Fishing the ‘Horn 9/16/13
After our time at Clydehurst, Marc Williams and I fished the Bighorn for a day with Brian Carpenter and Derek Newbern. Brian acted as our guide; we used his drift boat, and he was kind enough to row for us. Brian is the founder of Refuge Foundation. Its purpose is to give pastors a week’s respite from the pressures of running a church, and get them into the beauty and wonder of nature—especially the beauty and wonder of fly fishing (see here).
We fished the 3-mile to 13-mile section. And since it was Marc and Derek’s first trip to the ‘Horn, we spent most of the day in the upper half of this section, thoroughly fishing riffles, runs, and pools. The fish cooperated nicely, taking a variety of small nymphs (16s and 18s). The biggest fish topped out at 20 inches, but there were plenty of rainbows and browns in the 14 to 18 inch size. All in all, a great day.
The day was perfect–clear skies, 90 degrees, and trout on the feed.
A classic Bighorn rainbow that took a large Down and Dirty sculpin–an exception of the day. Other fish wanted tiny nymphs.
Marc was smiling all day; the ‘Horn treated him well.