$5 Foot Long River

Well the day couldn't have started any better unless you enjoy rain and wind. The wind was a definite and it was hard casting a 4wt into a 25 mph wind. We got to our parking location and to our surprise there wasn't another sole around. Great times ahead as we hurried and rigged up. On this river we have our usual starting points and the water looked high but it was clear. With the sunny skies we knew the fish would be tough to catch and stealth would be the calling for the day.

As we walked up river Jer had the lead and I could hear Ol' Jer hollering that he had one on. From my vantage point I couldnt see him but from the sounds of his voice it was a nice Brown. The wind made it horrible with wind knots and the constant re rigging. Than Mike got into a few and I was still at zero around mid day. I was getting a little nervous thinking to myself " I cant get skunked again, I have to land one even if its a small fish. So about midway up there was a small deep stretch that Mike and Jer have already pulled a couple of nice Browns out of.

I broke off my flies to add some more weight and used a peacock stripped Baetis pattern that I had tied a week ago and I grabbed it from my Experimental Box. Tied that on with a huge scud. Lobbed a cast at this time the wind was at my back. Easy to cast ahead of me but the back cast was tough.I saw the indicator go down and it was game on! A nice 15" brown came to hand and boy was I relieved. Wow, I felt good. Time to move up and try the notorious "Money Hole". We got there and the water in this pool looked outstanding. No risers but this is a deep pool where nymphing is the gameplan. Jer, Mike and I all dredged it with no avail. This one spot you could always count on but the river didnt see it our way so we walked upstream a bit more to one of the last deep holes before we called it a day. I decided to pack the rod and man Mike's camera to catch some action shots. The fellas didnt disappoint either. First Jer had one on than Mike. A Double on film....Sweetness!!

About this time it was about 4pm and we were burnt to a good crisp. Jer had it worst cause he had worked the night before so he was pretty much toast. We had some of Jer's Pizza waiting for us at the truck and it tasted good. I couldnt pull my keys out fast enough to unlock the doors. Those boys got hungry for sure. I dont think I was on the road for 10 minutes and the ladies were fast asleep.

It felt good to be out in the sunshine with the cold water running past your legs while being out with great friends catching nice fish.......That to me is what its all about.

Photo’s courtesy of Mike Doughty