Today on the Mainstem

[dcabarle]

I took off from work today and met up with my father to fish the Mainstem. It's always nice to fish with him. He's a helluva caster, so smooth you just have to put your rod down and watch.

Anyhow, we pulled into stockport and head down to the river. It was a little windy but not as bad as it has been. We didn't see many insects, but the caddis were on the water in no special numbers throughout the day.

My father caught a few small trout not too far from the 'boat ramp'. I head downstream a bit to see what was happening. I hooked into a few fish but with the drag on various parts of my line, I wasn't quick enough for the set.

I head downstream a bit more and and saw some quick splashy rises. I wade out into the riffle and the rising stopped. I waited around and blind cast for a while but nothing was happening. I head downstream a bit more and found some rising fish. I missed a few then hooked into a nice rainbow which took me for a ride. I keep forgetting my water skii's! After that fish, I missed a few others, had a few on which got off (fly still intact). After a while of this, I turned around and saw my father heading downstream toward me. When he got close enough, he told me how he found me... Well, I have this bag that I've gotten attached to. I forgot to close the zipper on it. So he told me he followed the trail of Frogs fanny and ziplock bags. I alway keep ziplock bags with me (hey, you never know what you might need to store in one of these things). I probably lost 3-4 bottles of Frogs Fanny and who the hell knows whatelse.

There were still fish rising so I offered the spot to him and went to eat. After eating, I worked my way into another spot and fished there for hours. I can't believe how many fish I missed. I never miss fish. Eh'... we all have our days I guess. I worked on this one fish for over an hour and WOW!!! Did it pay off. I hooked into this MONSTER brown. Ohh, did I mention I forgot my net? Yeah, now I have this monster brown on, my father is on the other side of the river, and what the hell do I do. My father made it across the stream pretty quick and netted the fish for me. I'm not sure how big it was but I couldn't put my hands around it. What a hog! This beast had GIRTH! We measured it against the net before I revived it for a few minutes, and set him free. Turns out I caught the biggest 21" brown I've ever caught. Maybe not the longest brown but definetely a good 4lb fish. Hey, some like it long others like it fat. (I'm talking about trout you perverts).

After this I switched spots and my father fished the opposite bank. I hooked into a nice fish and well, I don't have to tell you what happened here... In the meantime, my father hooked into a monster Rainbow. He said he set the the hook and the fish took him into the backing. From my viewpoint, it looked like he was swatting flies or juggling. Needless to say, he worked on the fish for a good half hour had it on for a good 30 seconds, then nothing. Hey... I'd pay admission to see that show again.

We got out of the river around 7 or so. Everything seemed to have turned off anyway. On our way back, I thought of something... "Did I close my zipper?" Anyhow, if anyone finds a few bottles of Frogs Fanny, Tippet Material, etc... That stuff is all courtessy of me.

We stopped into, Little Italy to watch the cows graze... err... uhhh.. eat.... So up comes a conversation... Isn't it funny that we like these large fat trout that love to eat but we like nice skinny women with flat stomach's who don't like to eat?

All in all it was a great day on the river. Overcast for most of the day, Sunny for some of the day, and patches of wind through-out. A few Yellow Sally's, Lots of Caddis but nothing major. Fish were active for the most part of the day.

Thought I saw Bruce Miller float by me with a few people in the boat and thought Jim Serio asked me if I was standing on water. Was that you, Jim?