OK, maybe that title is a little dramatic but when you have been staring at an endless snowy road for two hours, like you and your buddy are on a death march into enemy territory, you start to question your sanity. I have done this walk before so this time I thought I was being smart and brought the bicycles. The weather was great and I figured it would cut my travel time by two-thirds. So my buddy Scott and I took off for the hills not knowing our day was going to take a grueling turn. As we made our way up the road we started to get into snow, which got deeper and deeper until riding the bikes felt like riding in the sand. Frozen, Slushy Sand! We ditched the bicycles and proceeded on foot and let me tell you walking in that crusty snow was no better. But we do what we do for the sake of catching fish.
Alas, we arrived at our destination. Pure Joy. I have been here before but it always feels like the first time. This area is wild and it is evident by all the game sign (not gang signs) we saw. I payed special attention to the direction of the numerous, fresh cougar tracks you could see on the road we were walking. We fished hard, we fished long and caught more than enough trout to forget the work it took to get into this wilderness and to put a smile on the face for the trip out. I will leave the details on what we fished and how we fished up to your imagination. The trout in this section are foolish and trusting so pattern choice is mostly personal preference. But I will tell you this, there are Bull Trout in these waters and I brought a rubber band to a gun fight. Last time I was on this section of river I saw no Bullies so I left the heavy stick at home so I could keep the load light. Big mistake. A 5 weight and 6# test are no match for a 30" Bull Trout. I put up a good fight but the swift water in the lower end of the hole proved to be too much. Oh well. If you have ever had your @#$ handed to you by a large fish you know all you can do is smile. I WAS!!!
OK, maybe that title is a little dramatic but when you have been staring at an endless snowy road for two hours, like you and your buddy are on a death march into enemy territory, you start to question your sanity. I have done this walk before so this time I thought I was being smart and brought the bicycles. The weather was great and I figured it would cut my travel time by two-thirds. So my buddy Scott and I took off for the hills not knowing our day was going to take a grueling turn. As we made our way up the road we started to get into snow, which got deeper and deeper until riding the bikes felt like riding in the sand. Frozen, Slushy Sand! We ditched the bicycles and proceeded on foot and let me tell you walking in that crusty snow was no better. But we do what we do for the sake of catching fish.
Alas, we arrived at our destination. Pure Joy. I have been here before but it always feels like the first time. This area is wild and it is evident by all the game sign (not gang signs) we saw. I payed special attention to the direction of the numerous, fresh cougar tracks you could see on the road we were walking. We fished hard, we fished long and caught more than enough trout to forget the work it took to get into this wilderness and to put a smile on the face for the trip out. I will leave the details on what we fished and how we fished up to your imagination. The trout in this section are foolish and trusting so pattern choice is mostly personal preference. But I will tell you this, there are Bull Trout in these waters and I brought a rubber band to a gun fight. Last time I was on this section of river I saw no Bullies so I left the heavy stick at home so I could keep the load light. Big mistake. A 5 weight and 6# test are no match for a 30" Bull Trout. I put up a good fight but the swift water in the lower end of the hole proved to be too much. Oh well. If you have ever had your @#$ handed to you by a large fish you know all you can do is smile. I WAS!!!
3 comments:
Wow, fish looks great. I can taste it now. Your website is great. You do a good job.
This is Dad and I am so proud of my son.
haha, this one was a great post, made me laugh! Good work!
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