Saturday, April 2, 2011

Ah, Opening Day

That wonderful time of year where we get to fish the streams that the state dumps truckloads of fish into. Where fisherman and ladies come together in a spirit of camaraderie, lovingly embracing their fellow man in the mutual love and respect of a shared sport. If only any of this was true. 



I wasn't going to go. I even said I wasn't going to go. But as a respected and esteemed member of the blogging community; I would be shirking my online duties if I didn't go; at least that was my justification when I changed my mind. So I grabbed my new Allen XL reel, my old ST Croix Triumph 5wt. and ran out. 


Only took three minutes to remember to go back the kids. I'm quite proud of that. I am a model father after all. 


We went to the park. The great thing bout the park is the kids can play if they want, or watch me fish if they want, and I can fish if I want. (I do.)


Normally there is a clustering of people by the pool by the bridge. This is expected and if it wasn't true, I would think something was up and probably just go home. But what I didn't expect was that every other hole was covered too. Even the ones that I thought no one knew about since no one is ever there. Oh well. 


I saw someone start to pack up so I went to "jump in his grave." Once I got there I started to set up, and felt pretty lucky that I only had two people wander through my area and fish it while I was stringing my rod. 


I tie on a little bead headed soft hackle that I had came up with at some time or another. 


Then the fun starts. I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with the Allen XL reel. It's a shame he scraped the project. The reel complimented the rod very well, and with only one click of the drag there was a noticable change. Not like some others, that need a few good cranks to get any improvement on the tension.


I also have to say that after about a year of fishing glass almost exclusively, the ST. C "mod-fast" felt like swinging a tree branch. I really don't think that I got used to it the entire time there.  


After a few casts I notice that I was getting caught up on the rocks, so I started some intermittent tip wiggles to try and keep the fly off the very bottom.


Then, I feel a grab and a flash! Finally, it's FISH O.....never mind, he's off again.


I try for a few more minutes but realized that he wasn't going to be a two time sucker, so I then decide to switch to a picket pin.


I cast uneventfully for a while, until a Dad and his young son, maybe around 3, comes up and asks to fish down stream from me. Surprised to stumble upon actual courtesy, I oblige.  


I then think that maybe having a 3 year old in the line of my backcast, with the wind that would pick up  suddenly, might not be a great idea. I decide that I've seen enough of this spot. 


I move on. All the other holes are still studded with avid powerbaiters. (No lie, I saw globs of powerbait floating past me like clockwork, every minute or so.) I wonder upstream, but soon enough my kids found me and it was time to pack up.  


So goes Day 1.   

4 comments:

  1. I didnt get out until about noon. The pod of about 150 fish I spotted last night was literally down to a small brown and a decent pally by the time I got there. I started working the pally and actually had him take an egg but he got off. the commotion caused all the powerbaiters to swarm the hole. but yeah, powerbait and fake salmon eggs floating everywhere.

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  2. It gets crazy here. I think it gets as bad and the "combat fishing" of the Great Lakes during the steelie runs.

    The only solice (if it is one) is that in a few weeks these guys will have their freezers full and things will cool off.

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  3. I thank the stars above that Colorado is open all year round. This time of the year, every sunny warm day is opening day for those of us that don't fish throughout winter.

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  4. Cofisher, I'm with ya. I fish what I can, when I can. But, the kicker is, PA is basically open all year round, with the extended trout season. You just can't fish the month of mMrch while they do the major stocking. But come "opening weekend" they're out in droves. Then, 2-3 weeks later, gone and you never see them the rest of the year.

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