only had a bit over 1 day left and 2 proposed targets. On the way to our main target was an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. 

The problem is....this hike is highly popular and right on the interstate. Those were minor problems for a couple big guys coming from the Ozarks. The real problem is the elevation and elevation gain in the first mile. We were rushed....we hiked way too fast and stopped at the first sign of water. If we would have tried to press on much more we would have really fought darkness. We got it done though. 

These are as close to the real deal as I think you can get(genetically and in the right drainage). In fact, Colorado says they are now naturally reproducing in this stream. Unfortunately due to their limited range, they currently do not count for the Western Native Trout Challenge. 

Deep in ski country is a series of alpine lakes said to have Colorado Cutthroat. Again a very popular hike, so we started at daylight. It was cold and we weren't really prepared considering this leg was more of a whim. We saw a bunch of goats way up high....and before long we were getting close to the same elevation. @Prifish snagged a fish in a plunge pool under this waterfall. 

A small CO Cutt....close but didn't feel right. So we went to the first lake.

Shallow, only saw 1 fish. The wind started to howl. Did I mention cold? Maybe we should go up higher to next lake....so we did.

Very pretty but is there fish? Of Course. These count for our Western Native Challenge.

Purely based on vibrant colors I might have 2 taxidermy bills from this trip. @Prifish caught a textbook looking CO Cutthroat.

I caught a couple more and back down we went. 

A lot of driving but we managed to get it all done. All in probably one of our better trips.....good size, pretty fish, nice views.  10/10 would do it again....maybe.

 

[Quillback]

Thanks for the report!

[Foghorn]

Enjoyed the photos and the narrative.

[mic]

Great report.  Thanks for sharing.  Nice fish.

[Johnsfolly]

Sounds like a challenge but a great time once the frustration wears off. Being successful always goes a long way on these types of trips. You guys caught some great looking trout! Can't wait to see the reproduction mounts😉!

[JestersHK]

Very nice and congrats on a successful trip.  I try to catch trout in every state I visit and know that feeling when you just can't connect... beautiful samples you caught there though. Thanks for sharing.