Catching not so much!
It’s not every day in December, in Missouri that you would want to launch a Kayak and float three and a half miles on a river but if the temps are in the mid to upper 50’s, that would a good time to do so!
I met Jeff at the predetermined location and we had boats in the water at nine or at least very shortly after. Already the temps were warm enough that waders and a light fleece was all I needed. Clear blue sky and little to no wind… life was good.
A mile of water and three fly changes later I was begining to wonder about the lack of catching. I’m not bragging, or claiming to know much about anything but I would have at least expected to have missed one or two takes by this point.
By the end of the second mile, I was beginning to feel the pressure and fished every likely location with no less than three fly changes per. Drifting a couple of different nymphs through each run. Paint the water I repeated again and again. I ended by swinging an Olive Woolly bugger starting at the top, take a step and ending with a final swing at the bottom before moving on.
What the frick’in holly heckardness by the end of the third mile. Not a single fish on, not a single strike, not a single long distance release. I blamed the deer! There were sign everywhere or maybe the unregulated Blue Heron population. Who knows what those angry birds are doing when no one is looking! Black and white is not a good color scheme for me so I really felt the need to get this skunk off.
Last wade-able stop before the take out. The rest is all one long deep pool. If it’s going to happen it has to happen now.
It did not, “Takes a hard man to eat boiled owl” is all I can think of.
Oh well, just a little reminder from the fishing gods that after twenty plus years of doing this I still don’t really have anything figured out. Luck can take you a long ways and it would be easy to dwell on the lack of catching but then again, what were you doing last Wednesday? I was lucky enough to be floating a crystal clear stream under a deep blue sky with warm sun on my face and the company of a good friend. No complaints, no complaints at all!
Doe’s this count???
Jeff near the take out
For a perspective from someone who actually caught fish on this trip. Check out Jeff’s blog, High Plains Flyfisher.
Fair Winds and Following Seas!