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#1
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TR: Rainbow's End (long)
With the forecast calling for a cooling trend shortly, along with wind and possibly cold rains, I decided that this week's probing trip to Velva Sportsman's Dam would have to be by Thursday, at the latest. Found out yesterday that I'd have to cover for another person this afternoon and tomorrow, plus the boss had scheduled an in-service for Friday afternoon. :-( Certainly interferes with one's priorities... That left this morning as the only possible slot for this week's expedition, so I requested the morning off, and got my equipment ready. Since I'd not seen any great numbers of rising fish last time out, and given the success I had with a heavy scud on bass, I took the floating line off the 7 wt. reel, and replaced it with a type II full-sink line so I could dredge deep with streamers, leeches, buggers, etc. If it was calm, and fish were rising, I could always break out the 4 wt. and make do, or if the wind was up, I could respool the floating line on the 7 wt. The first cool front was supposed to arrive around noon or so, and I had hope that the pre-front conditions would have fish active. Bugged out about 7:30AM, stopped to grab a soda along the way, and arrived at the dam a bit after 8:00AM. Had an absolutely bluebird morning, plenty of sun, very light breeze out of the SSW, and the air was warming. Checking the water revealed some midges coming off, but even in the flat calm spots there were no fish to be seen. Decided to start off with a small streamer, strung up, and headed down to the bank. Did the run and gun thing down the bank, starting from my favourite spot on the NW corner and working south. The results were negative -- not even a nip. Worked the streamer a bit from the end of where they removed the cattails, as there was a shallow point there, that dropped off steeply. This seemed to be an area that it might be fruitful to pound hard. Caught weeds, and that was it. Switched to the bead bodied scud that had worked so well on bass last week, but that didn't do anything for the fish either. Was closing in on an hour of fishing. Decided to push on south, toward the inlet, and work what I could. Just south of the small bay on the west end, the bottom drops sharply into deep water. Further on, it's a good bit shallower, plus has submerged wood. Figured I'd pound the dropoff, and then work the wood for bass if I didn't have any other luck. Things were not going according to plan. :-/ No fish were contacted in either case. Did note a *lot* of bug life in this stretch, up shallow. Black midge larvae were all over the bottom in copious quantity. I would estimate densities at 100/sq. ft. I was amazed at the productivity. :-) Many other swimming bugs were seen as well (backswimmers and little whirly-gig bugs). The terrestrial side didn't lack for bugs either, as I was being pestered by both yellow jackets and bees in this stretch. Given that it'd got down to about 40F in the area, I was not expecting them to be quite so active, and certainly didn't expect them to pester me like they did. Once I got up to the wood, that marked the end of the deep water. Everything from that point to the inlet is probably a foot or two maximum depth. Very weedy, especially along the shoreline. Not a place I'd like to fish with sinking line, but a reconoiter was in order to where the inlet comes in, to see if I could locate any browns along the flats. Scrambled up and out of the bankside area, which necessitated a rest stop when I cleared the rim. It's a good 50' up from the water, at a 45+ degree angle, through tall, rather slippery grass and low brush, rose bushes, hawthorns, etc. Woof. :-) I walked along the rim to the inlet area. There's a small creek that runs in, plus some springs. *Lots* of cattails and marshy ground. I could hear the flowing water, but couldn't see it due to the high weeds everywhere, even from above. A few minutes of observation from above revealed no obvious fish activity. Made the half mile or so walk back to the car to figure out plan "B". Walked along the rim of the steep southern part of the lake, back to the area of the small bay. Stopped to take in the view. Geese were winging overhead, and a comorant was taking off from the water up by the dam. Had spooked several ducks and a crane from the water when I first arrived. Sun was shining, the water like glass. A good day to be alive, fish or no. :-) Then, at the NE corner of the water, I saw a *large* fish leap clear of the water by more than a body length. It wasn't no bass! Looked to be a salmonid, but since it was in a still shaded area, a good hundred yards off, I couldn't tell what sort of salmonid it was. All I could see was that it was big -- 20" plus. Also saw some sporadic rises along the NW end. Hmmm... Once I got back to the car, I looked at the fly box, and the old axiom came ringing in -- "when in doubt, try a wooly bugger.". Well, I was *certainly* in doubt, so I pulled an olive and grizzly bugger out and tied it on. Looked at the water, and 20 yards away, I saw that big fish leap clear of the water again. It looked like a rainbow! :-) Checked the time, and it was 10:00AM. I needed to get out of there by about 11:45, so I decided I'd fish more or less systematically with the bugger down the NW side to the end of the cleared area. If I didn't catch anything, or at least get a nip, I'd pack it in. Walked back down to the water at the NW corner and started casting. Several casts from that spot were stripped in, and naught but weeds to show. Thought I'd try one more cast before I moved down the bank. Made a nice cast, and slowly stripped the bugger back. About halfway into the retrieve, the bugger got slammed. :-) Felt the pull of a good fish, and the fight was on. Had to give line, and almost had to put the fish on the reel. I get the fish worked back in to within 30', and I see its side flash as it rolls. Damn, it looks like a trout! :-) I keep working the fish toward the surface, and when it gets near the top of the water, it takes off again. Not only that, but it makes a cartwheeling jump. As the fish clears the water, I see that it's a *nice* rainbow! This is *too* cool! :-) Finally bring the leaper to hand, and it's a 16" football of a rainbow. :-) Fat and still pretty sassy. I had 3X tippet on, so there wasn't much danger of busting it off, and it appeared to be well hooked, so I played it in pretty quickly. The night before, I *thought* I'd put the digital camera in the car, and since I was close, and this was easily the biggest rainbow I've caught at the dam, I went to dig the camera out and take a picture. Didn't want to leave the fish out too long. Flipped the seat up and reached back for where I thought I'd put the camera. What the f... *Damn it*, *damn it*, *damn it*!!! The camera wasn't in the car. :-( God, I *hate* it when that happens! :-( So, I took the fish back to the water and gave it a good look over while I revived it. The fish had a nasty scar behind the head. Looked like a heron or something had tried to get it once upon a time. Given the size, it was obvious that it'd made it through a winter or two. A true survivour! Very pretty too, with nice reddish-purple patches on the gill plates. While not a true monster, the fact that it was something of a grizzled veteran of the piscatorial world made it a trophy nonetheless. :-) The fish revived nicely and swam off, burrying itself straight into the weeds. Well, it looks like dragging the bottom was the right idea. :-) Picked up where I'd left off, a couple yards down the bank. After about 10 casts, I had another fish on, but played it too hard and it LDR'd itself. I did get it in close enough to see it flash a side at me, and it looked like another decent (but smaller) rainbow. Looks like some of the trout made it through the draining and renovation as well. :-) Wondered how many... Worked down the bank, and went fishless for a good 20 minutes, but then hooked up again. This time, it was a 6" bass, that spat the hook as it was being skated to hand for release. 3-4 more casts from that spot had me hooked up again, and it felt like another trout. This one wanted to run deep, but the argument was settled in short order, and a fat 14" rainbow came to hand. Wow, the fish gods were more than smiling on me! :-) I don't know how it could have got much better. :-) Worked down to the end of my predetermined run, and worked along that point again. Hooked plenty of weeds, and wondered if my luck had run out. Got tagged by another fish, but it was off almost as fast as it was on. Hmmm... Maybe I'll work this spot a while longer. Kept casting, with no more success. Had seen another 14" rainbow come down the bank, about 6' from shore, and suck emergers before settling back on the bottom. Dragged the bugger past it a couple times, but it was disinterested. Was getting ready to go back to the car, but I *had* to make a couple more casts. :-) That's when I see movement in the water out of the corner of my eye. I stopped stripping and slowly turned my head toware the movement. Oh, my *GOD*! Moving toward me at a fair clip is a *monster* trout. I watch for several breathless moments as the fish comes within a rod length of where I was standing, turned the corner and started to head out into deep water along that little point. The fish was *easily* 28", and looked like a freakin' submarine! As it got close, I saw the big spots on the sides -- a brown! :-) I'd not spooked it, and it was now going straight away from my position. I was going to try and drop the bugger in front of the fish and strip it past him to see if I'd get a reaction. Watched the fish slowly move away as I stripped the previous cast in as fast as I dared. Had the line coiled in my hand. Picked up and made dead aim as I started to work line out. @##$%@#$%@!!! No, the fish didn't spook. The line decided to bird's nest in my hand. *No* way was I going to drop a fly in the water on *that* big a fish with a guide-plugging mess in my hand. Hell, I didn't even think I had enough free line to reach the target. I re-routed the line in the air to drop it where I wouldn't spook the fish, and watched it fade into the depths. :-( It *was* mighty nice of Mr. Monster Brown to show himself to me, though! :-) I know he's still there. This one is the biggest one I've seen at the dam, and he was scary big (this from a guy that has routinely seen 20-24" browns in the same water. Indeed, my 20.5" brown came from very near this spot.). So, yeah, I've seen big browns. This sumbitch was *more* than big. :-) We'll meet again, my friend... :-) I picked the bird's nest apart, and checked the time. Getting close to 11:30. Time to work my way back to the car. Fished my way back to where I started, but didn't get anything to take. Checked time again. Ay, ay, ay! I'm already late to leave. Oh hell, I'm going to make *one* more cast... Made the cast, let the line sink, and started a slow strip. About 5 strips, and *wham*, I've got a fish on! :-) Feels good, too! :-) I see the silver flash of a rainbow on the line, and although it looks like maybe a 14" or thereabout fish, it's got a *lot* of fight, and I don't have a lot of free line to play with. Stripped him in a ways, but he wanted to run, and I didn't want to pull the hook. Got *real* close to putting him on the reel, but then he turned and started diagonally toward shallow water, and I was able to gain line back on him again. Played him in, and landed him nicely, with the bugger stuck firmly in the corner of his mouth. Gauged him against the rod handle, and he was an honest 14" fish. Slid him back in the water after I got the fly out, and he was soon off. This one too shot immediately to the nearest weeds, and with effort burried himself therein. Interesting... :-) Looked at the clock, and it was noon. I've got a half hour drive ahead of me to make it home for a quick lunch and be back to work by 1:00PM. Stowed my gear, took one last look at the water, the fall colours, and the general fineness of the day and wondered how I could have done any better. Hooked five nice rainbows, and landed three, including the 16" football. The tiddler bass provided comic relief, and that monster brown gave thrills and suspense, even though I never got a cast off at him. *Why* did I have to go back to work? :-) Todd (remove hook to reply) |
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Rainbow's End (long)
"Todd Enders" wrote in message ... snip The tiddler bass provided comic relief, and that monster brown gave thrills and suspense, even though I never got a cast off at him. *Why* did I have to go back to work? :-) Long, yes! But very entertaining ! Thanks Todd. /Roger |
#3
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Rainbow's End (long)
"Todd Enders" wrote in message ... snip Looked at the clock, and it was noon. I've got a half hour drive ahead of me to make it home for a quick lunch and be back to work by 1:00PM... ...*Why* did I have to go back to work? :-) Reading this TR, I was pretty sure that you were not going to make it in to work. I almost had a new hero! Nice report though. Cheers, Bill |
#4
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Rainbow's End (long)
In Bill Mason wrote:
Reading this TR, I was pretty sure that you were not going to make it in to work. I almost had a new hero! Nice report though. Sorry to disappoint, Bill. :-) If there were any money in being a trout/fishing bum, I'd have made a career of it long ago. :-) Trust me, if there were *any* way I could have got out of going back to work that afternoon, I'd have stayed, but short of ending up in hospital, I was expected to be there to cover for the other person. Of course, I *could* have stayed anyway, and assured my elevation to trout bum status, until they repossessed the car, foreclosed on the mortgage, and all that rot... :-) But then, I'd be hard-pressed to afford new rods, reels, flylines, etc, plus I'd be forced to walk/hitchhike to fishing spots. No fun in that! :-) Todd (remove hook to reply) |
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