After a long winter, and spring a few weeks late, it was 4pm Friday and I was finally leaving for the first fishing trip of the season. . This is a twice annual trip that my Buddy Al and I take to the one of our local tail waters, approximately 2 hours drive away. We rent a cabin at the local caravan park, which is right on the bank of the river, and the water directly in front of the park has some of the better fishy stretches.
We arrived about an hour before sunset and managed to unload the car, and get kitted up in about 20 minutes. As school holidays had recently started there were many other anglers out already, and some of them just at the beginning of their fishing lives. Never the less there was plenty of river so it was not too difficult for us to find a clear bank to cast a line. The river was still cloudy from the recent weeks of spring rains, so we decided to fish wet flies across and down. We both managed a touch and swirl on the swing, but any hope of an evening rise was quickly doused by a cold rain squall. The next day�s forecast was for warmer weather, so we returned to the cabin for some dinner and a couple of quiet beers.
Saturday morning again found me casting across and down at the tail of a long glide, with the rising sun slowly warming my bones as it burned away the fog. Mind and body relaxed I enjoyed the rest of the morning lost to the rhythm of the cast and slow retrieve. Just before lunch I felt a sharp double tug on the tail of the swing, only to come up empty handed. By this time the sun was well up, and my buddy radioed me up to say he was back at camp, the hotdogs were cooking and the football game was ready to start. Reluctantly I wound in and returned, to wash the dogs down with a couple of beers while we watched our team win their way into next week�s final.
With the team song still ringing in our ears, we walked briskly up stream to our chosen pool for the afternoon. Already there were a couple of anglers there but they were happy to share, so I followed a young lad down the pool while his dad and my buddy fished the tail. On my umpteenth cast, I was awoken from my reverie, by a sharp tug, and lifted my rod into a satisfying weight. The fish paused in shock before shaking its head and rolling, and commencing the first of a few short runs. A few minutes later I gently released the 18 inch brown, back into the pool. We fished until dark, and I was rewarded with a couple more hits and a 2 second hook-up and LDR. My buddy was a little disappointed as he failed to touch a fish, but he was confident our night fishing after dinner would be successful.
Later that evening well after dark we returned to pursue one of my favourite methods: swinging a big wet fly down and across. There was no moon, it was as black as pitch, I could see nothing but the bright pin pricks of starlight and the occasional flash of a shooting star. My other senses heightened, using the sense of touch to time the cast, my ears listening for slurp or gulp, my finger tips sensitive to the slightest resistance on the retrieve. My mind relaxed, time slipped by easily, as I worked my way down the pool. It seemed like only a few minutes before the sharp tug and a splash of my second good fish of the trip: The brief tug of war ended with the release of a 16 inch brown.
Next morning, having caught and released two better-than-average browns the previous day, I was fairly relaxed, whilst my buddy Al was hopeful for a trout of his own. We fished well into the morning and it I was just considering winding in when Al met solid resistance as he retrieved his fly past a submerged log in deep current. Lifting his rod into what he assumed was a snag, Al almost dropped it in surprise when the snag shook his arm violently and rolled on the surface giving us a view of deep spotted flanks, and a golden belly. Al�s excitement was brief, as this first encounter with a 5lb plus fish ended with a slack line and an empty net. Winding in we waded back to shore, and to the cabin to pack up for home. Despite failing to land a fish, there was only talk of the success of the trip � the opportunity to catch a fish of a lifetime, the serenity of misty still mornings, and shared moments on the river. Already we have started planning our next trip in autumn.
PS - Anyone interested in a "DOWN AND ACROSS" Swap ???
Homepage:- http://www.angelfire.com/on/theriverbank SwapPage http://www.angelfire.com/on/theriverbank/ftswaps.html
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