Depuy Spring Creek Trip Fall 2013

          Depuy Spring Creek is a special place that I previously blogged about before. It has made a deep impression on my soul that will last my entire life. When I tell people that I have fished or am on my way to fish the creek, their eyes light up with envy and excitement. Depuy's is known for its three mile stretch of gin clear spring water that flows right along side of the mighty Yellowstone river and holds some of the biggest fish in the area. A beautiful back drop of the Absaroka mountains poise just a few miles away. Mountain lions wolves and grizzly bears stroll the perimeter with golden and bald eagles overhead. Since this is private land, only sixteen rods per day are aloud on the property. When full, every fisherman can easily find his or her own hole or stretch to fish in solitude. A day at Depuys has this level of prestige over other bodies of water and every angler that fishes it has their game plan likely anticipated days before their visit.

        Being a spring creek, like I mentioned in my previous article, the fish are exceptionally more difficult to catch than the local rivers. The water is so clear that the wiser fish can see you coming from ten meters away and are very weary and decisive before they accept any given fly. My flies of choice for this trip were the very common egg pattern and blue midge nymph. The brown trouts spawn was finishing up, but most resident trout will likely take an egg pattern any time of the year. I fished the creek two consecutive
Saturdays as the first Saturday was so incredible, I had to go back for more! The weather the second day was much cooler but non the less it very beautiful. Within minutes of stepping into the creek one of my friends hooked into the biggest trout of his life; a brilliant and lavish twenty two inch mighty brown trout. This fish had a grand kype and notable colors of browns and orange hues. Its places and days like these that impact the soul so deeply to the passionate fly fisherman. This allure is what will keep us coming back to the rivers edge for as long as we can walk upright.
         
         The creek has warming huts throughout its property with wood burning stoves to take shelter from the elements. This second particular day was very windy. After Mason hooked into his trophy and a few more fish that we each landed, we retreated to the hut named "Evas" for lunch and discussion. Its important to take a break, whether its on the creek bank, in a car, or in a warming hut to reflect on the days efforts. Theres never a need to rush these waters but to instead let them remain quiet and flow with peace as one is slaying

Eva's Hut

the trout. The fish will remain hungry and need time to, in a sense, forget about the fisherman that are so hastily trying to hook them.

           The first Saturday this fall, and the day that I made the video from, was a phenomenal day. My friend and I caught over thirty fish ranging from fourteen to twenty inches. My hand was cramped and my arm was sore after hauling in fish after fish. The same goes for this second outing. The fish were slamming our flies, sometimes taking off with runs going twenty feet or more in just a few seconds against our drag. The quiet, almost lifeless looking water, would erupt into madness as eighteen inches of trout dances athwart the surface of the water with a life or death attitude. The excitement we had is enough to hoot and holler down to the next guy as he intends to land what could be a personal best. Often times we had two fish being fought
simultaneously and we needed to talk to each other so our trout wouldn't get muddled and twisted together.

          On the second trip the wind was pounding us towards the end of the day. I had caught enough fish, big ones, that I was overly satisfied. We made our way up to the top stretch of the creek near the fly shop. I enjoyed the company of fishing my last few casts with a group of swans. I also enjoyed watching my buddies land their last trout of the day. I'm not sure if we caught more on the second trip or not but it really doesnt matter. I was starting to get spoiled. A lot of hard work was involved so It felt well earned. Catching high numbers of quality fish only fortifies my beliefs that I am getting to be a better fisherman. Everyday we learn something new so when that problem occurs next time we know how to handle it thus landing one more trout.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THE VIDEO FROM THIS ARTICLE IN THE POST ABOVE THIS            -MontanaTroutFishing