I don't normally give a fishing report after a 'mundane' outing, but last night was different. I was left with a question and a challenge rather than a photo of a nice fish. We drove out to the lake for our anniversary dinner at the marina, and had time to wet a line before heading back.
So we went to my favorite spot at the mouth of the canyon. I usually fish a big bunny-fly or crawfish pattern, but I thought I'd give one of my australian possum rope-worms a try. It's about 4" long on a size 8 wet hook, and the whole body is an extended furled rope-dub of chopped/dubbed possum with 3/4" inch at the tail being fl. orange. It had a large red metal bead-head and a small collar of wet hackles. It was roped on 2# mono so it was pretty limber, and oh yeah, it had a tiny 00 gold colorado blade at the tail end (no split-ring on this one- just locked into the loop at the end of the furl), and no hook at the end, just the main hook at the front. It looked real tasty as I retrieved it in the fairly-clear water. I usually just catch one trout in the 4 to 6lb. range, and then no more. It's a steep drop-off, and I lose a lot of flies in the rocks as I try to bounce the fly off the bottom coming uphill on the retreive, especially with a wet sinking line. Last night I fished the heavy-headed fly on a dry line and let it sink slow just over the edge. The technique worked as just beyong the drop-off, only 15' out or so, but deep, I got a take. It felt like it normally does, just a snag-up, but then with a definite pull-pack. Then I felt the weight. I was fishing a 5-wt., so I had a good feel of the fish, but it wasn't fighting like the big trout I caught so many times before here. It didn't panic at all or take off, but it had the strength and weight to do just that. It just slowly swam off, taking the slack and most of the fly-line out, and it stayed real deep. It felt more like a big catfish or even a stingray rather than a trout, but this lake has neither of those. There's trout and wall-eye and the rare burbot and some carp. I had Cheryl come grab the net off my vest and get ready to land it, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. I had it on for about 3 or 4 minutes as it very slowly worked it's way out to deeper water. I had no control as it just slowly took line off a tight drag. If I tried to palm the reel, the tip would just drop. I had the definite feeling if this fish did a panic run, it would spool me. Then it ended, just as the backing started to show. Line went slack and no fish on it. I could feel the fly as I reeled it in, so the hook must have just slipped out. It came back with green moss on it, so the fish was on the bottom when the hook pulled. So why write about a lost fish? Because I have no idea what I had, and I've caught countless trout at this location, both in a boat and from the shore. It drops off straight down to 130' deep, the original river canyon, so anything could be cruising the cliff looking for crawfish in the rocks. Was it a walleye? Didn't strike like one or fight like one. Was it a rainbow, like 95% of the fish I take there? Maybe, but it didn't fight anything like a rainbow and it never panicked. Was it a big brown? Most likely, as they will stay deep and bury their nose in the bottom. But it never struggled like a trout does. It just very slowly made its way out to deep water, like a big catfish would, and very much like a stingray would (I have caught them on flies). So now I have a quest, to find out what that was. It's 40 miles to that spot, so it's not a cheap drive with a pick-up truck and high gas prices. But I need to find out what that was. If it was a big trout, I don't even want to guess what it weighed, as I've never had anything that heavy on the line in fresh water, including the pike I've caught. I did catch a 20lb. carp that was close, and this lake has some big carp, so maybe? I lost the fly in the rocks on a subsequent cast, and never had another take, which is the usual for this spot, which tells me it was the territorial trout for that piece of shoreline. I have a dozen more of those worms, so I'm on a mission now to find out what that was. I'm planning to take the canoe next time so I can fight him from the deep side rather than the shore, and I can work more than the one spot of shoreline. So, in this case, losing the fish makes it more intriguing than catching the fish. Game and Fish says there are some giant trout on the bottom in the center of the lake, in the 30lb Kamloops class, but they never take lures or bait, but G&F has shocked them up. There are also 30# carp, but I've never seen one that big in this lake. So with the rivers all swollen from run-off, this gives me something to shoot for. Anyone want to go with me on the next outing? DonO -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VFB Mail" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/vfb-mail?hl=en VFB Mail is sponsored by Line's End Inc at http://www.linesend.com
