from the minute i came into view of the rush river after descending the downstream side of the small bridge spanning this river valley, it hit me how thankful i was for this day. it hit me how lucky i am to be here, doing something i love. it hit me that at this point in my life, i could be too busy from doing such things, but having a wife that supports who i am and what makes me... me.... allows me to flourish and continue the exploration of the boundaries of my individuality. .....a gift i do not take for granted, and one which i hope i'm always willing to return and value.
i decided today, that instead of rigging up at the van and being prepared to cast a line in at the first welcoming hole i encountered, i kept my tippet wrapped in hand and was going to breathe, walk slowly, listen, watch, and breathe.
i arrived two hours prior to the time that joe and khang would be showing up today, and so i had some time to myself to just be. i decided i did not want to get in the habit of being too distracted by fishing, so much so that i began to overlook. overlook all that surrounds me. overlook what you cannot see when you're busy preparing and casting fly line. overlook the sounds. overlook the silence. overlook the shadows cast by a morning's rising sun.
i took the video above to try and capture this process of slowing down. this process of listening, and watching, and taking in the moment with deep, slow breaths. of course no video can recreate such practice, and yet it can point in the direction i was attempting to guide myself this particular morning. the trout were not going anywhere far, and there was plenty of time left in a day that was beginning around 10am and that i was going to be fishing until the sun decided it had had enough for the day.
i walked the river bed for some time, and eventually chose a spot where a couple of canadian geese were having their equivalent to a morning coffee with each other. they were not happy about my presence, and made that known to me. i smiled, and wished them a good morning, but this did not do anything to help. the male flapped its wings violently and honked at me. he decided it was not worth charging today, and i'm glad he did. i just wasn't in the mood for a fight with a goose.
the couple made their way upstream and didn't bother to say good bye. i sort of felt bad about intruding, but i figured they could fly, and i couldn't. i'm not saying its bullet-proof logic, but they were not looking for trout and i was. so.
i only had my line in for about 30 minutes by the time joe piped in over our two-way radios. they had arrived 15 minutes shy of noon, and were ready to get moving. i could definitely understand their excitement and anticipation.
joe asked if i had caught any fish, and when i replied no, he said, "well, i was going to say 'my work is done' if you had caught fish already. you have to know how to fish these holes, they aren't as obvious as other places." i just gave him a knod and smiled. no matter what he believed, i certainly knew his work wasn't done! i have much to learn.
we headed upstream (as opposed to the direction i had taken earlier), and joe put each of us in spots he knew were ripe for trout picking. khang and joe both started off quickly with numerous trout in the net in the first hour, while i struggled to find what the trout were looking for. khang's success was especially exciting since this was only his second time out with minimal equipment! this man was born to fish. having fished since he was a little boy, he has a powerfully acute intuition when it comes to dropping line in the water. its fun to watch him pick things up so quickly, and just a bit humbling.
i had never caught a fish yet on my own flies. so when my fortunes were not going well, i decided to take what i considered to be my most unique fly i've made yet, and throw it on the line. i name all my flies, an act i still am not sure whether joe appreciates or is annoyed by, and this particular fly i dubbed "special ed." there are a number of reasons for this, part of which has to do with an inside joke between joe and i, and part of it has to do with the fact that my wife has worked in special education for over 13 years. anyway, i have always loved this fly, and told joe that even though it doesn't look like all the other traditional flies, it was a winner.
i tied on "special ed" and within 5 casts, my indicator dropped beneath the bubbling water. when i lifted my 9 foot rod tip up in response, i felt a very substantial counter-response under the surface.
i had a nice sized trout hooked!
this trout ran and ran. he swam upstream and downstream trying to figure his plan of escape. i followed him gently and let him work out some of his initial adrenaline before guiding him to the opposite shore where i could stand in more shallow water to net him. eventually i netted him, and found that i had caught a very nice sized 14.5 inch trout.
(you can see my "special ed" fly on his belly,
you may have to click picture to see it though)
this was the biggest trout i had caught to date! it was also my first trout caught on the rush river. and it was the first time i had caught a trout with my own fly. three firsts in one netted trout. amazingly, within 20 minutes i followed this up with a 14 inch trout, and a 12 inch trout. three of the biggest i had ever caught, and all in the matter of a half hour, and all with "special ed"!!
i decided to move on after this, and unfortunately in the process tripped and fell for the first time into the river (at least the first time where i actually filled my waders). it was relatively warm (high 50s) and so it didn't matter a great deal, and actually felt good to get drenched for a short time, but i still felt like all left feet because of it.
the day from here on was simply amazing. and for all three of us. khang and joe were into double digits for number of fish caught by 4pm or so, and i was at around 7 at the same time. it was a just a fantastic day for catching trout. all three of us had two way radios, and so we were able to check in with each other from time to time. the radios really added a new dimension to fishing together that i appreciated. instead of only being able to check-in once or twice a day, we were able to talk about what was going on throughout the day. that just made it feel more communal, and allowed us to talk about what we were having success with in terms of technique and/or flies.
toward the evening, like around 6:30pm, i went on a tear with the fish i was catching. after about an hour lull, i ended up catching 10 fish in the matter of two hours. it ended up bringing my count to 18 for the day, shattering my previous record of 9 in an entire day. in that span, i tried different casting techniques, and actually fished most the afternoon with a dual-rig setup. this was another first for the day. joe had talked about this for about 10 months now, but i had refrained from trying due to the fact that i was still trying to grow comfortable with my casting. casting becomes even more important with a dual-rig setup, because with two flies whizzing through the air, its that much more to get tangled if you're not performing all aspects properly.
i fell in love with this technique though, as it allowed me to fish top water (dry flies) and sub-surface at the same time. i ended up catching 12 of my 18 fish for the day on dry flies (specifically caddis, which are top water, or dry flies). dry flies are exciting because it requires the trout to surface to take your fly. when they surface, the water explodes and that visual stimulus gets your heart racing instantaneously. its a very exciting thing to experience. not unlike watching a bass take your spinner bait while whipping through the flats.
khang and joe both ended up catching a large number of trout for the day as well, with joe catching such a large amount that he lost count after 25. :)
khang pulled in 16, and all the while it being only his second (yes, second) day out. the man is a natural. the real deal. he'll play it off so humbly, but he's so fun to watch and listen to as he picks everything up so quickly.
on my end, beyond the trout netted, i saw a trout jump completely out of the water for the first time. it looked like a dolphin performing at sea world as it leaped into the air, froze at its apex, and then nose dived into the flowing river again. it was a beautiful brookie. i never caught a brook all day, but its unmistakable red-orange bottom fins and darker back almost seemed to glow in the late afternoon sun.
another happening worth noting was the walk back as the day grew dim. i could have sworn i heard something that sounded like a bobcat, or mountain lion. and i found out that both of these were actually possibilities! i still haven't looked up what either of these sound like, but at one point i heard something that sounded like a territorial hiss/growl/sneer reminiscent of a cat-like predator. i never did see it, but it happened three times. its a little unnerving to think what was not far away and feeling threatened.
we all fished until the sun dropped beneath the horizon, eeking out every last minute we could. khang was the last to leave the river as he squeezed out the very last drop. he actually manged to catch yet another fish as he did so.
and then the moon took over the evening sky.
when we got back to our vehicles, we began the process of taking off and loading our gear as we each told stories from our fantastic day. everyone was heading home with smiles. joe caught a number of large fish, one which fell short of rivaling the largest he's ever caught (~18 inches) at around 16 inches. khang was simply enamored with his experiences, and never thought it could be quite this fun (as a life long "spin fisherman"). and i was soaking in the sheer number of "firsts" i had had today.
there are simply no words for the ways in which the time spent on the river rejuvenate, strengthen, and stretch my soul. even as we closed our day, i ended it as i began...... so thankful.
i can only hope for many more such days and evenings.
i walked the river bed for some time, and eventually chose a spot where a couple of canadian geese were having their equivalent to a morning coffee with each other. they were not happy about my presence, and made that known to me. i smiled, and wished them a good morning, but this did not do anything to help. the male flapped its wings violently and honked at me. he decided it was not worth charging today, and i'm glad he did. i just wasn't in the mood for a fight with a goose.
the couple made their way upstream and didn't bother to say good bye. i sort of felt bad about intruding, but i figured they could fly, and i couldn't. i'm not saying its bullet-proof logic, but they were not looking for trout and i was. so.
i only had my line in for about 30 minutes by the time joe piped in over our two-way radios. they had arrived 15 minutes shy of noon, and were ready to get moving. i could definitely understand their excitement and anticipation.
joe asked if i had caught any fish, and when i replied no, he said, "well, i was going to say 'my work is done' if you had caught fish already. you have to know how to fish these holes, they aren't as obvious as other places." i just gave him a knod and smiled. no matter what he believed, i certainly knew his work wasn't done! i have much to learn.
we headed upstream (as opposed to the direction i had taken earlier), and joe put each of us in spots he knew were ripe for trout picking. khang and joe both started off quickly with numerous trout in the net in the first hour, while i struggled to find what the trout were looking for. khang's success was especially exciting since this was only his second time out with minimal equipment! this man was born to fish. having fished since he was a little boy, he has a powerfully acute intuition when it comes to dropping line in the water. its fun to watch him pick things up so quickly, and just a bit humbling.
i had never caught a fish yet on my own flies. so when my fortunes were not going well, i decided to take what i considered to be my most unique fly i've made yet, and throw it on the line. i name all my flies, an act i still am not sure whether joe appreciates or is annoyed by, and this particular fly i dubbed "special ed." there are a number of reasons for this, part of which has to do with an inside joke between joe and i, and part of it has to do with the fact that my wife has worked in special education for over 13 years. anyway, i have always loved this fly, and told joe that even though it doesn't look like all the other traditional flies, it was a winner.
i tied on "special ed" and within 5 casts, my indicator dropped beneath the bubbling water. when i lifted my 9 foot rod tip up in response, i felt a very substantial counter-response under the surface.
i had a nice sized trout hooked!
this trout ran and ran. he swam upstream and downstream trying to figure his plan of escape. i followed him gently and let him work out some of his initial adrenaline before guiding him to the opposite shore where i could stand in more shallow water to net him. eventually i netted him, and found that i had caught a very nice sized 14.5 inch trout.
(you can see my "special ed" fly on his belly,
you may have to click picture to see it though)
this was the biggest trout i had caught to date! it was also my first trout caught on the rush river. and it was the first time i had caught a trout with my own fly. three firsts in one netted trout. amazingly, within 20 minutes i followed this up with a 14 inch trout, and a 12 inch trout. three of the biggest i had ever caught, and all in the matter of a half hour, and all with "special ed"!!
i decided to move on after this, and unfortunately in the process tripped and fell for the first time into the river (at least the first time where i actually filled my waders). it was relatively warm (high 50s) and so it didn't matter a great deal, and actually felt good to get drenched for a short time, but i still felt like all left feet because of it.
the day from here on was simply amazing. and for all three of us. khang and joe were into double digits for number of fish caught by 4pm or so, and i was at around 7 at the same time. it was a just a fantastic day for catching trout. all three of us had two way radios, and so we were able to check in with each other from time to time. the radios really added a new dimension to fishing together that i appreciated. instead of only being able to check-in once or twice a day, we were able to talk about what was going on throughout the day. that just made it feel more communal, and allowed us to talk about what we were having success with in terms of technique and/or flies.
toward the evening, like around 6:30pm, i went on a tear with the fish i was catching. after about an hour lull, i ended up catching 10 fish in the matter of two hours. it ended up bringing my count to 18 for the day, shattering my previous record of 9 in an entire day. in that span, i tried different casting techniques, and actually fished most the afternoon with a dual-rig setup. this was another first for the day. joe had talked about this for about 10 months now, but i had refrained from trying due to the fact that i was still trying to grow comfortable with my casting. casting becomes even more important with a dual-rig setup, because with two flies whizzing through the air, its that much more to get tangled if you're not performing all aspects properly.
i fell in love with this technique though, as it allowed me to fish top water (dry flies) and sub-surface at the same time. i ended up catching 12 of my 18 fish for the day on dry flies (specifically caddis, which are top water, or dry flies). dry flies are exciting because it requires the trout to surface to take your fly. when they surface, the water explodes and that visual stimulus gets your heart racing instantaneously. its a very exciting thing to experience. not unlike watching a bass take your spinner bait while whipping through the flats.
khang and joe both ended up catching a large number of trout for the day as well, with joe catching such a large amount that he lost count after 25. :)
khang pulled in 16, and all the while it being only his second (yes, second) day out. the man is a natural. the real deal. he'll play it off so humbly, but he's so fun to watch and listen to as he picks everything up so quickly.
on my end, beyond the trout netted, i saw a trout jump completely out of the water for the first time. it looked like a dolphin performing at sea world as it leaped into the air, froze at its apex, and then nose dived into the flowing river again. it was a beautiful brookie. i never caught a brook all day, but its unmistakable red-orange bottom fins and darker back almost seemed to glow in the late afternoon sun.
another happening worth noting was the walk back as the day grew dim. i could have sworn i heard something that sounded like a bobcat, or mountain lion. and i found out that both of these were actually possibilities! i still haven't looked up what either of these sound like, but at one point i heard something that sounded like a territorial hiss/growl/sneer reminiscent of a cat-like predator. i never did see it, but it happened three times. its a little unnerving to think what was not far away and feeling threatened.
we all fished until the sun dropped beneath the horizon, eeking out every last minute we could. khang was the last to leave the river as he squeezed out the very last drop. he actually manged to catch yet another fish as he did so.
and then the moon took over the evening sky.
when we got back to our vehicles, we began the process of taking off and loading our gear as we each told stories from our fantastic day. everyone was heading home with smiles. joe caught a number of large fish, one which fell short of rivaling the largest he's ever caught (~18 inches) at around 16 inches. khang was simply enamored with his experiences, and never thought it could be quite this fun (as a life long "spin fisherman"). and i was soaking in the sheer number of "firsts" i had had today.
there are simply no words for the ways in which the time spent on the river rejuvenate, strengthen, and stretch my soul. even as we closed our day, i ended it as i began...... so thankful.
i can only hope for many more such days and evenings.
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