 |
| Big Old Hawg from far away. |
Well...I definitely didn’t update this bad boy daily while on my trip...that had to do with a lack of internet and very long days spent on the water which = me unable to move. The trip was Epic, I didn’t catch fish every day but I learned a ton and had the whole river to myself (a rarity on the Trinity). Originally I had planned on hitting a couple of different rivers. First stop was the Trinity and due to the weather and the fact that I was staying with my friends at Indian Creek Lodge, it was hard for me to really want to get out and do any further driving (not to mention gas is almost $5 a gallon, and I am about as broke as you can get). The weather forecast looked good and Indian Creek is one of the raddest most low key angler-friendly spots you could stay in up on the Trin. The place kicks ass...and so do the guys who run it. Anyways, I realized after fishing on Sunday and not seeing another soul that I was the only angler on the entire river (the week before when I was up there it was shoulder-to-shoulder gear guys and indicator fishing wait in line to try and snag a spent hawg that’s been in the bucket for weeks kinda deal)...so after my first day on the water I decided that I was going to stay. The weather forecast called for snow and freezing temperatures and I hate crowds so I figured I’d hang in there and get some alone time on a river where I’ve normally had issues with disrespectful assholes. So, I fished hard and by hard I mean I was on the water in the dark until it got dark again, no breaks. The only break I did take was on my second morning after my am fish…I went to visit my friends over at Trinity Fly Shop. Now this is THE coolest fly shop I have ever been in and the couple that own it (and started it about 30 years ago) are some of the most old school/ down to earth (and badass fisherman/woman) around. I can go in there and feel like I am at home...just how a fly shop should be. We talked about the conditions and some of their cool new spey patterns…eventually I coughed up a few bucks for some cool traditional flys (that they tie up there in the shop) for me to fish that day. Normally I tie up all my own stuff but all I had in my box was flash, color and more flash...and with the bright sunny conditions and fish that had seen about every fly in the book... I wanted to go a little more natural, so I bought some old burlap patterns. After leaving the shop I went straight back to the river, fished hard all day and had a blast! I checked out a bunch of new water and pushed my casting a bit. I didn’t catch any fish but I saw some fish. The next morning I awoke to snow, before 10 am I ended up hooking 4 fish and landing two, all on the swing...I was stoked, and really felt like I saw a big difference in fish behavior with the major change in weather. That afternoon I hooked the biggest fish I’ve ever seen out of a riffle I would have never touched had it not been for the low and clear fishing conditions enabling me to see the fish out in the open. After hooking the hog I promptly got my ego slammed after practically getting spooled and broken off before I could get after him…but I was cool with that...I was psyched that I even got to see the bastard! I ended up hooking this same fish two more times over the next 5 days and got smoked every time...although he straightened out my hook on the last attempt so...whatever, that’s cool with me. I left with a mission to get that fish. All in all the trip was great. I got to fish every tank I had always wanted to fish and caught a bunch of nice fish out of places I hadn’t fished before. Most were pretty colored up and had been in the system for a long time. I did catch my fish of the season though...(for the number guys -35inch by 20 inch girth) big wild male that was tagged by DFG in 2004..meaning this bro was at least 8 years old and a repeat spawner (I actually did have a little tri-pod and timer on my camera so I got a pic with him)…I was so stoked, I had fished really hard and finally got one of those "this is what its all about" moments. But the fish were only a small part of the trip, wildlife activity was off the hook! With nobody around I got to see more animals up close than I’d seen all year... I was constantly running into a family of hunting otters , in one tank in particular they pulled out a Steelhead that I would guess was about 17lbs...they then proceeded to eat the thing on a log next to me while I was fishing...the funny part is I actually hooked a nice fish out of the same tank after they had been hunting in it! I would have thought the fish would be buried under a log but they were just doing whatever they do and hanging out in friendly water where I could get at them. Each morning I was waking up to a couple inches of snow so I got to see a ton of tracks, bears, bobcats, mountain-lion, weasel...and the biggest river bum of all- the raccoon. The trip was an epic learning experience. I got to see some crazy surface feeding (Yes, steelhead do eat off the surface...especially during a massive blanket hatch of the biggest mayflys I’ve ever seen). It was a classic winter steelhead trip. I’ve been back now for 4 days and I can’t wait to get on the SL this Wednesday for the last day of the season. I am also planning a trip up to southern Oregon to go fish but also to take a look at some homes (more on the move in another post).
No comments:
Post a Comment