It often amazes me how comfortable the Hartsel area is from the seat of a truck. Blue skies are the norm and the fields of grass are so windblown that a 60 mph. wind barely flutters the tip of each blade. Herds of Buffalo and Prong Horn serve as greeters for the Spinney Mountain area and it isn't uncommon to spook a jack rabbit the size of a small deer along the way. It can be easy, on the way to the river, to see why they call it the Dream Stream.
Today the river was seasonably low and crystal clear with more frozen water than I have seen all winter. You risk spooking fish when you break ice while sliding into the river which is where you want to be casting from if at all possible. Angles are a large part of analyzing your approach on the Dream Stream or similar small streams. Fishing from the bank brings you too far in to the trout's "cone of vision". I have found that if the trout in this river are unaware of your presence they will feed on almost every likely food source presented to them. If they know you are there then you better have done your homework to know what bugs are present and in what stage of the hatch the fish are keying on.
From 9:00 a.m - 2:00 p.m. the fish fell for various stages of a sz. 26 black midge below a light pink or purple San Juan worm or Tan scud. The attractors worked less as the day progressed and the fishing became extremely technical by 1:15 when the sun was at its brightest. Not spooking or alerting the fish on your approach can be the toughest part of the battle. To me, crawling through the snow and ice just makes this a more exciting game we play. I knew those countless hours of playing army as a kid would pay off somehow.
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