When I reached the bridge I was fishing at, it took some time to figure out which way the river was actually flowing. This thing is big. Easily over 100 feet across, but in some areas easily wadeable. I only saw a few holes over 6 feet deep.
After fishing around for over an hour, I waded back to shore near a logjam. Sitting on a ledge 5 feet over, I saw a rainbow holding in about 8 feet of water under the logs. I cast my rig, only to get refused, I tried stoneflies, pheasant tails, strymphs, worms, and a whole host of flies. Finally, I tied on an olive wooly bugger with dumbell eyes that Charles tied for me years ago. He hit it twice, and on the second eat I connected.
The fish wasn't too special, being a hatchery rainbow a little over 12 inches. A little creative photo editing brought out some extra color that was obscured by the cloudy day and poor light.
After that, I found another logjam. All day I had seen big splashes off the point of the logs, but the only way to get to it was by climbing over the logs in more than 10 feet of water. That wasn't the best idea. I made my way around, and while on the largest log, the bark under my hand snapped off, leaving me off balance and sending me sliding in. The water was frigid, but I easily climbed back up onto the log and was able to get back to shore. I decided to cut the fishing short there. I'll always wonder what was making those giant splashes by the logs.
Until next time. Maybe I can get some more trout next year.
