Fishing Gods Were Good Today

With my two new Panther Martins and more no. 12 barrel swivels in my possession, I felt ready to go back to Beaver Creek Reservoir and climb down those rocks and boulders again in search of the lunker that took my lure yesterday.  Since the weather forecast called for nearly 71 degrees and the sun already had been shining brightly for a few hours, I headed up around 9:15 and thought I could sit at the pull-out and tie on one of the new swivels and snap on one of the favored Panther Martins -- stay warm if the wind and cold air were not to my liking.

With the sun shining so brightly and my having on 3 layers and a vest, I figured it couldn't be bad down by the water's edge so, that's where I headed immediately after getting the lure on.  I took the easy way down to the left of the bluff and the sandy shoreline below hoping to start the day again with another nice Rainbow.  After casting numerous times and for nearly 45 minutes with no hits, I decided the wind (coming from my right) had died down enough to climb down the shute again to the bouldered shoreline below the bluff where the lunker should be (with my lure still in its mouth probably).  I fished there for more than an hour trying to get my new lure in just the right spot for that fish -- any fish please.  Did take a little break to sit down and rest my tired feet and legs about a half hour into fishing the boulders.  Didn't get any hits and began to doubt the Panther Martin or the fishing Gods.  During this time too, when I was standing on a fairly large boulder a few feet from the water's edge and below a 20 or 25 foot cliff of rocks, I felt a really sharp jolt or rumbling from the boulder like an earthquake or someone setting off dynamite somewhere below -- made me uneasy and not wanting to stay much longer there.

Dejectedly, I climbed back up and since I ran out of plastic bags, I put empty beer cans and bottles in my hand net until it started to drag on the ground -- put them in the back of the Jeep and headed for the picnic area to try for some Rainbows along the beach there.  I fished there and to the point looking for some action but, none came and only one hit -- no fish on.  After finishing my Gatorade and eating a banana in the car, I thought about the mildly bouldered section to the right of the picnic area and the shoreline going toward that bluff I had just been fishing -- thinking I hadn't seen anyone fishing there.  As I focused on the bouldered section, I fished the sandy, less rocky shoreline in that direction and soon had a fingerling Brown on my line -- relased him promptly and moved on.  Occasionally, a nice red and brown fish would jump out of the water near me as if to tease me.

As I approached the bouldered section (which I had not scouted from above to see where all the submerged boulders were), I cast cautiously just a little farther off shore to hopefully avoid the boulders and snags.  Then, I mistakenly cast a little too close and immediately had a small Brown trout on and he jumped acrobatically some 5 or 6 times out of the water trying to shed the lure.  I felt lucky to get this little 12 inch fish from the water and on my stringer and continued to move over the boulders and rocks to my right, occassionally casting back in the direction I came from.

On my way back to Grandview.

No further action here so I fished my way back to the area below the parking lot and decided to let this one rather puny but, fiesty little Brown loose to go get bigger.  Since it was around 3:15 I headed back to the RV for a snack and maybe some rest.

Road Looks Clear

After a peanut butter sandwich, chips and glass of milk, a nap sounded pretty nice and welcome to this weary body.  Forgot to mention that I did take one sliding fall on the loose rock and came up with a few scrapes but, luckily landed mostly on my butt -- no serious blood lost as I had my long-sleeved shirt still on at that time.

Around 4:30, and with the temps still around 70, I decided to head out once again with my sandals on and just a short sleeved T-shirt under my vest.  I decided that I had spent enough time on the boulders trying for that lunker that got away and thought I should go back to Masonic Park and that beautiful little spot by the bluff where I had seen that lunker in the grassy shoreline -- splashing its way downstream to get away from me.  The wind was still blowing hard out of the south or southeast but, once I reached the river's edge, I could hardly feel it.  When I cast downstream though, the wind would catch the lure and throw out deeper into the river.

With the sun shining brightly and warmly on my face and arms, I needed to get the sunglasses on and began to cast upstream around the boulder with the sticks behind it to see if anything might hit but, nothing.  Then I started casting straight out into the rushing waters at the center of the river and let it drift with the current and drew it back toward me to catch the eddy currents that were heading back upstream.  The second cast produced a huge hit but, no fish.  Had my heart pumping.  A little later, I cast a couple times into the start of the eddy currents toward my left and when the lure reached 5 or 6 feet off the shoreline, I had a couple more hits but, again no fish on.  Then, I threw one cast a little farther out into the fast moving water and let the lure drift a bit longer with the fast current before drawing it back into the eddy currents -- Wham! There was a huge jolt and the rod and reel were nearly jerked out of my hands but, again no fish.

I began to worry about this little mini-spin casting rig and wished I had the tools with me to take it apart and tighten things up as that last jolt seemed to cause the drag to fail -- so the reel could backspin freely now.  After another deep cast to the start of the eddy currents, the mini-rig got a test -- another huge jolt and this time there was a fish on and this baby was big and he started jumping and rolling as I guided him and got him to shore.  A real beauty of a Rainbow Trout that measured 16-1/2 inches.  Best fish yet.  Thank you Fishing Gods for a great day.