troutfly:
I would have to agree that what I really enjoy most is the challenge. One I have complete failure on to date is beaver pond Snake River Cutthroat in Wyoming. Over in the free flowing stream sections they are a piece of cake.
Those same fish 10 yards to the side in a gin clear dead water beaver pond will feed in my face, and run like hell when I drop a fly out there. I've gone to the smallest of flys and tippets, done belly crawls and stealth that would make a sniper proud, and still been absolutely skunked. If I don't draw an elk tag next year, I might just devote a 3-week interval to catching one of those fish.
It's not just Cutthroats in beaver ponds. I think any of the trout species that live in beaver ponds have thier own genus, one that has allowed them to evolve with a certain spookiness that makes spring creek trout look like hatchery fools.
Why not combine high country trout with an elk hunt? If trout season is open during elk or for that matter, mule deer or even moose season, then my fly rod is along. Thrown in some grouse and dang........is it Sept/Oct yet? Loads of fun to be sure.
