Shallow Water Trout
I tried fishing my remote nameless creek twice this year but both times it was flooded and over the banks with the water opaque like a milkshake. I fished fifty yards each time and left because the fish could not see my lure and I couldn’t see the log structure. Yesterday I put new line on my reel, ice in my cooler, and headed there again hoping to finally find it fishable. I stopped where the creek crosses under a gravel road in big tubes to get a look and it didn’t look good: super low water level and very clear. I debated heading north to the Pine River but it was already mid-afternoon so I put on my waders and walked downstream.
When I reached my normal entry spot I was thankful I put new line on the reel – it makes it much easier to cast right next to the bank or under branches and into tight dark areas. I knew the shallow water was going to be a challenge but to my amazement the trout were hungry and very aggressive. A short cast in front of a messy blowdown brought the trout below out into the open into sandy shallows where it grabbed the lure and put up a good scrap. It was a shade over twenty inches. I let him go. I like to keep smaller trout for dinner.
I fished for about an hour and a half and caught four good dinner trout. I also tossed two back and one broke off a brand new lure – so it was a pretty remarkable day. Trout dinner for Memorial Day!
Fichigan 