humbled by a small creek.

My friend Lee from Orvis downtown hooked me up with a few spots last week. I fished Paradise Spring Creek over the weekend. The place is better known for the spring pond, which is a wonder in itself. It’s one of those pieces of land that makes you want to own it, sort of magical in its own small way. The spring (water) rises out of this old stone shack, probably a town well at some point. It’s pretty amazing because you walk into the stoned building and see the shallow bottom of the well – where pretty fair amount of cold water rises and flows into the pond next to it. The pond is small in size, just enough space for couple of anglers to feel comfortable. This pond is the watering hole that keeps fishermen sane throughout the long winters. There’s a lot of trout in this pond, but they are not gullible – they are shy and educated. Most people fish the pond, so I spent my afternoon on the other side of the road… the creek.
















The pond water trickles into a curved maze of a small creek that runs through a expansive field. The creek is a trickle… just enough to hold itself to be called a creek. It’s the smallest creek I’ve ever fished, literally a light hop over to the other bank side. Most people don’t fish the creek side because the pond is more attractive, there’s no chance there’s big fish in there, and because casting is awkward in the winding maze. I’m sure that as summer grows deeper, so does the bushes and bush lines – providing cover, however for the moment it is a naked field that is unforgiving to a clumsy guy like me. Fish spook so far away you only get a glimpse of it dashing away. I spent a lot of time crawling, trying to get close enough to actually make a cast into a narrow strip of water that runs through the field, with wind on my back. Even if I successfully make the cast, some portion of my line is touching the bank on one side, so I have a very short drift – just inches longer than the fish that I’m trying to catch. You can see that there’s been extensive restoration work done here (town + TU chapters), a nice sight to see & appreciate.

This little creek humbled me today. I spent the whole afternoon and only was able to catch one small fish. The small creek had me on my hands and knees most of the time. Each bend only provided me with one cast – most which I fumbled the opportunity away. Fortunately, the fish I caught was so pretty that it made the whole thing worthwhile – I drove home feeling pretty good.

Thanks for the info Lee.