Broken

I'm always willing to get out and do some fishing, but I'm even more excited when someone else is willing to go with me.  With the success I experienced on the dry fly last week (read about that trip HERE) I couldn't help but let Lane know where the fish were looking up. Lane is always the first to switch to a dry fly at the slightest indication that the fish might be willing. We exchanged a few texts and soon enough a plan to get on the water together took shape. We decided to head to the same place as I've been fishing lately with hopes of finding more rising fish. 

We arrived on the water bright and early and initially, it didn't feel too cold, so I didn't put on my coat and gloves figuring that it was only going to get warmer as the day went on. We made our way downstream, biting off a good chunk of the stream that would take a good portion of the day to fish. Right away we started sight-fishing to nymphing fish, and we had some hits but couldn't seem to close the deal. Before we could make much headway with the fish the wind started coming down the canyon making it really cold and almost unbearable to fish. It was so cold that Lane's fly line snapped! As he tried to figure out a way to make it work I realized that I really needed my coat and gloves that were sitting, uselessly, in the truck. I suggested we make the walk back to the truck to get Lane a spare reel to fish with (but really it was because I couldn't feel my hands!) 

I worked on getting warm in the cab of the truck while Lane got set up with my spare reel. Once we were both ready to get after it again I put on every spare piece of clothing I had and we started fishing. After casting to some fish we spotted without any takers, a few fish rising upstream from us got our attention and we started chasing rings without any luck. About when we were thinking about picking up and heading for different waters we got over a pod of active fish in the bottom of a deep hole and I finally got a fish to the net.

With an idea of what the fish might be interested in, it didn't take long for Lane to get his first to the net too. 

Things were going good trading off whenever one of us managed to get a fish in on a tiny midge pupa, or when our heads got too cold. I'm not sure how many fish we brought to hand, but it was just enough to hold our attention and keep us from moving on. That's when the unthinkable happened: My rod broke. Not sure that I did anything wrong this time, I just went to cast and as I was just starting out of my backcast I heard a snap and knew it was over. This has been the best rod I've ever owned. The blank was from Hook & Hackle and has just been phenomenal. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. I walked back to the truck to get my spare rod, a sweet little fiberglass rod. It took a few minutes to get used to the different rod, but once I did I was back in the game. 

Towards the end of the day we spotted some rising fish in the hole above where we were fishing and I told lane to have at them. While he was chasing risers (and coming in brief contact with a couple) I continued fishing my nymph rig and managed to get one more to the net.

When Lane came back with tales of almost making it happen on the dry fly the temperature was dropping rapidly. So we fished our way back to the truck and lane managed to finish out the day with a great fish. 

Even though it was a rough day in some ways, it was a really good day in other ways and one that I needed in a lot of ways. I'll try to repair the rod, or just build a new one and get back after it as soon as I can. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder