To kick off the Nelson Spring Creek Challenge I am going to post a score for everyone to shoot at. It was done in Experienced Mode using the regulation 4 wt rod and 7x leader strength. I think the choice of tackle size (4 wt rod and 7x tippet) for this Challenge pretty closely approximates the real tackle used on the Nelson Spring Creek on a daily basis. There are no monster trouts in this outing but even a 24 inch Rainbow or Brown Trout will take a bit of skill, patience and luck to fight out and land. I lost three flies on my first attempt in doing the Challenge by applying too much pressure, too quickly on the fish. No, this will not be one of those "cast out, hook fish and haul in" outings. You will need a little finness to score well in this 10 scene Challenge.
You will probably notice that there are two kinds of Brown trout in this outing Challenge. There is a light golden color one and a darker color one. The Brown Trout (Salmo Trutta) originated in Europe and was introduced into the US waters way back in 1883. This great fish quickly established itself in America and are widely distributed all over the continental USA where there are suitable stream habitats.Their coloration sometimes varies with the stream environments. On the Yellowstone River we tend to see brightly colored Brown Trout with a light yellowish tint to their skins. However, in some of the slower and muddier tributaries and side channels the coloration of the Brown Trout tended to be darker, I think this is so the fish can blend in better with their environment. In the Nelson Spring Creek sometimes you see the best of both worlds. I would say from my experience the larger, and more mature Brown Trout tend to be a little darker than their younger juniors. So, if you hooked into a darker Brown Trout during the Challenge, make sure you take a bit time and care when you play and land the fish.
As you can see here the Challenge took 27 minutes and 30 seconds to complete. This is a good time for a Challenge as when it takes too long people tend to tire and lose their concentration and interest in the Challenge. If it is too short then not much skill would be involved. During my Challenge I lost one nice fish in one of the scenes when the hook came out. I did not lose any flies. I expect your own time will vary, depending on how many big fish you hooked and played out. I didn't hook into any of the big fish so my time might be a little faster than the average.
Please post all your scores here so we can keep everything in one place. It will be a lot easier for Roger to keep track of everything that is going on, verifying the scores, etc. I thank you in advance for your cooperation on this.
Here are my Challenge Score and the caught codes:
Fish: 21.30 inch Jumping Rainbow Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: QQPOPBKTGELCJ3897YWVTDWYUBQIEYTQDEDSTPTSWAJWEGGZXSHXSOBFLCSIA
Fish: 17.22 inch Jumping Cutthroat Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: GGKNOAFYLMBVY4660AGWOGLHBHUOFSTASCFYDGBHLEUSDMWFIOJHFMBHWBCZY
Fish: 17.22 inch Jumping Cutthroat Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: GGKNOAFYLMBVY4660AGWOGLHBHUOFSTASCFYDGBHLEUSDMWFIOJHFMBHWBCZY
Fish: 16.96 inch Jumping Mountain Whitefish from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: ANGYJBHUEYJYR4529TUBJSUGJBXBUMSPZRVHPPFBPAXYUMWEZYCZALQCTOEOR
Fish: 19.25 inch Jumping Brown Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: ITFJTOKINVCLX7917DZQPGSYWVZOOBIPCBJGPCSQYAJRWVTVIRKJSFMSDHZQU
Fish: 21.04 inch Jumping Rainbow Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: GHVSJJGBVRUGP7766BLZTJKMUCLGMOVWABJPROTDTQUMOCGEFWQSGNTSCHTUV
Fish: 19.51 inch Jumping Rainbow Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: AXFIRJTTLOWDJ2233DOXJTNEKBIMYIIRKPTLRFSKIDKYHTRBGYDXUPHQBVUFD
Fish: 19.28 inch Jumping Mountain Whitefish from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: ITFJTOKTNVDOX7917DZQPGSYWVZOOBIPCBJGPCSQYAJRWVTVIRKJSFMSCWZGK
Fish: 16.92 inch Jumping Rainbow Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: CADQUHLCOROHC8273TJBNBJBCWODJJMMSGJQAVURWAHKBOYOGHPIKYWEZPVBO
Fish: 16.92 inch Jumping Rainbow Trout from C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Code: CADQUHLCOROHC8273TJBNBJBCWODJJMMSGJQAVURWAHKBOYOGHPIKYWEZPVBO
Challenge: C L Nelson's Spring Creek, Collector edition; Score: 2687; Code: GCBROYLTJTMHEZQAFPNNPGFCDXWWDYIPLDBIZXJPWKJRIQAGOJDFAQGYJDJGO
I hope everybody will have a great time doing the Challenge and beating my score.
Regards,
Stanley
Note: My posted score is for reference only. As the outing making of the Nelson Spring Creek I will disqualify myself from winning any prizes. I think this is only fair as I know the outing intimately, like my own child.
