So far this spring has done it’s best to ruin my larger fishing plans and just about every plan in general. I guess that’ll teach me to be so confident in my planning. Excess travel seems like an irresponsible decision at the moment so my trips are now limited a little closer to home. To spots where I don’t have to get gas along the way, or stop anywhere other than my destination. Despite not living in a fishing mecca we do have some great little creeks and lakes within an hour of the house.

Most of these spots take a little extra effort to get to. Especially if you want to avoid seeing another person. Luckily, there are a few of these spots around that are either not well know, or too much effort for others to venture after.

It was a glorious day. Sunny and crisp, sweatshirt weather to start and shorts and t-shirts once the ‘heat’ of the day came on. The fish were looking to eat, chasing wooly buggers and purple haze with abandon.

The casts were tricky, branches and logs cover the creek and the bank. If you hit your spot though, it almost always produced a fish. These little guys were eating to get big. Chasing streamers and smacking dries.

Arizona’s backcountry trout are always impressive. Removed by multiple generations from any stocking attempts, these hybrids of whatever has been dumped into the creek over the years fascinate me. What crossing of strains and species led to this look? Is there any of the original inhabitants of the creeks DNA left? Whatever it is, it makes for a hardy breed of fish that can withstand this desert state’s creeks.

It was the first day of hopefully many this year that my wife and I will spend chasing trout in tiny creeks. What a perfect way to start, beautiful wild fish, great weather and a rugged out of the way canyon. A good reminder that even though our world is put on hold, everything around us has kept spinning.