Sluiceboxes State Park

August 15, 2024. What a huge change in surroundings.  From wide open cattle country and 85 degrees to dense forested canyon in the mid forties last night.  Judith River turned out to be tiny creek about 5 inches deep and silty.  Didn't look "fishy" at all. Yogo creek was the same.  On the way in I saw 4 Forest Service firetrucks headed out and this morning a truck hauling a bear trap behind it.  I don't whether he was picking one up or dropping one off but those combined activities made me nervous about whether this was a good place to be.

Today I'm headed for Sluiceboxes State Park at the northern tip of L&C Forest.  Dunno what to expect there but I read good things about it.  I didn't expect to find cell service today but right in the middle of a huge burn section of a
forest there's suddenly a signal.  

Forest service has been diligent about marking whether it's okay to have a campfire.  There's a sign at every campsite and a red flag in every fire ring.  No ambiguity.

Yesterday morning I fished Big Spring Creek for a final time.  Sunny with bugs hatching and fish rising.  The little ones rocket up from their hiding places, take a fly and rocket right back again.  The bigger ones chill out in shallow, clear waters with a gray bottom.  You can see them plain as day, just hanging out, in no hurry, lazily taking a fly now and then.  No monsters but plenty big.   

I tried hoppers. Nope. Caddis dries, nope.  Perdigons, soft hackle, pheasant tail bead heads, kitchen sink... Nope.  Time to leave so for my last try, I took a fly I designed and tied myself and trimmed the hackle and wings down to about the size of the ones the lazy boys were sipping.  I cast it out and let it drift down to one that hadn't sipped in a while.  He casually rose, staying almost horizontal, as bigger trout are want to do and he absent mindedly took my fly.  BAM! Fish on!  12 inch cuttie with flaming red marks under his jaw.  Sweet way to end the BSC adventure.