Forcefully pushing my Bugger across the stream, an epic gale nearly put me in the drink. It's tough to maintain your balance when your feet are a foot into the muck. But, that's just another day fishing one of Paradise Valley's spring creeks in the offseason.
We hit Depuy's yesterday because the forecast was for temps around 40. To our delight, the temps were actually around 45 when we woke up. To our dismay, there were sustained winds of 35 to 50 miles per hour, with gusts to 75. To our casual delight, winds were forecast to "diminish" by mid-day. Plus there's always the chance that the winds will somehow blow over the top of Depuy's property. So we got there at about 11:15 a.m. and to no one's surprise, it was pretty windy.
But the fishing was decent - everyone landed at least a couple fish in the intermittent spots when a cast was possible. By about 3 p.m., a mini-blizzard had plastered snow to our waders and we decided we'd had enough.
Even with all the adversity, it was still worth the off-season rate of $40. It's a place that will get hatches (more than just midges, too), won't be frozen over, and will have fish that are more than slightly awake. And despite the fact that it's often the only option, there's rarely anyone else there. I'm shocked that more locals don't take advantage of these glorious fisheries.
But I won't complain too much - it's nice to have the run of the place to yourself.
