Tales of fishing outings, all true!
May 20 - Green River, Utah
It's about 4:00 PM and the 7th day of pounding the river and trail. We (Doug Severin and me) find ourselves about two miles down from the dam wearily walking our way back up the trail. The drift boats of the day are long gone. Haven't seen anyone on the trail in hours, when suddenly we spot a "sipper." We freeze, assess his feeding pattern, then get our "guns" (flies) ready for the game. Doug goes first with a tandem fly setup of some small bug imitation, without success. Now it's my turn with two different patterns.
Well, to make a long story short, after an hour of patiently taking turns trying multiple fly setups, many "look-sees" by the fish, and even some half-assed attempts by the ever-sipping fish to take our offerings, the magic moment came. "He took it!" I exclaimed. And in comes a beautiful 17" cutthroat. It was a moment in time, just the three of us, on a beautiful, very warm spring day, on a glorious, green-colored river, a thousand feet down in a red rock canyon in the mountains. Thanks for the experience, Doug, and Mr. Cutthroat! - Elaine Cook
May 19-20 - Pyramid Lake Revisited
Found myself in Reno on business so I drove up to Pyramid and spent the night. Rob at the Reno FlyShop loaned me a ladder that I humbly accepted for a few hours of fishing that evening and the following morning. Stripping a green sparkle wooly worm I landed a 24" buck just prior to sunset that fought like a fish 2x his size. For the life of me I thought I had on at least a 30"er. This guy was raging. It took me a good 8 minutes to land him. Where was Dougald and his camera? Whatever the Piautes are using in their fish management formula, it seems to be getting stronger as the months pass. Landed a 18' hen the next moning just as the flames of sunrise appeared over the eastern mountains. Absolutely the greatest way to start a new day. The white foam beetles from earlier in the season werent working at all. The guys next to me on the north nets were all stripping normal olive wooley buggers and killing it. - Tim Loomis
Apr. 29-May 1 - Roostercomb Ranch
This was my 4th year for the Roostercomb pilgramage...and it was the best yet. Cecilia and Dick coordinate a wonderful fishout where everyone seems to catch fish, enjoy the flora and fauna, reestablish old friendships and make new friends. I caught lots of bass between 10 and 14 inches. Wore out my favorite popper so I will be mass producing it for next year. The "la piece de la resistance" was the 4-wheeler ride over the ridges to Harvey with Cecilia and Deanna and then fishing in a pond that does not get much use. Then of course is the great picture I took of Elaine Cook as we were driving in as we forded stream after stream. Look for it in the slide show next January. - Lee Fitzsimmons