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Ive been away from fishing for much longer than i can bare due to a work related wrist injury. I got the cast off this month and my doctors told me i could use my left(uninjured hand) to fly fish. Best thing ive heard in weeks :)
My first choice was olney creek, the fish arent very big, but its an easy wade and i dont need to cast far, seeing as im left handed fly fishing, ill need to pick something easy to get around in. So olney it is! My gear was 3wt floating line set up, size 8 adams.
I arrived at the trailhead around 11am and hike into the location i went to last, and arrived just before noon. Last time i visited this stream, i went downstream and found great success catching small cutthroat, this time i decided to head upstream to explore.
Immediately upon arrival i notice the creek is about 6" lower than it usually is in august, this made for easy wading, but the fish were scattered differently than when the water is higher.
As i walked to the first few promising looking pockets, i noticed they were barren, i also noticed how bright and clearly i could see the bottom .. as i waded upstream i did notice fish rising for tiny white bugs that seemed to be everywhere, a hatch of something i wasnt familiar with, i also saw some larger size 8 bugs getting slurped up off the surface. Once i saw the brown bugs i tied on a size 8 adams(custom) that i tied, and finally started getting a little action, a follow here, and a nip there. I noticed the fish werent coming from the deepest pockets, but instead from the pockets with the most shade, and cover. As i reached the last hole i wanted to hit, i tell myself, "ok last hole, then im going home" i touch the fly down right on top of a submerged root wad near an undercut bank, and there it was, my first hook up of the day. A beautifully colored 7" cutthroat, c&r as all fish were throughout the day. On my way back i landed 2 others, 1 at 6" and 1 tiny 4" cutt.
When i arrived to my original drop in point, i decided to check out a hole that produced very well on my last trip, i fished my way down and spooked a few fish i didnt expect to see in shallow water. Then i arrived at the hole, as soon as i arrived i saw fish rising to the small white bugs, 1st cast with the adams produced a 7" cutt again, next cast produced a 5" cutt then nothing else.
At that point i decided i was content and hiked back, Satisfied with a beautiful afternoon, catching beautiful little cutthroat in a beautiful stream in solitude. Not a soul to be seen all day, no trash found, not even a footprint, only deer tracks and coyote scat. The birds were singing, the breeze was pleasant, and the weather mild, but sunny. The fish were small, but i still had fun.

AJFishdude

6/17/2015 9:17:00 PM

Excellent report, sounds like you had a great first trip out post-injury.

drysuperfly52

6/18/2015 6:14:00 AM

i love olney creek, i didn't go last year but it is usually on my hit list every year. where do you start from? i usually park above the big holes, where the pavement ends and the hill to spada starts. From there i head up river and usually do very good, there is pool that has produced an 11" cutt a few years ago about 45 minutes up from that point. My go to fly there is a super fluffy royal wuff, they love that S#@%. i missed all of last falls fishing season due to a car wreck, there is nothing worse then being stuck at home/work looking at perfect fishing conditions.

jonb

6/18/2015 8:21:00 AM

There is a pull out you can park at, then hike in, you arrive at a bridge about 2 miles above the falls, last summer i went downstream which produced about 100 cutts, the conditions were better, upstream of that bridge had a few fish too, but not like the holes downstream, and i saw some larger fish down there too. 10-11" i think the biggest ive caught from olney was 9" so far.

DjButler

6/19/2015 8:54:00 AM

I don't know how I missed this report but awesome adventure my friend. That's what it's all about. Fishing in complete solitude is what we anglers dream of. Thanks for sharing!

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