Yea...it's been a while since I last made a post - partly because the last two trips to the river were relatively uneventful. Except for a couple of average fish, my last couple of outings has been an orgy of snapped lines and popped hooks, which doesn't make for an interesting blog entry.
However, I did manage to hit the river with Josh (aka Bigerrfish) one weekend, and we had a good time - from disappearing fish, to the elusive (yet all too real) hummingbird hatch, to a fish eating a bat, the day seemed to have it all. Except some fish to net.
The following week, I was on the water with Susan and Laurel ("...did you really have one on?") - again, great time, but lots of lost fish. And flies.
And if there is one way to get me riled up for some payback, it's by sandbagging me on the water.
So with about three weeks worth of frustration at critical mass, I hit the river early this morning. Matter of fact, I was a little too early, and spent the first twenty minutes blind fishing in the dark - and managed to pull out a sickly little fella.
Seriously, this guy was like a side-show freak - larger melon with bulging eyes, humped back and elongated fins. Bizarre. After releasing Quasimodo, I used a ton of hand-sanitizer, just to be safe.
A little after that, it became light enough to see and I proceeded to unleash hell upon those fish. Weeks of frustration dropped like a ton of bricks...and it felt good.
A handful of little fellas, and quite a few lunkers, to boot. And yes, I lost some to popped hooks and snapped lines, as well.
It was about as close to perfect as it gets - except for two things:
My new net. It totally sucks. Not only is it not deep enough, but it's just too damn small. I lost two fish when they 'flipped' out of the net and back into the water. Rest assured, I'll be picking me up a new one this week...like my previous one. Stoopid shallow net.
Secondly, around 11 am my body started cannibalizing itself from hunger - so I decided to take a quick break to eat some food, only to find SURPRISE! I forgot to pack my grub. Now, this isn't the first time my brain has let me down - the list of disappointments is loooooooong, and I'm starting to think it's about time for a Come to Jesus meeting with my gray matter. Stoopid useless brain.
So, there I was, starving...it was getting hot, and the fishing had slowed down (or maybe it was me and my low blood sugar)...and some loud-mouthed knucklehead comes to the water, and starts fishing right next to me and my gear - in a bright white t-shirt and throwing a line with more gear attached to it than the Space Shuttle prior to launch.
What a tool.
But, after the morning that I had had...I let it all slide, loaded up my pack and called it a day. And what a day it was. Well worth the wait...although some other folks may disagree, when they end up buying the first round.
