Taking Advantage: >> never expected
13 June 2004
Riding up once more toward the Chattooga, I had
brought with me a book to re-read. Have you ever done
that? I'm sure many have, that is, being a member of
a class of people who
like
to read. I have done this as long as I can remember.
I must have a really poor memory for detail, because
I can re-read a book and it will be almost like
reading it again for the first time. Well, yeah, I
do
know how it will end, but there are so many details
that are once more easily re-experienced and I think
that that is why it so enjoyable to revisit a
book.
Well, the book was The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. If you are familiar with it, good. If not, also good. It is a novel, and I like it for the questions it raises as well as the plot/story line. Your mileage may vary.
The point being that I am able to read at a relatively smart pace. I started around page 308 and two (2) hours later, arriving at the river, read the last sentence (page 454) to complete the book. Hands up, cross the finish line! I had not really given this much thought before, but it does seem to amaze some people that it is possible to read 70-80 pages per hour. I do not think this is particularly fast (since I often go back to catch some detail) but some do. That’s counting interruptions, like stopping for gas or whatever.
Enough digression. We are here to fish. At least I am. Don't need much, but every little bit is good. Let’s get on with it.
It being a Sunday, and that is important because there is not much of the day left by the time we arrive, I am generally satisfied with anywhere between 1 and 2 hours fishing time. Just don’t want to get in a habit of this... we do need more time, generally, to get things done.
One major advantage that I had not really considered before was the fact that there were not very many people there. Part of it, I think, was because of the weather, with a low-hanging cloud killing visibility along the main road. Getting down to the river did manage to put us below the cloud, but the existence of a cloud has never been a problem for me. In my opinion the absolute best type of weather for trout fishing will be an overcast day, even to the point of there being a light misty drizzle. I like that kind of day. The other part did seem to be that it was pretty late in the day, and folks just wanted to head on home, I guess to attach to the TV couch. Who knows?
Got into my preferred spot at the bridge and after setting up my rig with a gray partridge hackled nymph pattern, I connected first with a spunky 12” rainbow. Leaping a couple of times and being somewhat reluctant to come in and be landed, I scooted it up on the sandy bank to remove the fly from its jaw. Should have pinched down the barb before-hand, but no harm done. Making sure the trout was resuscitated properly, I was comforted when it shook its tail and headed out for deeper water. Moving back into position, I proceeded to connect with its smaller brother, about 10” inches worth, but otherwise just as spunky. Neither fish displayed the worn down fins that the typical hatchery fish will show. They were probably hold-overs from the preceeding year and have thus had time to heal.
W O O F
