End of the Year Fish

 

Given that the number of fish (or lack therof) Austin and I caught the last time we fished the Bluestone we wanted to take another shot at it while we both still had some time off of work.  This time the water was a little more manageable.  It was about a foot lower than what it was on our previous trip and had less stain.  Spinners and jigs were the weapons of choice.  Austin had particular success with a neon pink jig he calls "Pink Sexy." Pink Sexy is one of those ace in the hole lures that Austin breaks out from time to time, usually with great success.  I ended up catching nine fish that day and Austin caught ten.  A couple of milestones were met on this trip.  With the fish Austin caught this day he ended the year catching 1,111 fish in 2011.  I, on the other had, caught another 4lb rainbow giving me back to back citation fish on back to back trips.  The only downer was that I broke the tip of my fishing rod.  It was only the top eyelet so I was able to keep fishing and St. Croix has a great replacement policy so I really was no worse for wear.  All and all, a great way to end the year.

Two Will Do

            

On a day when the river was up, but starting to recede Austin and I hit the Bluestone again.  The water was just on the upper side of fishable with considerable stain.  It had come down from the flood stage it had been the week before, but was still difficult to both wade and fish. We had a few bites, but the action was very slow.  In fact, it wasn't until the end of the trip that we landed a fish a piece.  Our numbers were about as low as you can get, but the size of each fish made up for the lack in numbers.  I landed a nice citation size 4lb rainbow and Austin hauled in a 3 1/2 pounder.  These two studs defiantly made the trip worth while.

Big Fish on the Bluestone

 Rick and I figured we'd try our luck on the Bluestone again.  The window for fishing this river had finally opened up again.  A previous attempt just a week before proved futile as two days of rain showers had all but flooded out every river in the county.  Conditions were looking good though and we decided now was the time to try again.  It was a very cold day, in fact it was about the coldest I had ever felt down there, due in large part to being a little too lightly dressed.  The fishing was good and we caught and released around 30 total.  In-line spinners proved effective, but I also had smashing success with a 1/8oz micky finn hair jig I made.  It proved more effective in deeper moving water as it could get down to the bottom much easier whereas the spinners have a tendency to move towards the surface as they are retrieved.  I pulled a nice rainbow out of a hole using this jig, as well as, several others that the spinners were having a hard time reaching.  The highlight of my day was a couple of 4+ pounders that I caught out of the deep hole near the lodge.  I caught them both on spinners and they were so big that they both required use of the net to land them.  They were nice solid fish that were both citation size and would have each made nice mounts had they not been caught in a catch and release stream.  I look forward to going back soon to try and see what other monsters may be lurking there.