|
|
|
Moving Party February 25, 2001 |
|
|
Westslope Cutthroat Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi naturally occurs in an area from Southern Alberta to Central Idaho to the East slope of the Rockies in Montana and into Eastern Washington. The only know natural |
|
population in Oregon is in some
upper John Day river tributaries. Having grown up in the Idaho Pan Handle on a Lake Pend Oreille tributary called Grouse Creek, a West Slope Cutthroat was the first trout I ever caught. It was early in the spring of my ninth year. Grouse Creek was high and dirty from snow melt. My dad and two other fishers parked me at the Big Barn Hole and told me to stay put as they trekked off up stream to find some water that was in shape to fish. The Big Barn Hole was so named because it was thirty feet from the back of my dad's second barn. It had formed where the creek washed around a huge submerged tree that had been buried horizontal in the mucky bottom of some ancient glacial lake. The trunk and massive root wad created a swirl that had excavated a large, deep pool that was the best holding water on my dad's place. However on this day the adult fishermen had had no luck. Armed with a slim 12 foot long pole made from a seasoned Tamarack sapling and a Prince Albert can of angle worms, I was elated that my dad trusted me enough to leave me alone by the river. The bottom of the pool contained large numbers of Suckers and I was content to plunk my bait for them. Anything with fins was fair game. Then came a tug that was sharper than the bottom feeders. I pulled back so hard that the fish was jerked from the water with enough force that it sailed through the air and hit the side of the barn. I scampered after it and found it flopping in the grass, a spotted 16" beauty that was my first trout. When the adults returned they were amazed. It was the only trout caught that day. |
| Grouse Creek in my youth had a decent population of West Slope Cutthroats early in the spring when they migrated upstream from Lake Pend Oreille to spawn. The locals called them "Red Bellies" because the males had bright vermilion coloration. As I remember them they were pretty gullible. I those days every angler |
| carried a wicker creel and
you weren't much of a man unless you brought it home full of trout
layered in brake ferns. These fish averaged 12" to 16"
with an occasional specimen to 18". By mid-summer the
"Red Bellies" that survived all returned to the deep cold
water of the lake leaving a few rainbows and whitefish behind. Westslope Cutthroats were isolated by the last great glacial epoch and evolved separately from other Cutthroats. As these lakes grew and retreated with climatic changes, these unique Cutthroats were dispersed into both the upper Columbia and Missouri River drainages. Unfortunately Westslope Cutthroats were designed for an age before modern man. Pure strains have disappeared throughout much of their original range due to introduction of non-native species and habitat change. Things that are rare and exotic are always deemed of higher value. Is that why we make the many into the few? |
|
The "Insider"
is supported by sales through The
Fly fishing Shop on-line Catalog. |
|
Four
expectant fathers were in the hospital waiting room, while their wives
were in labor. |
|
* Sandy River Fishery Information Bank |
|
|
Daily
Fishing Report |
|
| If you would like to read past "Insiders", click Archives |
| Your commentary is always welcome. Drop us a line: flyfish@flyfishUSA.com |
The Fly Fishing Shop, Welches, OR
1(800) 266-3971
