Trout

Well, you may have thought that like many nascent bloggers, I had bored quickly and let this die. As a matter of fact, I had to make a brief visit to the Left Coast for a few days and didn't have a chance to do any fishing. I talked quite a bit about it, and my friend Critter sent me home with a new vise, quite a few tools, and a load of material. It occupied half of my checked bag, which means it really was quite a bit. I am looking forward to going through it all and telling you what I have done with it.

At any rate, while I was gone, all I could do was think about fishing when I returned. Turns out the weather differential was enough that I developed something like hay fever. By the time I got off the plane Monday evening, I was whipped. I'll never fly again congested.

Tuesday morning, I couldn't sleep, eat, talk, work or think. I just suffered through most of the day. Finally, I decided I might go fishing, that some exposure to the outdoors would be good for me. So I loaded my gear and decided to head for the nearest trout stream.

The weather was still pretty hot while I was gone, but cooler than it had been. It has definitely been less intense the last couple of days or so, barely breaking ninety. The water felt decently cool, but it where I was, the stream is immediately refreshed by four waterfalls.

I headed downstream from where I entered about 300 yards and finally decided to cast a line. Within five minutes, I had a strike on a Prince Nymph I had tied and landed my first trout, maybe nine inches, but probably more like six. I then caught two more over the course of the next couple of hours, constantly moving downstream. I might have had more luck moving upstream, but this was a learning and exploring experience for me. I enjoyed the solitude for sure, and the experience of landing my first rainbow trout. The best part of it was that it was a fly I tied that caught it.

They don't seem to have the fight that a smallmouth of the same size would give, but they never gave up either. I think I may be hooked. We'll see.

I couldn't wait to tell the chief about it when I returned home. He seemed a bit envious. He wants to go to the same place this weekend.