After a quick lunch break, I started back to try my luck on the aforementioned "well known" creek. As soon as I reached the junction of the two streams, there was another angler. I politely asked (in a whisper of course) which direction he was fishing as to not disturb the fish when I crossed. He very angrily said, "Yeah, if you could cross down stream that would be nice." No need for an attitude when I was trying not to spook your fish! Rude. That almost made me comment on how he was using a strike indicator while nymphing. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for indicators for sure. But anyway...I walked about 100 feet downstream of him, saw a good spot that I knew he had just fished, and took a cast. One cast. I hooked into a rainbow with my killer bug (thanks to Chris Stewart!) and chuckled. Such a simply fly catches fish when traditional nymphs (at least in the western fly fishing world) didn't. After that I called it a day. Drove all the way back and fell right asleep!
All and all, it was a great trip. I got to surround myself with natural beauty, separate myself from the technological world, and caught some fish! Were they big? Not at all. The biggest was only about 7 inches, but that doesn't take away from the excitement. I'd rather chase and catch wild and native trout. Sure the big, stocked trout are fun, but nothing beats the ferocity of a wild trout in a rapid stream.