First time in almost a month (updated with pic)
Having been stuck in Vegas five days a week for the past month I was looking forward to my fishing trip. My wife understood my frustration and said to me why don't you go fishing with your friends one day. I was pretty excited as I have not been able to wet a line since Halloween.
The night before my trip I dusted off my equipment and got it packed. I took my camera off its charger and set it next to me as I put a new 5X leader on my CFO reel. I swear I put it in my vest after I was done but the details are still foggy.
I threw all of my equipment in my car, took a shower and went to bed. The alarm woke me up at 0700 the following morning. After I brushed my teeth and got dressed I went down stairs. My phone had a new text message. It was from Jeremy, he said he was running a little late. I decided to sit and BS with the wife for a bit, and then I took off.
I got to Jeremy's house at around 0730; I guess he didn?t want to mess around because he already had his waders and boots on. We put his stuff in the trunk, hit McDonalds and headed to the freeway. After a little bit we saw the exit, I must admit I was pretty excited as we got closer as I had not been fishing in such a long time.
We made our way down into the canyon and to the spot we wanted to fish. I got out and got my equipment. The area looked nice with the snow so I wanted to take a picture. I went into my vest and there was no camera. ****, I swear I put it in there last night. I looked around in my trunk, but it wasn't there.
I decided to quit looking and get ready. After I got ready we headed towards the river. The morning was nice and cool with no other people in sight. When we got to the river I decided to start downstream while Jeremy headed across the river.
Wanting to throw dries and not seeing anything on the surface I tied on a #22 Adams. I saw a fish rise and decided to cast to it. I grabbed my SPL and sent the Adams towards its destination. I had a great drift and....nothing. I cast to the fish a few more times when something else caught my attention.
Just below where the riffle entered a deep pool there were all sorts of fish rising. Still not seeing anything on the surface I decided to keep the Adams on. After a few casts I saw a tell tale silhouette come up from the deep and take my offering. I set the hook and was treated to a fun fight with a nice little bow. I quickly landed him and sent him on his way.
I kept the Adams on for a bit catching and LDR'ing quite a few more fish. Then I decided to mess around so I tied on a #14 Parachute Hares Ear. Just like the Adam?s this fly worked well. I landed some more fish on this fly before the fly became mangled.
About this time Jeremy met back up with me. We then noticed a pretty decent BWO hatch, so I went ahead and tied on a #18 BWO. We fished for a bit before we decided to cross the river and hit the section from a better angle. The other side was great as there was a nice rock to stand on. You could see all the activity below the surface from this vantage point.
I was having a blast watching the fish chase my fly even if I missed the strike or had a refusal. Jeremy and I were having a great time, he cast out and a nice sized bow took his BWO just after it had got sucked under the surface by the current.
Jeremy jumped down and fought the fish from a different area that would be easier to land it. I watched for a bit then decided to go back fishing. I told him to let me know when he wanted me to take the pic (with his camera). In the mean time I caught another fish. I quickly landed and released the fish. By that time Jeremy was ready to land his fish.
I jumped down and he handed me the camera. I snapped a couple of shots but they looked odd. Jeremy released the fish and took a look at his camera. Evidently it was let on the macro setting when he handed it to me. So what ended up being the biggest fish of the day shot was ruined.
We went back to fishing and I hooked one and landed it. Jeremy snapped a quick photo of my fish and I sent him on his way. We fished for a bit longer then decided it was time to head home.
It sure was a fun day I know we both had a great time. I enjoyed really getting out and getting a chance to fish my SPL on a larger river. That rod had to be one of my favorite rods as it suits my casting style better than any of my other rods. Plus the fish on feel is simply awesome.
When I got home I looked to my camera to no avail. I even looked for it today and nothing. As soon as Jeremy sends me the pics I will add them to the report.
