Morning of Fishing - Noon Departure

Kay and Hannah

After a pound of bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, toast and orange juice, the morning meal was consumed prior to our heading back to Big Meadows Reservoir for a morning of fishing -- hopefully, with better results than the morning before at Pass Creek Lake.  We were even a little early in making our departure for the lake and its allowance of a few hours of fishing (before the Burches headed back to Denver -- with Hannah too).

The morning seemed mild and pleasant as we exited the RV and prepped for the ride back up Wolf Creek Pass to the turn just before the tunnel.  The ride up was sunny and pleasant with the beauty of the canyon always a joy to behold and always so inviting as to encourage stops along the way --not just for the use of a bathroom.  Upon arrival at Big Meadows, the wind from the west seemed more daunting as it blew right toward the dam and the area we decided might provide better fishing than the day before -- earlier advice to me by others, had indicated the place I fished alone on Sunday as being the really prime location.  Numerous anglers, were already present along the near shores and on both sides of the little foot bridge over the spillway but, we decided to go just beyond them onto the rocky, bouldered dam in search of some flat spots near the water where we could cast our lures.

After nearly 45 minutes of fighting to cast into the wind, we worked our way closer to the foot bridge as other fishermen left the windy shores.  While Billy and Hannah hiked down the banks of the creek and falls, Rick, Kay and I decided we should head back out that path on the west or north side of the lake where the wind might not be so bad -- a decision we determined later to have been the right one to make.  First, we gathered Billy and Hannah's things to carry with us as we headed across the foot bridge toward the Jeep and the restrooms on the way to the path along the lake.

One quick stop at the Jeep and restrooms (while awaiting Billy and Hannah's return) and then we were on our way back toward the deeper and hopefully more leeward side of the lake to finish our morning of fishing.  After hearing too from some anglers (four of them just departing) that they had each caught their limit in the windier area near the boat ramp, it was encouraging to think we might do the same -- though I felt certain, they were bait fishermen and had used huge chunks of lead to cast into the wind.

As we arrived near the rocky shoreline after emerging from the steep section of the path through the woods, the winds were appreciably reduced to something more manageable -- quite tolerable with some big pines at the end of the cove offering some protection from the winds.  Rick and Kay took the closest spots at the bottom of the steep path and I headed farther on toward the pines and the shallow cove in front of them.  Soon I had a couple hits and Billy and Hannah passed behind me to a spot farther up the shoreline.  Not long after that, Billy got the first fish of the day and thankfully, Hannah netted it among the rocks as it had managed to unhook itself as it got on the shore.  Great teamwork.

Before long, (after I had moved beyond Billy and closer to the shallow waters of the cove) I also hooked another trout, got it to shore (where it unhooked itself like Billy's fish) and I scrambled among the rocks to get my hands on it and secured it to the same stringer with Billy's.  We beckoned to Rick and Kay to come our way but, Rick also managed to catch a nice one before making the move with Kay in our direction.  I gave my spot to Rick and Kay in hopes they would catch something more and Rick did catch another.  I went back to the other side of Billy and had thought how nice it would be if Hannah could catch a fish too -- about 5 minutes later, she did just that.

Most of the action started around 11:00 a.m. and we decided to leave about a half hour or 45 minutes later so they could get on the road back to Denver and hopefully, home by 5:30 or thereabouts -- Hannah had to be at work by 7:00 that evenng, I think.  Billy and I cleaned the 5 fish and they took them back to enjoy one evening soon -- perhaps before Billy starts teaching school on Monday the 13th.  Hopefully the good taste and memory will bring them back again sometime between mid May and mid August next year -- when I will be here again to enjoy all this area has to offer.