Haws, Renegade, CCE, & Currant Creek
On the 4th, I took to the water with my family, unsure of our main destination until a coin-flip landed us on Strawberry. Our first stop was Haw's Point and second, Renegade. Neither was good to us, with the wind forcing us to fish on the leeward side in shallow bays.
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After several hours, our only luck came in the form of a pretty little mystery trout. It had slash marks under its jaw, it was speckled more like a cutt than a bow, but it has that white tip on it's fin, like a rainbow. Either way, it actually had fins and it chased off the skunk. Otherwise, I'm at a loss for its species. I want to call it a cutt.
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With that being the only fish so far and the day getting on, we decided to head toward Currant Creek Res and stay open to distraction along the way. Chicken Creek East caught my interest and it gobbled up another hour. First cast brought in a hatchery rainbow of about 8 inches. Nothing for the next hour, so we left again and looked forward to seeing off the day at Currant Creek.
Conditions at the lake were great, but the light was fading fast. We parked at the north access and I tossed the Lucky Craft that was already on my line while a worm soaked on the bottom. The Lucky wouldn't run shallow enough to stay out of the goo, so I switched to the gold Blue Fox and connected on its first cast with something I really wasn't expecting.
It was a hard hit and it felt heavy. About 15 feet from shore, its roll broke the surface and I could tell that it was a better fish for this lake than I was used to. It fought really hard, mostly pulling me down, then I thought, "Could it be my first tiger from here?"
The stocking reports showed that they planted them, but I hadn't heard of many being caught, all of which were still pretty small. Well this one wasn't very small, coming in at almost 18 inches and thickly shouldered. It was nicely colored too. Against the sunset, it shone a deeper gold than the Blue Fox it ate.
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Another shot without the sun:
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Now I'm going to have to eat my words a little: Back when I noticed the stocking of tigers in Currant Creek, I criticized that move, griping that the tigers were everywhere already and to leave some of the good cutt waters alone. Well, my idea that the tigers would just end up being another 14 inch fish from CC was wrong and I'm glad to have met my first tiger from the lake with some promise for the future. Perhaps if they munch up some of the competition, the cutts can have more room to grow.
(PS: Eating my words can be delicious when talking about tiger trout.)
Happy Fishing, Humans.
