As I am mid-prep for my upcoming MBA program, this will be a pretty straight-to-the-point update. Jerry and I managed to get out on one of our favorite rivers on Wednesday. This would be his first time on the river this year. As we both needed to be back in the city by the mid-afternoon, we decided to get to the river as early as possible. We pulled up beside the river, dawn just starting to show, at roughly ten after 5am. We started on our usual stretches, but the rain that came the day before was making for some difficult fishing. In the first two large stretches of river that we explored, we managed a few small, but beautiful fish.
As the sun started its daily routine, raising up over the horizon, it cast a beautiful glow on the river, and I couldn't help but snap a photo or two.
With the two first stretches of water under our belts, we decided to change up our tactics, and head to a different section of the river. All morning we were drifting through the typical pools and runs, but we decided to head further upstream, closer to the headwaters, and try some pocket water Czech-nymphing. As we approached the river, our hopes weren't particularly high, but the weather was perfect, and who can complain about time spent on the river. We almost decided to leave the net in the car, as we weren't expecting to catch any noteworthy fish. After a brief chat, we decided we should bring it, "just in case". Within minutes, however, our tune had changed, as I hear Jerry holler my name behind me, and I turn to see a huge bend in his rod, with his line zipping upstream fairly quickly. This was after only spending MAYBE 10 minutes on the new stretch of river. After a great fight, we had a beautiful bar of gold in the net, and I snapped some photos while we soaked in the beauty of this trout, and revived him.
We estimate the trout to be in the neighborhood of 20", and Jerry found him in a pocket of water behind a rock that was a foot and a half deep, max. It's always mind blowing where these fish can hide.
The remainder of the morning resulted in some more smaller brown trout, but many more gorgeous views.
Upon lifting a rock to look for some trout food, I even managed to find this gnarly looking hellgrammite.
After 8 hours on the water, we hiked back to the car, grins still on our faces from that big brown, and called it a day. All in all, it was another great day on the water with a friend. If all goes well, we may get a chance to repeat this again soon - fingers crossed!
Tight lines,
Cody
Thanks man!
