We weren’t sure what to expect after driving up in a rainstorm the night before, but we figured that Oak Creek would be the first stream to clear up, giving us a shot at some fresh fish. There were already 7-8 cars parked at the top bridge when we arrived. Justin from the Urban Bone Fisher had hammered the fish the previous two days, landing one fish that was close to 35 inches. The stream was muddy, but we decided to work our way downstream, fishing holes where they had spotted fish the previous days. The water was dropping and clearing up quickly, but the fish had either headed upstream to the pool below the dam or all headed back to the lake. We ran into MP of the Rambling Reports up by the top bridge. He was a little surprised to see we made the trip over from MN. They had landed a couple of fish in the morning, but things had slowed since the sun had come up. We headed over to the Root for the afternoon, only to return in the evening. The water had cleared up considerably and I finally hooked and landed a small 20 inch female in the tail of a big bend. We spotted redds as we worked our way down river, but again, no fish. I headed back up to the top bridge where Jerry had just lost a 30+ inch fish that had been sitting in a riffle. I pulled one other small Steelhead out from against the wall, but that was it for the day. We arrived the next day and again worked our way down river, only to return back to the top section by the bridge. Tim hooked a nice fish, only to have it jump up into the wall and knock his hook out. I also hooked another fish, but had the hooks pull out. We threw everything we had at them, but only the San Juan Worms and chartreuse eggs managed to produce fish.

April 2-3, 2005