May 9, 2009

Fishing in the Wind

I finally got out to fish. I planned to go to 2nd creek with my father-in-law, but last minute changes left me with a full day hall pass. Not to let it go to waste, I decided to go to Big-Fish lake and see if I could catch some trout that were rumored to be cruising the shallows. The lake was white caps, but that wasn't about to stop me. I found a cove protected from the wind (same place Jed and I went last year) and decided to start off with my DC FT7 with a sink-tip line with duel seal leeches. The sun was high and the catching was low...not a strike. A couple guys from SG rolled up and stopped just down the shore from me. One hooked up right away with a small fish under an indicator.
I could see a bunch of fish hanging in a small pool below the trickle coming out of the dam. I switched to my XP 5 and tyed on a para- adams in hope I could make one good cast and get a strike. No such luck, so I went back to the lake. I wasn't sure if I could make long enough casts with the 5 in the whipping wind, but I rigged up with a 14 Red CJ and 18 Zebra Midge below the smallest Thingamabobber I had. I was able to cast far enough out I should be in fishy water. I went along a drop off and fished for about 15 minutes before moving to the other side of the cove.
After a few fruitless casts, I changed my indicator to a size larger and next cast...pluump, my indicator pops under but I was too late. I switched back to the smaller one and started to catch 10" rainbows. It was nice to keep me busy until the big boys come out to play. About 4-5 fish later, I hook into something with a little weight. I could see the dark shadow swimming back and forth as I tried to get it to surrender. I grab my camera as it gets closer, but I put it back in my pocket. The rainbow, although large, has a snagle-tooth of a mouth and I wasn't going to put it through more humiliation then its already gone through.


I catch another large trout in the same general area within a minute. After a few minutes, I bring a healthy Rainbow to hand. About five minutes later, I see a trout rush the shore and I cast to the right of it about four feet. My indicator drops under immediately. Although this rainbow was the size of the last, I bring it to hand without incident. Could I have caught the same fish twice?
I continue to catch fish along the shore. What started as a slow day is now picking up. I switch my dropper midge to a pink scud and leave the producing red CJ to catch fish. For some reason, without a dropper, I wasn't producing strikes.
Soon after switching to the scud, I hook into a pig! Line screams off my reel and there's no sign of letting up. Nearly to my backing, I am able to turn the fish back to me. After I yoyo the fish back to me, I land it and pull out the camera for the only shot it would give me before it swam away. It was a large cut-bow without pectoral fins. Not the most beautiful fish of the day, but the hardest fighting bar-none.


I catch a few more decent sized fish before heading back to my truck for a snack. I pick up a few more fish after eating, but I couldn't seem to get back on the roll I was on earlier in the day. I switch back to my DC FT7 and throw a large Sex-dungeonish creation into the depths of hell. I immediately hook into a beast, but as fast as it came, it was gone. Dark pushes me off the water. I watch the last light hide behind the hills as I put my gear away. Three missed deer and a spilt cup of warm Gatorade, I'm home.


4 comments:

  1. Nice article to read. Hope you had a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. uploading I bet! I bet your photo shopping them still. Hurry up already.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alright, with Photoshop complete, here they are. Not the best pictures, but solo with unruling fish makes for hard photo-ops.

    I couldn't load them in Firefox, but I was able to using Explorer...???

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice to see the Grumpy getting eating already!

    ReplyDelete