Yesterday after lunch I had a conversation with myself that I could not go out with a whimper . I geared up and hit the middle section of the creek at about 1pm. The water was slightly better in this section but the visibility was shot. The color here had more grays and dark greens mixed into the browns.
I hit a few spots in this section that under normal circumstances would produce. I double bagged my presentation(2 sacks) and crossed my fingers. As a waded in I noticed under toe that some areas had a soft spongy gravel feel where there was no gravel before. The high waters laid waste to most of the brush near the river and flattened out the shoreline. I looked around and commented to myself that at least I was enjoying the scenery.
The middle section produce no fish after 2 hours. I decided to go back toward the lake and end the the last 2 hours of the day where I started this morning. Of course there was a guy there who told me someone caught 2 fish out there this afternoon.
Of course I couldn't have done this morning!
I put my time in near the bridge with no luck either continually cleaning ice from the guides. I packed in about 4:15pm rationalizing that the fish were probably off because of the high water, mud, timber, and general stress that hit them the day before.
I get these moments of crisis when I have off days and I end up talking to every float fisherman I run into to look at their floats,shot patterns, and lead lengths. I purchased my first centerpin in 1992 and I still have these crisis of confidence from time to time.
This will be on my mind for the next few days as it is 19 degrees this morning and I don't want to deal with the ice. The weekend temps might reach near 30.
Back to the coffee...........................
Great photo!!
ReplyDeleteI never been to this creek and these types of images are pretty far removed from what I'm used to dealing with...but don't get me wrong its cool!!
It would be kind of surrels to fight Steelies near those tunnels. They have a real sinister vibe to them.
As far as the second guessing goes ...man that is me in spades!! No matter how well I have done in the past a rough day will really knock the wind out of the sails in a hurry.
Hang in there... it is that time of year.
..at least your rivers are open!
:o/
I agree with Trotsky's remarks...He does loose confidence often. Christ he is useless ;0) LOL!!! Just kidding. Actually it happens to all of us. Especially when you with with a partner and he is hitting fish and you are struggling. The mind is an incredible thing and can really mess you up. It is an exponential effect as well. By this I mean it gets worse and worse as the minutes pass until you put that one fish on the bank and redemption is realized. Crazy shit but 100% true. Often when Norland and I fish we will put down the rods after the first fish until the other puts one on the bank. It just gets that out of the way and the rest of the outing is "game on"! I think it is so powerful becuase the true die hard steelheaders are so passionate about this passtime. It is so special to us that we tend to analyze every aspect to the point that we cause our own grief. The most important aspect of this fishery is attacking the rivers with confidence. Be sure of yourself! Stick with it and do what you do best. Confidence is most certainly the key!
ReplyDelete