G
Guest
·Wednesday night I checked the weather channel; Thursday - rain & gusts of wind....at 25 mph. If I was steelheading no problem, but I'm taking my new 4 wt B IIx out on a small river. That kind of wind can turn a day off, into an off day. Hmm....what do I do. I've been looking forward to this trip for months. I considered going to work and saving my day off for "more favorable" conditions. Ah heck, maybe it won't be that bad, famous last words. Besides, maybe I'll get a pic of a rattlesnake or two. I just bought my first camera 2 weeks ago and thought I'd prove to folks just how many rattlers are really out there. Two years ago, two went right over my left boot while I was crouched down check'n out a big beetle, one had 9 rattles the other 11. Really wish I had a camera then - I didn't even have a cell phone yet! These days everyone has either a cell phone, iphone or some other gadget to take a pic and no one believes you anymore without a pic to prove it. That's why I finally gave in and got a camera. :hmmm:
Anyway, the day started out perfect. High hazy cloud cover with just a slight breeze. Again, the weather man was wrong. Boy, that's the job I need....wrong half the time and still keep your job. I make a couple of casts and snag a rock on the bottom. I wanted to fish drys but didn't see any feeders yet. So I make a few more casts and get a pretty good whack. One more cast....fish on...fish off, felt like a decent sized one but didn't get to see it. Walked up a bit and tried another spot. First cast, another rock.....I think. I say that because, well, I've actually caught rocks before. But I swear, this time it just felt different. Well, no matter - hook comes out. Kinda weird though. I know there's bigger than average fish in there because I've caught them before and lost a few as well, but that one....I don't know.
After figuring out the depth and retrieve needed, I started picking up fish. Most of the bows were pushing 20" with a few smaller ones in the mid teens, but boy were they fat! The browns felt like, hmm...snags at first, imagine that. They weren't as plentiful, or maybe they were, but the ones that I caught were noteworthy. I lost a couple at the bank that were real big, but that's how it goes sometimes.
All in all, pretty good day. Sorry I don't have more pics, half the time I forgot that I even had a camera...still trying to get use to that. Besides, they pretty much all look the same anyway. That, and trying to take a pic by yourself with a fish you can barely pic up with one hand makes it tough. I'm ok with that problem though. One of the browns measured a scoche longer than 1 section of my 4 pc. I guess that's in the 20+" range. But it sure made me think about those ones I lost, and the "snags" that seemed to move. :clown:
Sorry that the files are so big on a couple of them. My wife showed me how to size them and, well I forgot how to do it.
The only bummer parts to the day, I lost my net (useless with those fish anyway), and I never could catch up with the rattle'rs....those buggers are fast!
Out of curiosity, I went and measured the markings on my rod a few minutes ago. It's only a couple weeks old, so I hadn't got the chance to do that yet. Turns out what I thought to be around 17-18" actually measured 20". Which means those bows were a bit bigger than I originally posted. And one section of a 4 pc rod (ready for this...I didn't even have to use a calculator)- 9' or (108") /4 = 27". I know, I know, you're impressed...... with my math skills of course.
Anyway, the day started out perfect. High hazy cloud cover with just a slight breeze. Again, the weather man was wrong. Boy, that's the job I need....wrong half the time and still keep your job. I make a couple of casts and snag a rock on the bottom. I wanted to fish drys but didn't see any feeders yet. So I make a few more casts and get a pretty good whack. One more cast....fish on...fish off, felt like a decent sized one but didn't get to see it. Walked up a bit and tried another spot. First cast, another rock.....I think. I say that because, well, I've actually caught rocks before. But I swear, this time it just felt different. Well, no matter - hook comes out. Kinda weird though. I know there's bigger than average fish in there because I've caught them before and lost a few as well, but that one....I don't know.
After figuring out the depth and retrieve needed, I started picking up fish. Most of the bows were pushing 20" with a few smaller ones in the mid teens, but boy were they fat! The browns felt like, hmm...snags at first, imagine that. They weren't as plentiful, or maybe they were, but the ones that I caught were noteworthy. I lost a couple at the bank that were real big, but that's how it goes sometimes.
All in all, pretty good day. Sorry I don't have more pics, half the time I forgot that I even had a camera...still trying to get use to that. Besides, they pretty much all look the same anyway. That, and trying to take a pic by yourself with a fish you can barely pic up with one hand makes it tough. I'm ok with that problem though. One of the browns measured a scoche longer than 1 section of my 4 pc. I guess that's in the 20+" range. But it sure made me think about those ones I lost, and the "snags" that seemed to move. :clown:
Sorry that the files are so big on a couple of them. My wife showed me how to size them and, well I forgot how to do it.
The only bummer parts to the day, I lost my net (useless with those fish anyway), and I never could catch up with the rattle'rs....those buggers are fast!
Out of curiosity, I went and measured the markings on my rod a few minutes ago. It's only a couple weeks old, so I hadn't got the chance to do that yet. Turns out what I thought to be around 17-18" actually measured 20". Which means those bows were a bit bigger than I originally posted. And one section of a 4 pc rod (ready for this...I didn't even have to use a calculator)- 9' or (108") /4 = 27". I know, I know, you're impressed...... with my math skills of course.
but these ones are nice to
