I took a ride to the Wanaque yesterday for the first time. I parked in the designated parking area and proceeded across the road to the "access point." I climbed over the guardrail and headed down a steep slope. . Jonboy warned me of the slippery rocks, so I carefully placed one foot after another while holding on to whatever I could. Suddenly, WHoOOPh! Yep, I fell pretty hard on my thigh. I don't think I've fallen so hard since, well I can't even remember when I've ever fallen so hard. All I know is that it hurt like hell and my thigh is bruised, puffy, and banged up pretty good. I've lost all functionality in my toes... They can't even wiggle around slightly. My leg is turning green and my foot feels like an icicle. Alright, I'M JUST KIDDING about that part. On a more serious note, I thought for sure that today would be pretty bad, but it hurts no more today than it did yesterday. It's still pretty painful.
The river was raging, I mean it was good enough for white water rafting! I found a few nice holes that I did fish for a short period of time. At one point, I turned around to check for bears and Jonboy was standing behind me with this evil look in his eyes. I think he was going to push me in but I turned around just in time. Ohhh my demented mind... Just kidding. He actually told me he might stop by to say hello.
I didn't stay too long, just enough to cast 4 flies for 10 minutes each or so. I found a few really nice pools that on better flow days would probably result in me catching a few fish.
The litter wasn't too bad. 1 worm container, 1 gallon of water (without the water), and quite a bit of mono. Not that the Gorge is a filthy place, but the Wanaque makes the Gorge look like a Garbage dump. |