Just Browns And A Hard Hike @ The Williams Fork 27Mar19

With a gorgeous spring day forecast I set out for the Williams Fork (late AM to avoid an early coldness). This time of year there are huge Colorado River rainbows migrating up the Fork to spawn - and I was primarily seeking them. Unfortunately I saw no 'bows, nor even any real spawning signs. I did trudge through 10" of snow and slush into, out of, and along the Fork on this day. It was one of the most grueling hikes I'd ever done due to the conditions of post-holing or sliding... and that's saying something as I've hiked a lot. What's more, a number of others had done it too - probably thinking as I did that we'd see the big 'bows. I fished the entire length of the Williams Fork and it was pretty low and a little off color but nothin'. It feels we are ~10 days behind "normal" fishing activities - at least on higher elevation rivers, even the tailwaters. It might be that the low 60cfs flows provide insufficient cover for the big 'bows so they're doin' their business elsewhere; it does seem flows were higher last year in March than now. Nonetheless I caught plenty of the smaller browns on mayfly nymphs as a bit of solace. Plus it was gorgeous while in there.