Company's Gone - Back to Fishing

Well, it was really, really nice to have company but, there is a certain amount of work involved when entertaining folks -- and that kinda wore me out a bit.  My daughter Laura was such a delight to see after more than 8 months but, she headed back to Virginia on June 25th -- gave me a day to relocate to my new spot by the creek and a few days to get ready for cousin Dave's visit.

Now that Dave is back in Phoenix and dealing with 100 degree plus heat, I can focus more time on finding those big trout.  Am sure Dave is wishing he was still here and catching some too while enjoying the cooler temps.  I rested this past Saturday after seeing him off with the first daylight and getting us some breakfast prepared before that.  Sunday, I went back to our favorite spot on the Gunnison river and caught one nice keeper Brown trout.  Yesterday morning, I headed back to the Blue Mesa Reservoir and the same spot I had taken my cousin to -- down the steep bank and onto the boulders.  Same spot I dang near wore my cousin out on our first day of fishing.

After about a half hour of fishing with not a single hit or strike, a big fish hit my lure and doubled my pole over as it ran left, then right, staying deep and out of sight.  Then, it broke my line and took my last Kastmaster lure too.  I tried all of my Panther Martin lures after that but, had only a couple "bumps" (it seemed).  I left by 11:30 and headed for the Walmart to restock on those lures.

This morning, I headed back to that same spot on Blue Mesa armed with more Kastmaster lures and a new backup reel on my second pole -- arrived a little later this morning since I had to stop at the Post Office and then the Wells Fargo Bank in town.  After about a half hour of casting, I finally got a hit and a nice Rainbow on the line (maybe about 14 inches) but, he did his two-step "Dance for Life" in front of me and only left me some of his lip on one of the treble hooks of the lure.  Feeling disappointed and not get any more hits for awhile, I headed back across the boulders and stopped at the sandy/muddy shore of the lake and soon had another nice Rainbow on that I managed to land and get on my stringer.  This one was about 15 inches.  I moved farther to my right and stood on a sunken stump and managed to hook another, smaller Rainbow but, had to step into the muck to grab it at the water's edge -- sank up to my ankles but, I thought it was worth it.

After moving farther right and casting maybe another half dozen times, I again hooked another bigger trout (like yesterday's lost fish).  This time, I backed off on the drag and ran up and down the beach a few times as it fought and made numerous runs to deeper water -- I silently prayed that it would stay on so I could at least see it this time.  It jumped a couple times but, I managed to land it, said my thanks and decided to head for the fish cleaning station -- content with the morning's catch.  WOW!  How nice are these?

Start the grille and get out those cold beers.  There's fish for dinner tonight.