Grace Coolidge Creek is quite tiny, barely more than a trickle for most of its run, but somebody had the great idea of installing a series of several low-head dams along its course, creating several large pools or ponds that are full of trout. Mostly stocked rainbows with a few browns and brookies thrown in for good measure. Oh, and a few annoying chubs here and there, as well. Some of the fish can get quite large, as I can attest, as I have landed a couple of 18 inchers over the years. Most of the fish are between 8 and 12 inches, so essentially it's like every other stream I have ever fished.
We took the family out to Custer for the first time last week. The family consists of the Wife and our four children: Girl #1, the Boy, Girl #2, and Girl #3. Oh, the Sister-In-Law came with us, too. The Wife and I took our three oldest children on a hike along Grace Coolidge Creek one afternoon. Since I am not very good at hiking along a trout stream without a rod in hand, I brought my Fenwick F755 with, but promised that I would only make 5 casts into each pool, so as not to disturb the hike too much.
It was a beautiful hike, but I won't bore you with those details. Let's get down to the nitty gritty of my fishing stats during the hike, shall we? Here they are:
- 5 pools fished
- 25 casts made
- 9 fish landed
- 6 fish missed or lost
- 6 rainbow trout landed
- 1 brown trout landed
- 2 chubs landed :(
- 1 fly (size 14 elk hair caddis)
- 1 rod (Fenwick F755)
- 1 reel (Redington Drift)
- 1 Wife who was happy that I didn't ruin our hike with endless casting
- 3 Kids who loved watching the wriggling rainbow trout splashing around
It was a fun hike in some beautiful country, but let's face it, the most impressive thing about it was my amazing catch ratio! I can't guarantee you will have as much luck if you ever get to fish Grace Coolidge Creek, because you're not me. But you should have a fun time, no matter what. Here re some pics from the hike:
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| The Elk Hair Caddis that worked very well... |
