Tom: Good story. LJ
>>> "Tom Davenport" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 4/5/2007 11:30 PM >>> Wednesday I decided I was going to try to get my pontoon kickboat out for the year and get the still water season kicked off. I had gotten it out, inflated and left early Wednesday morning. On the way up Weber Canyon I decided to take the Taggert exit and see how the river looked (I wasn't even certain that the reservoir I was heading for was ice free, so I was hedging my bets). As I pulled off the exit onto the road that borders the Weber river another fly fisherman was getting ready. He smiled and waved at me like I was an old friend, so I pulled over to see if it was someone I knew (I have had over 15,000 students in my 31 year career as a high school teacher, and am always running into people who know me but I don't recognize because they have grown older). Well, it turned out to be a stranger about my age who just wanted to ask some questions about the river. After talking for a while I found out this man was born in Hong Kong and had contracted Polio when he was two years old. It left both of his legs paralyzed but he has gained partial use of one, and with braces on both can walk on a smooth surface. But when he is fishing, he uses crutches, and has learned to be satisfied with fishing what ever part of the river he is able to reach. Well, I decided to bag my trip to the reservoir and fish with him to see if I could help him get into some fish. He had never fished the Weber before, and I have fished it for 15 years and know every hole on this particular stretch. I put on my waders and started hunting for my fly rod (which should have been in its case at the bottom of all of the stuff I had piled in the truck. ) It wasn't there! Then I remembered that I emptied the truck (including the rod) before putting in the pontoon boat, and hadn't put the rod back in. If I hadn't stopped and decided to help Chuck (this fellows name was Chuck Chow) I would have had an hour and a half drive for nothing! Chuck had an extra rod, an Orvis Trident 3 wt. that he let me use. It fished amazingly well for such a light rod, especially since we were nymphing with some serious weight to get the flies down into the deep holes. He was left handed, so the reel was backwards for me, but that wasn't a big deal. We were starting early in the day for the Weber , and neither of us had a bite for the first hour and a half. So I went further down river to the "Honey Hole" and caught a fish first cast. The access was a little tricky for Chuck, but it was a perfect hole for him, long and deep, so I went back up and talked him into switching. It took about 45 minutes for Chuck to make his way the 100 yards down stream, but it was worth the effort. I gave Chuck the best stretch (I thought) and went 30 feet up to high stick the fast water at the head of the hole. I started catching a fish every other cast, but Chuck wasn't catching any. I tried to get him to come up to my spot, but he wouldn't. After I caught about six fish I stopped and asked Chuck to let me see how he was rigged. With his permission I rigged him up using my favorite flies for the Weber and made a cast to show him how to best to fish the hole. I handed his rod back at the beginning of the drift, and he immediately got a fish! I love it when that happens! We both got into plenty of fish after that and ended catching more than we cared to count (mostly Whitefish, with a few Browns now and then) Basically a good old, Weber river day with plenty of action. It is amazing how many fish can be pulled out of one of the Weber's deep holes on a good day. Bu the most fun for me by far was getting Chuck into some fish, and we are going to do it again in a couple of weeks. He is a "kindred spirit" (yes, I'm man enough to admit I have read the Ann of Green Gables books), and I suspect will become a good friends, (like many of you I have met on this list). All in all it was great day of fishing! Tom My Daughter's Name Art website: www.wishberrie.com Home Page: http://homepage.mac.com/tsmd Webshots Albums: http://community.webshots.com/user/tsmdav
