So to say it has been a rough couple weeks on the water would be an understatement. I never really have been all about catching the fish, and if I blank here or there I just see it as God keeping me honest. The time on the river makes me happy, but also allows me a lot of time to think. It is funny where your mind goes when you are on the water. Sometimes I just end up going though conversations in my head, sometimes I try to think like the fish I am trying to catch. This past Saturday I slept in a little and only hit the water at a quarter till 9. That is a late start for the area I was fishing and I knew it made my morning that much harder. To top it all off Sarah was finishing up her CPE program that day so I wanted to be home a little after lunch.
some river shots from a slippery rock
Knowing my luck lately I decided to go to a spot that I knew would produce and I would not be running into too many people. The problem with this spot is you need to cross some slippery rocks to get there. I made it to my spot and then knowing that I had blanked my last three or four times out I decided to sit for a minute and listen to what time river was telling me. What I got was maybe I should throw a dry fly, a blue winged olive to be exact. On the surface of the water which was a clear as a thin pain of glass I could see trout taking tiny flies. It was not a hatch my any means and the hits were not regular, but I thought lets give it a go. 
So I did and as soon as I made two or three casts another fisherman walked right through a spot I was fishing. Maybe that is why I had been blanking these past couple weeks. After that I decided to sit down and take a couple pictures of the water and my rod. I was fishing with my Orvis Clearwater Classic 9 foot. I use a 5wt Battenkill reel with it and which is a good setup when I'm fishing water where I can make a lot of big false casts but not throwing a heavy fly. After the water settled a little I noticed something disturbing the surface down steam from me a little. So trying not to kick up too much mud and muck from the bottom I walked way around the spot and approached from down stream. It was a trout running for under a rock to one spot in the current to snag a fly. I knew I was in from the moment I saw the fish take a natural fly. I took a cast short just to see how it was going to drift in this hole and then let a good cast go. The drift that follow was a good as I had hoped.
Just to point out the fish is on a downed log but look just above the rod and see how clear the water was, those rocks look like they are on dry land.
The end product was a nice sized trout to take a couple quick pictures of and then send back on its way. So that ended my troutless streak and it felt great to get that over with. I fished a little while longer then my mind kicked in. It is almost 11 and my wife has not called or texted saying she is home and taking a nap, but I am just guessing she is sound asleep. Then I must have been thinking again because I made two stupid mistakes on hook sets that ended with me snapping flies off in trees behind me. Those were my last two olives and I still had no call or text. I tied on a Cahill and made one cast when I thought I heard my phone. Thinking to myself there she is I quickly dug though my waterproof bag to get my phone, but missed the call. When I finally got to the phone it was her parents house.
Now put your self in my shoes, where would your mind go. Well I tried calling her and there was no answer, so I decide to call it a day and go home. I didn't want to call her parents till I was back at the truck so, I rushed across the slippery rocks again and got to the other side. Once I was on the trail I called Sarah's phone a couple more times only to get a voice mail. Now I'm not one to worry too much but the river is a great place for your mind to run because you can feel so wide open. So with that much room to run my mind went for a short jog as I moved swiftly to the truck. Just as I was crossing the foot bridge to the truck Sarah called, sounding sleepy I know she was just tired from her last on call night. We chatted for a minute, and when I got off with her I called her parents house. It was funny because it ended up being that her dad who wanted to gloat that the Phillies had pulled to within a game or two of the Braves. I had texted and maybe even called him in the last couple weeks to ask him if he thought this was their run, but his return call was just timed poorly. That didn't matter because I really did need to get off the water and head home, so I took off my waders and jumped in the truck and drove back to the city.
I'm hoping that next weekend I can convince Sarah to come along to the north Ga mountains and take some pictures of trout, also a couple action shots of me fishing for them. The weather has been crazy hot so that might not be an option but I will keep my hopes high. It could be a lot of fun now that I no longer have a case of the blanks. To sum things up I honestly think Sarah's CPE was great because I got out fishing a lot, but it ended up being all I thought about on the water. Which after just shy of two months took its toll a couple weeks ago and ended this past weekend with my mad dash to the truck. I am feeling better already and I think I am ready to get back to catching fish on a regular basis.
I hope to do a lot of blog work this week so be sure to stop in and click around. I want to put a new and important piece of gear in that section, along with finally getting round to making that wish list and maybe a couple other surprises along the way. So be sure to pop in for a visit this week.
-Bruce
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