I took a client to Battle Creek for planter fishing. It is one of those trips that you always enjoy being in the outdoors. We arrived around 3:30pm at the locked gate to A-line. It was nice and cool coming from the hot valley floor. After checking gear and enjoying an early evening snack we trekked down the gradual incline of the road. Wild life was plentiful as we came across several deer and squirrels. At the bridge the cascading water made the musical noise that enlightens every fisherman. We could see several mid-size(12 to 14 inch) rainbows held up in the shadows of the large pines. We fished from the bridge for a few minutes with no success. The fish were skiddish and not interested in the offerings that we had for them. We started out with the yellow humpy and then turned to the royal wolf. It was a chance for the client to practice casting and retrieving line. We worked on the proper technique of presentation of the dry fly.
We moved up stream approximately 200 yards where we found a comfortable riffle to try our hand at nymphing. Right away we caught several fish on bead headed green hairs ears. Most fish ranged from 7 to 10 inches and were wild not the large planters that the locals had been calling me about. The joy and excitement on a grown mans face when he is catching fish is just priceless. We continued to change flies and work on casting and retrieving until it became comfortable for the client. We moved down stream to the waterfalls casting and retrieving and catching fish.
As the evening darkened we changed to dry flies. I could tell that the fish had been fished hard during the weekend as was told to me by the locals. The fish would rise and bump the fly but, to no success.
Great time with this client. He was very informative about the weather as he at one time in his life worked for the national weather service.