Scofield

[LOAH]

Some of the fastest fishing I’ve ever had has come from Scofield in the fall. After hearing good reports from several sources, I was inspired to pay a visit to this place, which I’ve basically neglected this year.

It’s usually hard for me to drive past the flowing waters along the way to Scofield, so this time I pulled over to check on the cutthroat in Soldier Creek. This is the little creek that flows next to HWY 6, east of the HWY 89 junction and up to the summit.

In the past, I’ve typically just fished the immediate area surrounding the old rest stop. This is where an even smaller stream that flows next to Skyline Drive converges with Soldier Creek. Both streams hold pretty little cutthroat that don’t receive a lot of pressure.

With the major construction project underway in my usual spot on the creek, I decided to try the stretch that lies just upstream, near the big new bridge. The brush along the banks was pretty thick, but a few gaps provided access to some fishy looking pools.





Ah, just the way I remember them. Not big and not especially colorful, but they have a bit of a different look than a lot of the cutts I’m used to, plus there’s a decent chance that I’m the first human they’ve ever met.

This one may have met a bird at one point, however:



Nice gouge.



It was a quick stop and I didn’t cover much ground before setting off again. When I reached Soldier Summit, my map-hounding curiosity compelled me to, once again, take a quick detour and check out some water that looked interesting:



This pond is just south of the summit. Sadly, it looked a lot better from the map than it did in person. The weeds were terribly thick all over, except one small window in the middle where there seemed to be a hole. If there were any fish in this pond, they’d likely be there. After casting for a short while, all I reeled in was pond slime. Time to get back on track.

At Scofield, the howling wind made me realize that the day’s efforts would have to be made from shore. After setting out the minnow trap from the dam, I started casting my Blue Fox.

It didn’t take long and my hand repeatedly filled itself with carbon copies of this:



Moving around a bit proved to be the key to finding anything else. In the past, Scofield’s cutthroat population seemed to elude me, having only caught a few small ones, myself. After weeding through some dinky tigers, I was glad to finally feel the fight of a cutthroat, and then another.





Neither was out of the slot, but the second one was right at 20”. Still fun to catch.

The tiger fest continued for awhile, occasionally breaking the monotony with some that went 14 or 15 inches. The odd rainbow of about 10 inches would also provide some variety for a moment before being released.



A couple of hours passed and a couple more decent cutthroat came to hand before I finally got into a big tiger. It was in the slot, but it was a worthy battle and still made me . 20 inches and chunky.



The fishing was pretty fast as long as I kept moving. From the dam, I hiked both shorelines quite far before I called it quits. Had I kept track, my fish totals probably would’ve been in the 40’s or so.

Some of the tigers are really starting to glow with color right now:





It was tempting to keep that one (just under the slot), but I decided to hold out for either a big one or a decent rainbow. Just after the colorful tiger, I caught my second Scofield brown! It’s always neat for me to catch a species that isn’t too common for the water I’m fishing.



By this point, all fish had been released and I was wondering if I’d get one worth tossing in the oven. Casting from the dam while contemplating my exit, my rod finally bent to the fury of an rainbow with some weight to it.



The day was chilly and windy, but the fishing remained exciting as I pulled off a Scofield Grand Slam and enjoyed every moment.

Happy Fishing, Humans.
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[albinotrout]

Nice report. I travel by the schofield creek every week and I wonder what is in it. Now I know. Looks fun! Maybe one day I will have to try it out.
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[pkred]

Nice report, congrats on the slam.
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[RyanCreek]

Nice report! I hit Scofield myself yesterday. It was cool and windy. Made fishing from the raft difficult at times. I concentrated on the dam arm, and fished from shore, trolled, and jigged. Caught somewhere around 15 fish, mostly trolling with a silver crankbait. Fish also came on a kastmaster and different tube jigs. I was looking for tigers but I couldn't keep the little bows and cutts off. Also used alot of dead minnows whole or tipped on lures, but the small trout like them too. Only landed one tiger and that was from shore. Shore fishing is pretty good right now though. It chased my jig in so I just twitched it around a few feet from my rod tip and it came back for a strike. [inline scoftigerresize.jpg]
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[Urfishesdaddy]

What an outing! Brought back some memories of some nice ones I've caught on Scofield. Here is an example of one last fall.
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[Jacksonman]

Nice fish. But over 90% of the fish in Scofield right now are under 18"s. This means next fall is going to be crazy. Hopefully it freezes up early this year!!

[Fin-S-Fish]

Dude they are crazy this year. I would not advise sticking your fingers or toes into the water at all! Especially no skinny dipping for guys![] Most tigers and cutts on the small side but that will change next year for sure. The cutts are more aggressive than the tigers.
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[Urfishesdaddy]

There is a good chance that over 90% of the tigers are under 15 with how many they have been stocking. I agree that next year should be really interesting. They are going to get big in the next couple years. There was a dude that posted a 25 or 26 incher out of Scofield on here the other day.
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[lavaman]

LOAH, I wish you'd post more. Those pics are simply amazing. I really get a kick out of seeing those trout. Almost as if I'm out there fishing!

Thanks again. And start applying for a photographer job!


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[ponyboyf350]

Nice report LOAH -
Indeed "kudos" on great pictures of great fish!
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[LOAH]

Thanks, I really wish I could post more. The wife only lets me out once per week and I end up having to battle for a lot of those trips.[]

Sometimes, however, there are trips that just don't get reported...[fishin]
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