Time to see how Clear Creek is faring. It was surely not immune to the rains and high water of recent weeks.
The crossing at the rapids had a big tree in it last season but now it's gone.
Oh, there it is, down in the middle of the wide slow water.
The fisherman's trail on the other side isn't grown over yet. Wild flowers still display their bright colors in the carpet of green.
The fungi are having a good spring.
There used to be a fallen tree here, too. It seemed immovable through the two seasons I've fished here. Now it has disappeared into thin air.
Oh, here it is. It rolled up on top of two or three other trees already lodged against some standing trees.
I fish this section. This is where I've caught most of my smallmouth. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that the spate smoothed out all the potholes and runs and boulders. Maybe the smallies will still find some satisfactory lies. But they weren't there this time.
There's a new blow down. I wonder where it will end up.
I make my way down toward the island and the pretty little run.
Again, it might be my imagination, but it seems the run is diminished. It used to drop off of the gravel and rock bar into a long deep chute. Now it looks like the gravel and rocks have been pushed over into the chute.
It's the same on down where the stream makes a wide bend at the foot of the island. It used to sweep right to left making a fine current seam between the fast run on the right and the deep slower water on the left. Now it has been evened out. I'll reserve judgment on this change. I never caught anything here before. Maybe this change will change my luck, too.
Time to slog out.
I stopped at the wide slow stretch under the ridge and cast a little muddler to some little rises. My guess is chubs. They whacked the fly hard but they were too small to hook up.
We've had more rain since I was there. Maybe I'll find yet another stream when I go back again.
