Gone Wanting

CULVERTS & BRIDGES

Unloved & Ignored

we'll take 'em

FOOD & AERATED WATER
CONCENTRATED INTO 3 STREAMS - YUM !!

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.. We've been told, (and we believe it,) that trout love water with a high oxygen content. We've also been told that trout like to wait in slow water adjacent to fast food-laden water, (we believe that too.)
.. Culverts and bridges provide places for trout that like to wait in slow, oxygenated water, and nip some morsels from a smorgasbord sailing by their position. We believe that as well. So, we fish them.
.. There are many culverts and several bridges in Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding neighborhood that we visit on a regular basis. Seldom do we not catch a fish or two, (or more.) It's almost too easy.
.. The dark water is easily seen. The fast water is well defined. Sun and shadow changes throughout the day so we need to note that. Fish 'hides' are present in abundance.
.. Because of the concentrated streams of water, channels from the high-water periods are persistent and regular. Talk about fish in a barrel. It's just too easy for the purist seeking to match wits with a pea-brained fish.

ONLY THE SHADOW KNOWS

.. Stream and river banks on both the upstream and downstream areas are usually stabilized with concrete or rip-rap.  This makes the hides and cover persistent. This is convenient for both the fish and the angler.
.. The water columns present a variety of foodstuffs and the trout will gobble many different things in a feeding session. Beetles, ants, neotenous aquatic forms, adult aquatic forms, terrestrials of all sorts, sticks, twigs, clumps of sand grains, etc.
.. Infrequently the trout will even rise to the surface and pluck lovely floating stuff from the surface. Sometimes it's digestible.
.. Because of the diversity of waters and the concentration of food, there are fish of all sizes to be found. The bruisers are where you'd expect them to be. The dinkers are there too. Frequently there are monsters in 3" to 8" of water. Bless their little pea brains, they give us a fright when they take our errant casts.
.. Cars, trucks, buses, motorpickles, bicycles, skateboards, and other sundry vehicles pass by these glorious catching places without a second thought. Probably without a first thought.
.. This is not the "postcard fishing experience" touted by advocates of our region and the feather merchants. It's a real-life, loud noisy, occasionally stinky, catching extravaganza. It appeals to us because we can walk to the fish with little or no effort, and they reward us with dances.
.. We mention these structures a couple of times each year. They are still abandoned when we visit them. The fish are lonely and forlorn because no one wants to play with them. We happily comply with their wishes: there's nothing so frustrating as a sulking fish!

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POCKETS, POOLS, UNDERCUTS, BENDS, RIP-RAP, SHALLOW, DEEP:
WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE ??

(THE IMAGES ARE GIANT AND MAY BE USED FOR WALLPAPER.)