Last week I spent a couple hours on Ye Olde Brookie Emporium. The water was medium-high and running clear. I hadn’t fished this stream since last spring, and there were some changes over the summer. A constant supply of too much water really moved the fish around, placing them in some holes that are normally low and devoid of char this time of year. A couple pools underwent significant structural changes that altered their size and depth, mostly due to old logjam dams being swept away and new ones being formed. The bottom line was that there were fish almost everywhere, and they were in great shape and eager to jump on.

Due to the volume of water, I started subsurface with the Squirmy Wormy Jig, which was a good call. Almost immediately, the brookies began attacking the fly. I used a size 12 to minimize hookups; later in the day I went down a size to actually land a few. Stripped, dangled, swung, hopped, it didn’t matter. This fly was under constant assault.

Next, I wanted to try out a new pattern I’d read about this winter in Pat Dorsey’s book Favorite Flies for Colorado, the ARF Humpulator. This pattern from Al Ritt was designed to float better, longer. As its title suggests, it’s a riff on a Stimulator and a Humpy. (My favorite feature might be the hi-vis indicator tied onto the wing, something I’ve thought about doing on my Stimulators and Improved Sofa Pillows for years.) Although it is intended to be tied in sizes 6-10, I made my ARF Humpulators in a size 14. Like any big, bushy dry, the wild things slashed and crashed and bashed and mashed it. Again, by going with a larger size, I eliminated unnecessarily hooking smaller fish.

I was disappointed in several of the hero pools, but that may be a function of them being easy to access, and the resulting increase in fishing pressure. Leaves were not yet a factor. No redds were observed, but I did see a pod of good-sized char milling about at the bottom of one deeper gravel bed. I decided to let them be. While it was a work day of sorts (shooting photos and video), it’s hard to beat a day at the office like that.