Back In The Stream

With all that has been going on lately, I haven't been able to get out on the stream like I would have liked to. It seems like whenever I would plan to go the weather wouldn't cooperate or something would come up. It was starting to really frustrate me and put me in a fowl mood and no I don't mean waterfowl either.

Well thank God I have surrounded myself with some great people. Sometimes you can start to loose focus and they come in and help you regain that focus. After a few talks this week I realized that I was doing just that and needed to get back to what it is I do. So after a few conversations I decided that I needed to hit the stream and cleanse my mind so to speak. People ask me why I love to trout fish. After today I realized the true reason I do. Being in a stream and enjoying nature, the fight of a feisty trout but my main reason is that it always calms me and allows me to think clearly and focus on what is important to me.

So as I said off to my favorite trout stream. I threw my gear in the truck and headed down the highway with my man Johnny Cash singin' to me all the way there. I was a little worried with it being the holiday weekend and with it bringing one of the biggest aluminum hatches of the season. Well as fate would have it the big guy upstairs cleared the stream for me so I could have it by myself.

The stream was a little different than normal. A few logs were in places that they weren't in the last time I was there. The rains had changed the stream a bit but it was still the same or so I thought. My third cast I thought that I hit a small branch but as I reeled it in there was a small rainbow on the end of my line. All of maybe four inches of rainbow! So as I let him go I kept hearing a ringing in my ear, then I realized it was more of a buzzing sound. You guessed it mosquito's. A dozen or so thought it was dinner time and I was the buffet. So I lathered up in some of the finest DEET cologne I had and made my way upstream.

I started noticing that the fish were not in their usual hideouts. They must have moved and I didn't get the change of address notice. So I began to work the stream more than normal to figure out where they were and then my rod bent over and I heard a "zing" as my line started to peel off my reel. It is so much fun fishing for trout with an ultra light and 2 pound test. I fought the fish and managed to get a pic of it underwater as I brought it in. Another bow! I gotta tell you that they put up one heck of a fight and get my blood flowing as much as any hunt does.

I released the fish and continued on my way watching the wildlife around me. After a few more fish, all of them rainbows i decided that I would just sit and reflect on life. Man I tell ya there is nothing better than listening to the water gurgling and the wildlife carrying on their conversations while you reflect and collect your thoughts. Well it's time to write that next chapter of my life, one that I am really excited about and looking forward to. Well what can I say other than it was time to continue on my journey.

I moved on and finally caught my first and only brown of this trip. He was a little ornery and it took me a bit to get him in my hand to remove the hook and send him on his way. The one thing that was becoming clear was that my brownie stream has turned into a bow stream and done so in about a months time. Either way it was still a productive night. I ended up catching seven trout, six bows and one brown in about a three hour period.

I originally planned on night fishing but the skeeters were thick and my Thermacell decided that it doesn't want to light anymore. So I got back to my truck thanked God for letting me enjoy the experience one more time and made my drive home. The drive home felt so much better than the drive up and that weight on my shoulders wasn't there anymore. The best part was my therapy session was free! You can't beat it. I can't stress enough, that if you get an opportunity to get on a stream and do some trout fishing do so. You will be glad you did.

Nuff Said.