Big Brookies and Warm Fires

Jo and I arrived before lunch last Sunday, and after a great feed, I suited up
and headed for the river. By 5 pm I had landed several nice brookies (14 -
15inch) and lots of "rat fish" (landlocks smaller than 12 inches). I tried
several different versions of the green rock worm, and although it met with
some success, a small "Bruiser PT" had more success.

I didn't fish Monday a.m. while waiting for Allen and Moira Epps. After their
arrival about noon time, Allen and I head for the dam to wet some flies. I
honestly can't remember how well we did, but I remember getting Allen into a 15
inch brookie within 15 minutes of his arrival. Later, about 4 p.m., the
Hendrickson hatch came off. Tens of thousands of the little guys/gals. It
lasted only about 45 minutes, but we landed several fish in that time on
Adams', nothing of any size, however.

Tuesday was much of the same - very few fish being taken. In a pouring cold
rain, we headed to the Currents and I managed a nice 18 inch brookie and some
fair size salmon. Allen caught a few -- best let him tell ya about it. There
is something miserable yet enjoyable about drinking hot black coffee while
standing in a cold rain. For the first time in many years, I did not fish the
Wing Dam or the WD Pool. I wandered up to the "aquarium" to see if the 22 inch
brookie was still holding court. He was, but had grown to 24 inches. There
were several "lesser" brookies in his court (18 - 20 inches), but I did not
temp them with my latest Rapid River Tie. I should have, but believed somehow
that on this day they were just a little bit smarter than me, so, why even try?
Before we left I gave the 2nd Current one last chance to please me. Allen
appeared at the end of the island and suggested we return to the cabins for a
nice fire. Sounded like a plan to me. One more cast, however. And that cast
produced a 22 inch brookie (foul hooked, so it didn't count).

The warm fire in the cabin was a gift from my wonderful wife. She drew me a
tub full of hot water and I relaxed for the next 30 minutes or so. I dried off
on hot towels warmed by the woodstove fire. Life was (is) good.

Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday - cold and wet with no rises and very few
fish taken. While leaving Zimmerman's Run, I slipped on a greasy rock. I made
a grab for the concrete blocks on the walkway, but my left arm wasn't strong
enough to hold all 220 pounds. I felt a stabbing pain in my left shoulder - at
least for the few milliseconds it took to fall two feet. Then I landed on my
right shin and knee and was met with the most excrutiating pain in my life.
Worse than getting kicked in the....... well, worse than that. Didn't breal my
rod, however. Back at camp, out of my waders and woolies, I gazed at a one
inch cut and scrape just below my kneecap. Not much blood, but a helluva lot
of pain. The knee had swelled to about the size of a softball. It looked and
felt like hell, but didn't impede my walking. I do, however, think that my
rock hopping days are slowly coming to an end.

Thursday was one of those days a flyfisher will never forget. Allen and I took
the camp's pick-up to Lower Dam right after breakfast. We headed immediately
to the Spawning Beds (and, no, there were no fish spawning at the spawning
beds). Just as I found my rock and was about to step upon it, my wading staff
slipped and I did a Full Reverse Reid with a half twist hard onto my back on a
big rock, and then slid backwards ungracefully into about three feet of water.
The pain in my back was camouflaged by the 52 degree full emersion. My pride
was also wounded as there were a couple of friends who saw the old geezer
version of a Reverse Reid. On my rock, shivering in the 50 degree temp and a
20 knot wind, all was forgotten when I got into an 18 inch brookie on my third
cast (small PT). I was warmed further when a very nice salmon fell prey to the
small PT. Allen was downstream a bit from me, and I believe he too was
catching fish.

There were several rises right in front of me - big brookies sipping caddis. I
took off the PT and tied on a #18 Goddard Caddis. Two or three casts and I was
into another nice brookie. Just as I was about to net him, the tippet broke
and he absconded with my fly. I landed another nice brookie with the Goddard
and then went back to the small PT. Within ten minutes I had another brookie
on, a familiar one; it was the thief that stole my Goddard. He may have been
strong, but he was dumb to fall for two man made flies in the same hour. Cold,
but not beaten, I retired from the field and headed back to Lower Dam to get
out of my wet clothes.

I sipped hot coffee and basked in the sun out of the wind for about 30 minutes.
It is surprising what warmth you can get from just an ordinary raincoat.
Warmed and refreshed, I returned to the hunt, spending the next two hours at
the dam without even a strike! Back to the Spawning Beds (and yes, there still
wasn't any fish spawning at the Spawning Beds). Green Rock Worm, Caddis
Emerger, Bruisers PT and I remained hitless. As soon as I switched back to the
18 (20?) PT, I was into a very big fish. After some minutes fighting him, I
managed to land a beaufiful 20 inch brookie. Then Jo and Henry and Moira
showed up. We walked back to the dam, said our goodbyes and I started to fish
just upstream from the dam. Wham! What a helluva hit. My line was traveling
sideways before I realized what had happened. Minutes later I landed my last
fish of the day, a wonderful 22 inch brookie that put a serious bend in my 4
weight Sage. A nice way to end the day..... six brookies and the small ones
were 18 inches! Allen had a similar day, but that's his tale, not mine.

I was so very tired on Friday morning that I went back to bed right after
breakfast. If the Epps' weren't leaving at 11 a.m., I would have slept through
lunch. With all the serious hurts I put upon my bod, it is a wonder that I
could sleep at all.

Friday p.m was spent casually fishing at the dam, catching some nice salmon on
streamers and foul hooking an 18 inch togue. Peter - the 3.5 Velocity with
sinking line worked wonderfully on the 7 weight.

It was a great week - started out well, then a slight slump, and finished
great. It was a pleasure to see Allen and Moira again and introduce them to
the Rapid. I have a feeling they will be back.

Me too. I leave in the morning for another week.
Dave

http://hometown.aol.com/davplac/myhomepage/index.html