Another Good Afternoon

Hopefully this is how the rest of the Summer will go: Getting out mid-week to catch some great fish with some equally great company. We'll see how the coming weeks shake out, but it sure came together yesterday. After the usual morning of chasing kids around at work I was able to take the afternoon and go fishing with a couple of friends.

Practically from the first cast on we were into fish and the action never really did let up. Instead of splitting up and fishing apart from each other we decided to maximize the best water by taking turns fishing it. I really like fishing this way sometimes, because not only do you get to take your time while fishing but you also get to watch (and sometimes mock) how your friends are doing. So when we came up to a nice looking run with a couple of nice looking, larger than average fish, I was waiting my turn behind both Ross and Lane. No big deal, just how it goes sometimes. Well, wouldn't you know, both of them seemed to be under the impression that trout lived up in bushes because they were both tangled alongside the run and I had my shot. I made the most of the opportunity and hooked into a great Cutthroat that made several runs, dogged me in the undercut bank and put up a great fight. Finally, with a little help from a good net man, I brought him to hand.

What a fish! 23 1/2" 

More fish were to be had on the run, so we passed my rod around and gave everyone another shot. Mixed in with the Cutts were some really hard fighting bows. When it came back to my turn I brought a nice little bow to the net. He looked like he'd been living a hard life, with some scrapes and what looked to be bite marks on his back.

Tough little guy

Of course it was only a matter of time before Lane brought another beauty in, and he did not long after I caught mine.

Really pretty fish. 22"

Tried to get some more interesting pics of him than the usual grip & grin

He had some battle scars on his head and gill plate

 Ross hooked into a lot of fish, and some were really good ones, but luck didn't seem to be with him as he only brought a couple to hand. Some days are just like that, at least he caught some and from what I could see was doing a lot of things right today.

These bows fought like crazy

More underwater fun. Not sure why this one looks like he'd been folded, he looked fine out of the water.

 After we were done with the stream we did a little exploring and came up to a really nice looking lake. We let a few flies loose without any luck. After we got home I did some searching and found out that there aren't any fish in this reservoir. Seems like such a waste. Hope you can get out and enjoy the water.

- Kidder

Fish-less? Really?