Exploration and Fly Fishing in Eastern Arizona
- Thread starter Scott Brady
- Start date
Scott Brady
Founder
trailsurfer
Explorer
Thanks Scott for documenting the story. We had a great time, and it shows you can make a 3 day weekend a true adventure.
xtatik
Explorer
Velly Velly soon. . .
Mo Bettah, do show, do tell.
ttora4runner
Expedition Leader
Nice writeup and photo;s. :victory:
Scott Brady
Founder
Part III
Part III:
So why do the guys who don't know how to fish catch all of them? Oh, wait - that's me. . .
So with the entire eastern half of Arizona eagerly preparing for Red Dawn II, our little group of wayward travelers lumbered west, and towards a new goal - Chevelon Canyon. This is the perfect place to take people on their first trip to Arizona, as it will ensure complete confusion. Well, let me explain the confusion part. See, the vast majority of the US population thinks Arizona looks like this- With Saguwaros
When actually, there is a huge, horseshoe-shaped section of the state that looks like this - and that is where I live, and so do the trout
Sorry for the PBS moment, lets get back to our story.
Arizona has this massive and impressive geological feature called the Mogillon Rim, which runs over 200 miles and has an average elevation of 7,000 feet. This escarpment was named after the Spanish explorer who discovered it: Don Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollón. So it turns out the Mr. Don Juan was not only effective with the ladies, but with discovering cool places too. :costumed-smiley-007. While this little history and geological lesson may seem anecdotal, it is actually very important to my story, and the fishies. You see, the elevation, cool temperatures, snow fall and deep canyons that are created off of the rim is where all of Arizona's trophy trout live, and there is one place that combines trophy trout with a nice overland adventure - Chevelon Canyon.
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Leaving 260, we turned north on the 99 Road, which is a major graded thoroughfare onto the upper rim. From the 99 road, we branched west and onto a Jeep road with tighter clearance in the trees and larger, embedded rock. Nothing the ER or SMB couldn't handle, and it just added to Dave's trophy pinstripes. This trail landed us at the most magnificent of campsites, jutting into the confluence of the Chevelon and a lesser canyon, and perched 600' above the creek below.
Dave, dropping down onto the camp in the ER.
I also explored the lower campsite, which requires a vehicle with some ground clearance and good tires. Possibly a diff lock if the tires are small enough. This lower area was affected by the fire.
.jpg)
Mike, in a dialed spot for camp. This night was Mike's for dinner, so we had white wings (bacon wrapped chicken breasts) and tri-tip. Oh, and a few bottles of wine and more cranberry juice, rum and lime. Which leads us to the naming of the Honduran cocktail. We were sitting around the fire, enjoying our tri-tip and bacon-wrapped goodness and sipp'in on rum and juice when we discovered the name for the drink. The inspiration came from the smoke rising off to our left, the remnants of what we thought was the remains of a prescribed burn. Red drink, lots of rum, a dash of lime - Prescribed Burn was born.
"If eating good food and drinking good wine make me a snob, then let me be guilty. . ." Don Juan Mogillon
Part III:
So why do the guys who don't know how to fish catch all of them? Oh, wait - that's me. . .
So with the entire eastern half of Arizona eagerly preparing for Red Dawn II, our little group of wayward travelers lumbered west, and towards a new goal - Chevelon Canyon. This is the perfect place to take people on their first trip to Arizona, as it will ensure complete confusion. Well, let me explain the confusion part. See, the vast majority of the US population thinks Arizona looks like this- With Saguwaros
When actually, there is a huge, horseshoe-shaped section of the state that looks like this - and that is where I live, and so do the trout
Sorry for the PBS moment, lets get back to our story.
Arizona has this massive and impressive geological feature called the Mogillon Rim, which runs over 200 miles and has an average elevation of 7,000 feet. This escarpment was named after the Spanish explorer who discovered it: Don Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollón. So it turns out the Mr. Don Juan was not only effective with the ladies, but with discovering cool places too. :costumed-smiley-007. While this little history and geological lesson may seem anecdotal, it is actually very important to my story, and the fishies. You see, the elevation, cool temperatures, snow fall and deep canyons that are created off of the rim is where all of Arizona's trophy trout live, and there is one place that combines trophy trout with a nice overland adventure - Chevelon Canyon.
Leaving 260, we turned north on the 99 Road, which is a major graded thoroughfare onto the upper rim. From the 99 road, we branched west and onto a Jeep road with tighter clearance in the trees and larger, embedded rock. Nothing the ER or SMB couldn't handle, and it just added to Dave's trophy pinstripes. This trail landed us at the most magnificent of campsites, jutting into the confluence of the Chevelon and a lesser canyon, and perched 600' above the creek below.
Dave, dropping down onto the camp in the ER.
I also explored the lower campsite, which requires a vehicle with some ground clearance and good tires. Possibly a diff lock if the tires are small enough. This lower area was affected by the fire.
Mike, in a dialed spot for camp. This night was Mike's for dinner, so we had white wings (bacon wrapped chicken breasts) and tri-tip. Oh, and a few bottles of wine and more cranberry juice, rum and lime. Which leads us to the naming of the Honduran cocktail. We were sitting around the fire, enjoying our tri-tip and bacon-wrapped goodness and sipp'in on rum and juice when we discovered the name for the drink. The inspiration came from the smoke rising off to our left, the remnants of what we thought was the remains of a prescribed burn. Red drink, lots of rum, a dash of lime - Prescribed Burn was born.
"If eating good food and drinking good wine make me a snob, then let me be guilty. . ." Don Juan Mogillon
FurthurOnTheFly
Glamping Society
But, I'm still waiting for the report on all the exciting things you did and found in St. Johns???
:elkgrin:
I graduated from high school up there.....
:elkgrin:
I graduated from high school up there.....
Scott Brady
Founder
Part II: Continued
Too bad fish don't live in trees
This was the first night of experimenting with the in-Jeep sleeping configuration, which proved to work quite nicely- once I got in the Jeep. The problem is, like most brilliant, yet ultimately failed ideas, it all makes sense on paper. In this case, I was trying to fit 225lbs. of Scotty in a 5 gallon bucket. This required me to enter in the DS passenger door, putting my foot on the kickplate while ducking my head and avoiding the enormous woofer/speaker contraption attached to the roll bar, then do a modified barrel roll, compressing my diaphragm in the process, twisting my shoulder, rotating my hips and them pushing my feet, with some degree of luck into the sleeping back and coming to a horizontal, but nowhere near restful state. Get it wrong, the I push the sleeping bag down, don't do it quick enough, and I pass out- brilliant.
Confined space sleeping anyone?
Waking up the next morning, I had a permanent dent in my shoulder from the Mac's Tiedown I had left on the drawer system, but was eager to get fishing. This is how all great fishing stories start right? As usual, Dave was already out and about, and had made a pot of coffee. There is a certain amount of chipperness that comes from living in an EarthRoamer. Dave also had a conspicuous smirk on his face, which I am sure had something to do with my accommodations. After a great breakfast of coffee and um more coffee. We loaded up our gear and started the trek into the canyon bottom. There are no roads down, so you have to hoof it. There is barely a trail, as the route drops 600' of elevation in less than 300' of distance- straight down. It requires pretty intense concentration to hike with fishing gear, in river sandals, all while trying not to break your neck.
At the bottom, you are rewarded with this - and not another person around.
Dave, being the uber fly fisherman that he is, set us up with some dry flies and little nymphs hanging below that (don't ask me anything technical, I have no idea).
Mikes cool hat
Yummy
And within about 20 minutes, it was ON!
There are rumored to be 20" Browns in these waters.
Charlie, working his magic
BAM!
Well done Charlie
Mike, working the crowd
In the process of me acting like I knew what I was doing, a fish had pity on me, and jumped on my fly. Actually, he hit the fly like it was the last fly on earth, and with a certain violence and commitment I appreciate. I was certain it was a 30" Brown, the AZ record fish, and we fought valiantly, me doing my best to keep the rod tip up, and him putting on a serious show for the lady fish. Eventually, I won out and Dave had him in the net. The barbless hook came out easy, and he preferred the side profile pose, Mike snapped the shot, and the rest is history - thanks for reading
Now that I have shared this little gem of a spot with you - put the fish back dammit!
Too bad fish don't live in trees
This was the first night of experimenting with the in-Jeep sleeping configuration, which proved to work quite nicely- once I got in the Jeep. The problem is, like most brilliant, yet ultimately failed ideas, it all makes sense on paper. In this case, I was trying to fit 225lbs. of Scotty in a 5 gallon bucket. This required me to enter in the DS passenger door, putting my foot on the kickplate while ducking my head and avoiding the enormous woofer/speaker contraption attached to the roll bar, then do a modified barrel roll, compressing my diaphragm in the process, twisting my shoulder, rotating my hips and them pushing my feet, with some degree of luck into the sleeping back and coming to a horizontal, but nowhere near restful state. Get it wrong, the I push the sleeping bag down, don't do it quick enough, and I pass out- brilliant.
Confined space sleeping anyone?
Waking up the next morning, I had a permanent dent in my shoulder from the Mac's Tiedown I had left on the drawer system, but was eager to get fishing. This is how all great fishing stories start right? As usual, Dave was already out and about, and had made a pot of coffee. There is a certain amount of chipperness that comes from living in an EarthRoamer. Dave also had a conspicuous smirk on his face, which I am sure had something to do with my accommodations. After a great breakfast of coffee and um more coffee. We loaded up our gear and started the trek into the canyon bottom. There are no roads down, so you have to hoof it. There is barely a trail, as the route drops 600' of elevation in less than 300' of distance- straight down. It requires pretty intense concentration to hike with fishing gear, in river sandals, all while trying not to break your neck.
At the bottom, you are rewarded with this - and not another person around.
Dave, being the uber fly fisherman that he is, set us up with some dry flies and little nymphs hanging below that (don't ask me anything technical, I have no idea).
Mikes cool hat
Yummy
And within about 20 minutes, it was ON!
There are rumored to be 20" Browns in these waters.
Charlie, working his magic
BAM!
Well done Charlie
Mike, working the crowd
In the process of me acting like I knew what I was doing, a fish had pity on me, and jumped on my fly. Actually, he hit the fly like it was the last fly on earth, and with a certain violence and commitment I appreciate. I was certain it was a 30" Brown, the AZ record fish, and we fought valiantly, me doing my best to keep the rod tip up, and him putting on a serious show for the lady fish. Eventually, I won out and Dave had him in the net. The barbless hook came out easy, and he preferred the side profile pose, Mike snapped the shot, and the rest is history - thanks for reading
Now that I have shared this little gem of a spot with you - put the fish back dammit!
Scott Brady
Founder
FourByLand
Expedition Leader
Great report. Looking forward to getting out on some of these trips.
A good old-fashioned trip report... takes me back to ExPo circa 2005.
Thanks!
A good old-fashioned trip report... takes me back to ExPo circa 2005.
Thanks!