The Cure for Fishing Fever

We both took this Wednesday off to fish Apple Creek together one last time this season AND to try to catch fall salmon.  We actually went fishing on Sunday and Monday evenings and caught a few decent Brook trout, but no salmon. We were ready to stay as long as it took on this trip.
As always Joe let me cast first at the Big Hole. I seemed to have casted every which way, and nothing. Joe threw his first cast where he wanted me to cast in the first place, and a salmon was on! Just like that. 20 inches.

So Joe instructed me exactly which color lure to use and where to cast.... Soon my rod was bending. I caught a 20" salmon, too. After this excitement fish seemed to have quit. Except I pulled another smaller salmon with the same lure, but let it go. Then I pretty much tried every color lure, while Joe tried with his nightcrawlers and spawn bags. Missed a couple, but nothing more to show. 

It was a beautiful crisp fall day on the stream. Trees were turning colors.

A good day fishing! 
I'll be working this weekend, missing the last days of trout season. It's a good thing that my fishing fever is cured. Joe will be out on the stream this weekend for sure though.

Wet, Soggy, and Blind

The end of September = the end of trout season is fast approaching. Yesterday, my day off from work, though rainy with a chance of thunder, we didn't want to waste our opportunity for a quick fishing trip. Our conscious minds telling us "fishing probably won't be good," yet once out on the stream... we started chasing monster fish that weren't there. Since I lost my biggest fish a couple of weeks ago, every time I shut my eyes, I see that particular fish. Fishing fever. 

This was NOT the fish Joe was after, still a nice 13 1/2" Brown. Just before this he missed and saw a much bigger fish mouth, which he believed was a salmon. We fished the entire length of the stream as usual, except faster racing against the losing light. We learned I do not do well with a fishing rod under pressure and in poor visibility. I lost one lure, trying to catch the bigger fish Joe missed, and almost lost second one at the very end. That's when my rod broke as Joe was helping to get my lure back from a snag. Not a good day fishing for Kayo : ( 
P.S. Joe did get my spinner unsnagged : )
P.P.S. We will continue fishing as often as we can the next ten days.

The Greatest Fishing Story Ever Told

Last Monday, Labor Day, I took a day off from work so we could go out to Apple Creek again. The weather was good, and rainbow trout under 10" were playful in the fast waters. The Big Hole continued to be finicky, though Joe managed to catch this 12" rainbow on a crawler. The only keeper of the day, who was simply delicious, cooked on our hibachi grill. Also when we were at the Big Hole an eagle flew down around the bend below tree tops. I'm pretty sure I ducked. The eagle was just as surprised to encounter us.

Then Tuesday and Wednesday we got over 5 inches of rain in places. Friday Joe checked the river and determined it was not fishable. But after a 700-miles-in-less-than-20-hours round trip downstate for a funeral Saturday, the water became less murky brown and mostly fishable. So we took a leisurely fishing trip yesterday. Water was still at least a foot higher than normal. Fish were nowhere to be found.

Still, we continued on fishing above the falls. It's September and in this high water, there is a good chance salmon could be up for spawning.... Just as we were turning around to go back, I casted one last time. What felt like a snag and appeared to be a driftwood piece was actually a huge fish! All I could do was to keep my line tight while I hoped Joe managed to beach the monster... the challenge was we had no net. Well, the biggest German Brown Joe had ever seen in the river, approximately 27", broke my line and slipped away even though Joe tried to grab and stop it with all his power. The whole event was surreal, yet clearly etched in my memory. Somehow I was not as upset as I thought I would be. The fish even took my lure, but I feel it was totally worth it. We both knew Uncle Bob and Dad were watching us, laughing hard. Fishing and smoking was the most fitting way to end the weekend to remember and think of Uncle Bob's passing.