Chasing Rainbows

[gstott]

A new friend of mine had been trying to get me to go with him to his secret rainbow spot for several weeks now. I knew it was a decent drive to get there, and a whole day would be necessary to fish it properly. Between school, work and my wife, it was difficult to find a time to do this, but on Friday the planets aligned, and we finally found ourselves at our destination.

I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical. Things started off slowly, but as we worked our way upstream, I became a believer.

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Things just continued to get better and better.

[inline "bow small.JPG"][inline "bow 2 small.JPG"][inline "bow 3 small.JPG"][inline "bow 4 small.JPG"][inline "bow 5 small.JPG"][inline "bow 6 small.JPG"][inline "bow 8 small.JPG"][inline "bow 9 small.JPG"][inline "bow 10 small.JPG"][inline "bow 11 small.JPG"][inline "bow 12 small.JPG"][inline "bow 13 small.JPG"][inline "bow 14 small.JPG"][inline "bow 15 small.JPG"]


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I caught most of the fish on a nymph that I made up last November in size 16 in various colors. I caught a couple on a size 8 blood colored mohair leech, a size 18 BWO emerger and one on a Gummy Egg. I used my new 4wt for the most part, and I had quite the battles. Some of them were pushing ten minutes and full of spectacular leaps. It had been a while since I had to put a fish on the reel, and some of these guys got me to my backing. Sadly I lost a couple that were 20+ inches. On the first of these, the hook pulled free after a 10 minute battle. I had the net ready to land the fish several times, when it would take off again. The other was really large, and really colorful, but he just rolled on the surface on the hook set and came undone. Still, I can't complain. I caught many in the 17-19" range, they fought like mad, and had beautiful colors to boot. The scenery wasn't too shabby either. I ended up with 39 rainbows and cuttbows for the day.

Unfortunately, I have been sworn to secrecy so I cannot divulge the location of this river. However, it is extremely dangerous there. The place is swarming with sasquatch, grizzly bears, cougars, and ligers. Not only that, but the Mexican Drug Cartel and the Russian Mafia are known to frequent the area. I was lucky to escape with my life this time, but return ventures may be risky.
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[wyominfish]

I love the amount of spots the cutbows have. Most cutbows i catch have a faded [#ffbf80]orange[/#ffbf80] or [#ffbfff]pink[/#ffbfff] cut under the throat did many of yours? I guess it also depends on what kind of cutthroat the rainbow is mixed with maybe.
Nice fish
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[kochanut]

funny you post this. we chased rainbows all day yesterday and did damn well ourselves. i was also using the gummy egg. are you stalking me? cause if you are that would be so cool! we were able to get into some pretty prespawn bows and a few browns. we finished the day checking out rockport, to see how the ice was
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[gstott]

I guess it's that time of year to chase them. I would say that I was stalking you, but I was nowhere near Rockport. These were all straight up river fish. I probably should have stuck with the Gummy Egg longer, but they really just seemed more interested in nymphs as there were bwos and caddis coming off. I just hope I can make it back before high water.
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[gstott]

Thanks. I have to say I was pretty blown away by the colors and patterns on the fish there. The cuttbows had a very pale yellow/orange slash. Not too much, but it definitely showed in the spots. It's odd because cutthroat aren't usually the best fighters, but I swear that cuttbows always fight like little demons.
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[riverdog]

Nice
You don't work for the Government do you? If so I'll offer you a bribe for that location[shocked]. Just kidding about those that work for the Government[] but not the bribe.
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[gstott]

I am appalled, I would never accept a bribe []
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[flygoddess]

AWESOME!!!! My favorite colors as well. Thanks for sharing.

Zach, so is Rockport still iced up?
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[kochanut]

theres ice on it, but i would suspect it will be gone by this coming weekend. we went up there to mainly look at the campgrounds. the inlet is free and clear for a long ways out. saw a feller out on his tube fishing it. East Canyon is free and clear, several tubes and a few boats on it yesterday
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[flygoddess]

Super! Give a shout when you hit it, please.
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[joshomaru]

Those are some gorgeous hussies there, Greg.
PS- thanks for talking to your wife about that one thing. I never did get back to you to thank you for your input. It was appreciated!
Josh
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[gstott]

Thanks, I love the colors and the attitude of wild rainbows and cuttbows, it's nice to have found a stream with such fine specimens.
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[gstott]

Hey, no problem, and you're welcome. I wish we could have been of more help, but I truly think you guys are in great hands.
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[STEVEF39]

Those are some beautiful fish, looks like you had a great day, love all the different colors.
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[gstott]

Thanks, I was really impressed with their colors too. Definitely some of the prettier rainbows I have found.
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[cpierce]

Wow! Those are all beauties! Looks like the extra drive and time was well invested. Colors are amazing on them.
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[gstott]

Thanks! It was definitely worth it.
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[tkidder]

Wow, those are some great lookin fish. Nice work.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

I think I got dizzy scrolling through all them shots!!! I seriously think you'll have me dreaming spots and rainbows all night!

Sweet. Must be nice catching them on your own stuff.

[gstott]

Thanks guys. It definitely adds a whole new sense of satisfaction when you catch them on your own flies, especially when it's a pattern you made up.
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