Not Exactly a Happy Ending

I like to get out early on fishing trips. It seems easier to get out the door when everyone else is asleep, and it usually means that I get to pick what water I'd like to fish. Unfortunately, I also tend to stay up late tying flies the night before a trip then lay in bed trying to decide where to go in the morning. So it was a little later than I had hoped when I was pulling on my waders in the parking lot, but it was still early enough that there wasn't anyone else around to see my one footed dance. Once on the trail I was lucky enough to spot a couple of different groups of elk.

Pretty danged close

The first fish of the day didn't come in the first spot I tried, though I did have a nice fish come and have a look at my swinging bugger. Even though I changed flies and retrieves, the fish never did show himself again. The next spot, after some more hiking, brought a chunky brown to hand along with a couple of chubby chubs once I switched over to nymphs. 

Healthy brownie

Chubby

I tried a bunch of different flies, and caught a few fish, but it just seemed like things weren't quite what they should have been. As the day got warmer it seemed obvious to me that things weren't likely to improve as other fishermen started showing up. I switched back to a bugger and started covering water in order to make it back to the car quickly. I did manage a couple more fish as I went.

The lower jaw on this fish was pretty messed up.

Once back at the car I was pretty tired, a little sunburned, and ready to head home. I opened the trunk of my car and the alarm went off. Weird. So I pulled out my key and tried the remote, nothing. Then I unlocked the door manually (which worked, but didn't turn off the alarm) and tried to start the car, nothing. Back to the car door, locking and unlocking the door hoping that the alarm would turn off. Finally it did, the other people in the parking lot were probably even more thankful for this than I was. I got out of my hot waders and put my rod away in hopes of driving home without further problems. Nope. The car wouldn't start, and the alarm would re-start whenever I opened a door, the trunk, even once when I shut the glovebox a little harder than I normally would have. So I called the wife for help and she loaded up some tools and came to help. While I waited for her I called my Dad hoping that he'd offer some helpful advice. I ended up talking to not only my Dad but also my brother and sister-in-law who all had different ideas on how to make it work. One of these must've worked, because my car finally started and I headed for home without hesitation. My Dad passed the word on to my wife that the car had started and she was able to turn around and not have to drive too far. I made it home without any problems but I really hate my car now. It was a bad ending to what should've been a decent day on a stream that I don't get to visit very often. 

Hope you're luckier,

Kidder