The Tale of Two Rivers the Fuego River and the Grande River.

These two rivers have their own unique personalities.  

I was in zero hurry today to get to the river’s edge.  I woke up made breakfast and coffee.   I generally don't fish these rivers in the spring with fish sex in the air. I needed to feel a tug on the end of my line and there was the possibility of a Walleye on the swing in which is always fun.

I got to the Grande River, and I was minding my own business and saw some new posted signs that had not been there last year.  

Being a survey technician, I know where the boundaries are for these landowners.   I have pulled their deeds at the county seat and read them is how I know their boundaries. I noticed that the new posted signs were on an island.  

I thought that was odd because his property goes to the center of the river and does not include the island.  So I did not to push my luck I steered clear of his land.  

I was getting ready to leave and a person " a fishing guide" pulled up to my car.  He was pulling a trailer for a raft for his clients.  

He asked me how long I was going to be parked there.  I said I was leaving.  I also asked him who he was guiding for.  He told me and I pointed out the new posted signs.  I told him that the sign was new and to please respect the landowner’s sign.  He said they were wading the river down to this area where I was parked.  I asked him if he had a raft and he replied no, and I thought odd you have the trailer for it on your vehicle.  

I told him good luck and called the guy he said he worked for. I did not call to be a tick I called as a concerned sportsman. I explained exactly what was said and what I saw and asked him to respect the landowners’ rights.  

So back to my story I went down stream to one of my favorite fishy spots.   Here is one of my favorite holes.  

The cf/s was approximately 500.   The gradient of the river here is steep.  The riffle here at the head of the pool is 3 feet deep and running along an undercut bank.  The elevation difference between the top of the riffle into the pool is approximately 4 feet in 100 feet. The water temp was in the 40’s and felt good!

The river has algae blooms that turn the river into this strange brown slightly tannic color as you can see in the photos. The edge of the river is clear, but in anything over 2 feet deep you can see this brown color from the algae.

I would lose three flies here swinging into the head of the pool.  I lost two of them on some submerged wood and the other I lost to a rock. 

I had a light tip on as a 114 grain of T14 on my Scott switch today.  the flies of choice were my punk rock cheerleader and one muted brown tube fly with a cone head.  I would use 24" of mono to ensure I would not blow my anchor.  

When I lost my fist fly, I came back to sit on a piece of driftwood. I was minding my own business yet again and felt something watching me. You know how you get that feeling. Well, I saw something keep going up and down off in the periphery of my left eye. 

So, I sat on the ground and all I had exposed to it was the very top of my head so I could see what it was. 

Well come to find out I was playing peek-a-boo with a River Otter. This river has them everywhere. He or she was to far away to really see it good. After I fished the pool from top to middle, I walked over to where I thought it was. I saw they had an otter slide going to the river and I was close to it I had interrupted their plans. 

It was time to leave the Grande River and press onto the Fuego River.  This river is a lot different than her easterly cousin. 

I arrived to a part of the Towpath system and got rigged up. I always chuckle as all the looks I get while walking to the river which the access is a mile from the parking lot. Lol  

So, picture this a a person with a backpack, wading staff, a 10’6” rod, and a huge blue reel on said rod walking on the towpath!

I arrived at her rivers edge, and she was nice and green with a good strong flow. The cf/s was 560 and was awesome for swinging as you can see by the photos. The water temp was in the 40’s and felt good!

I was able to traverse the river, but mother nature reminded me that she’s in charge. This river is plagued by shifting sand and rock bars. You need to be careful because these new rock bars and sand bars are always moving down here in the lower river. 

They have lots of air trapped in these bars and you can sink. Yes sink, so watch your footing. I generally fish by myself and doing this I put myself at risk all the time and I use extreme caution. 

I covered all the holding lies and feeling lies I could read out of her emerald body. I called it a day and walked back the wagon. The blue bird skies were nice, but not great for fishing.