Search for ‘Bows in the Mother Lode

Ok, I am breaking my blog hiatus. I have been fishing, or better yet getting skunked. Nothing too really exciting to talk about, except for catching a can of cold beer on a hot day while fishing on the American River. Went to a lake as well for no success. So I thought it was time to break up the rhythm. I haven’t been throwing any dry flies lately, so I went up to a feeder stream to the American River in the Tahoe National Forest. The stream is productive, but has very little fishing pressure. So I would have to be extra stealth mode. I have only caught Rainbow and Brown Trout in this stream. It was a small stream, so I would use my 7.5 foot long 4 weight rod. I love my lil’ rod, cause I could toss flies from really tight spaces. I would use a two fly setup. A dropper fly and a dry. I had a really good feeling about this trip.

Get to the trail around 3:30pm and started to hump down to the stream. This trail is not that wide and there is a lot of shale to lose footing and tumble about 50 – 100 feet to the bottom of the canyon. I take my time, cause I don’t know how I will be able to get out if I get hurt. After 30 – 45 minutes of trailblazing, I made it to the stream. The water didn’t seem as high as it was during the spring melt of the Sierras. It was nice and steady. The water was clear as gin. I didn’t want to start cast immediately, so I humped a few hundred feet first, before my first cast. Of course, no drama. Just watching the fly go for a ride in the current. In fact, that is how it went for about the next two hours. It was a hot day, so the fish had to be holding in deep pools. The problem was attempted to find those pools. I would bump into those pools, but probably at the wrong end and scare all of the fish away. On one occasion, I cast towards a couple of boulders and got my dropper fly hung on a stick. So I went over to the boulder to unhook the fly from the stick, but on the boulder there was a 4 or 5 foot King Snake lounging. I thought if I go towards the boulder, the King Snake would swim off. Nope, that thing came towards me. So I had to make a long trip around the boulder to unhook my fly from the stick. That sucked, but at least I didn’t get bit by the snake. I know King Snakes are not poisonous, but I didn’t want to find out how much pain a bite delivers. Call me a wuss. Write me back and tell what King Snake’s bite feels like.

So after that lil’ endeavor, I continued my search for some Wild Trout. I know they exist in this stream, cause I have caught them before. I come to this huge pool and I start seeing many size trout swimming in it. Unfortunately I cannot get my flies to them without causing a huge ruckus. I decided then to sneak up to the head of the pool and try my luck there. At the head of the pool, there was a about a 3 foot waterfall. I toss my flies into the current and let them goto the bottom of the waterfall. BINGO, I hooked into nice 6 inch trout. It fought like the dickens, but I was able to hold on and bring the fish into my net. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a shot of it on my camera, cause it unhooked itself from my fly. So I tried again and again met success. This time it was a slightly bigger Wild Trout (about 7 or 8 inches). Again, I was able to hold on to it and bring it to my net.

Now it was twilight on the stream. I had to make a decision. Keep enjoying my luck or should I start to hump out of the canyon. Well, I made a few more cast and then to started to tread out of the canyon. I didn’t want to start in the dark. This place is rugged. Many boulders, which are slick and could, cause some broken bones if I fall. Also to complicate matters, I forgot my wading staff. I found a broken stick along the path, so that was the best option I had to balance myself and stay upright. On the way out of the trail, the light from the sun faded away. I started to wonder if I was the only person or living being on this trail. Then from the hill above me, a rock tumbled down the hill. Something had to make that rock move, so I started to put a lil’ more pep into my step. I did get off the trail right as the sun hid completely from the sky. Changed clothes and boogied on home. This was a kewl experience and I was successful once more. Still my fishing trip and catching ratio is like 4 trips for every one fish caught. I don’t know if I can do better, but a non-fishing day is better than not able to fish day.