Sunday, July 17, 2011

Camp Huff N' Puff

For the last week I have had the pleasure of being one of the pharmacists for Camp Huff N' Puff. We held camp up on the banks of the Upper Little Blackfoot River near Elliston. Time for personal time was extremely limited but I managed to sneak out for some fishing. Seriously, how could I not with the river running right through our camp location!

The first 2 hours worth of fishing were outstanding. A thunderstorm blew past us missing the camp but offering some excellent scenery. The air temps were still pushing 90 and the bug activity was plentiful. I spent almost the entire time fishing a size #10 ginger stimulator. For a few minutes I tried a yellow stimi Chew Toy and I saw absolutely no difference in how the fish were responding.

For a small piece of skinny water, I had a very nice cuttie come clean out of the water and inhale my fly. She was the fish of the day on all accounts - take, size and color.



I landed close to 2 dozen fish during this 2 hour stint. It was a stellar mini outing.





The next day I found a similar chunk of time but this time it was on the heels of a severe thunderstorm with monstrous hail. The sky was very dark and the air temps had dropped dramatically. Bug activity was minimal and what I did see was smaller mayflies (I never got a hold of one so I am not sure what they were). Some fish began to rise consistently so I reached for the closest mayfly imitation I had. A size #16 parachute Adams seemed to do the trick.

I missed several takers but I landed 7 fish with the largest being 13 inches - all cutties.


The sections of the Upper Little Blackfoot that I fished are gorgeous. It is water that I want to return to. The upper sections have been much nicer to me than the lower portions. I am still taking a skunking on the river below Avon. Hopefully I will be able to get back up there this summer. Some sections look like killer hopper water.

Later,
Scott