Vallecito Report, First fish in a strange land...

It's always magical catching a fish in a place where you have never caught one. I've floated many muddy western rivers over the years and never really dreamed of catching anything. Mainly on a river trip you just end up busy, rowing all day, setting up camp and of course... drinking beer. This year, floating from Dewey Bridge to Moab on the Colorado, I made it a point to bring along a rod, reel and just a few random hooks and sinkers. I didn't see the point of trying any lures in such muddy water, but that might have been short sighted. The Colorado Pikeminnow, also known as the Squawfish, is an agressive predator and is often seen breaching the surface of the river quite loudly. While looking at the top 6 inches of the river, I noticed quite a few minnows swimming around and can only assume that is what they're chomping. I wished I had a little kastmaster, but that'll be next time.

What I did do was rig up a drop shot rig with a 1/2oz sinker and throw some bits of fried chicken out. I caught about a dozen catfish, none were that big but it was really fun catching fish in a new place using a method that I never really use. Good times. Cool fish.

I fished Vallecito on Thursday before heading to Utah. The reports at the boatramp were of smallmouth, smallmouth everywhere. One guy said he'd caught 30 that morning using crayfish patters on his fly rod with a sinking line. He was fishing the riprap. He also caught a few on the surface. My job was to round up dinner for everyone so I ended up dragging my old Kokanee rig and just putting a mess of silver slimers on the smoker. Tasty! If you're in need of some good fight and potentially tasty smallmouth, hit up the riprap at Vallecito. Let me know how you do!