Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Year's First Fish


Third cast. There. By the root ball. There’s always one there.

Five o’clock alarm. Six o’clock on the road. Allman Brothers riding along. Autopilot jams.

Morning rush hour in Greensboro. Don’t care. Goin' fishin'. You’re my blue skies, you’re my sunny day.

Empty trailhead. Love fishing on Wednesdays.

Cold. Colder than expected. Sun peeks above ridge, but can get no higher. Too heavy with winter. Ice on the southern shores.

Familiar water. Wide, shallow riffles. Deeper run along left bank, beneath the sycamore. Always start at the sycamore.

Olive woolly. Size 8. Wire wrapped under chenille. Gets it down. Flash in the tail. Red gill finish. John’s recipe. Nothing sophisticated. Just a bugger.

Cast left, to nine o’clock, above the roots. Let it tumble. Start the swing below. Wait for the strike. Now.

Nice bend in the 4wt. Alive.

Slender, twelve-inch rainbow. Painted in pastels. Bye bye Mr. Skunk. Hello new year.

Cast again. There. By the cut bank. There’s always one there.



Don't worry folks. I've not gone all poetic on you. Truth is, these were my quickly jotted notes to be used to compose a proper post. But, as I looked at them, it occurred to me that they stood well on their own. I could only screw them up. I hope you agree.

8 comments:

Jay said...

"Love fishing on Wednesdays."
Very nice, I second that.

Unknown said...

I would agree, nice change of pace. Great report. I almost got fish slime on my hands reading it.

Sam Costello said...

Mike you make a working man envious!

Sam

THE RIVER DAMSEL said...

Nice! That fish looks a little cold...ha. Im in total agreement on the mid-week fishing trips...I have a FISH TUESDAY every week!

Howard said...

Love the fingerless gloves! But do you keep them on all the time? I've had trouble "doing stuff" with them on. They were a present from my wife & I feel bound & determined to make them work.
-howard

Anonymous said...

Thursdays are almost as nice. Great pic of that rainbow! Love what you did with it.

Tyler Legg said...

Good looking fish Mike! Great colors!

THE RIVER DAMSEL said...

My fingerless gloves were left behind somewhere on a rock, went back, but couldn't find them. I'm wondering why I took the blasted things off in the first place! Oh, maybe it was to tie on a fly... :) They don't work well with that! But, my hands were much warmer, so I need to get another pair.