Ups & Downs

What a day of ups and downs. We walked to the river (up) around 11:00 and found at least 3-4 boats at the ramp. That immediately meant a crowd from the beginning (down). We chatted with the guides for just a couple minutes as they set up their clients to fish just above the put-in area. We walked around the bend to find another group of fishermen, but not as many here as there were way upriver. (up & down) OMG there were a ton of people on the river! Like it was opening day! They sounded like they were cheering at a football game every time someone hooked a fish. Very distracting. (down) We separated and tried to find a spot without crowding someone else. A few of the fishermen went to be with their guides which opened up a couple slots and we started chuckin' & duckin' (up). Rick was a-ways upstream from me and I could see that he was hooking a number of fish (up), yet I was skunked for what seemed like a loooong time. (down) I eventually hooked a fish and played musical chairs with others for a spot as the guides floated away. I kept telling myself "Self, don't be grouchy, enjoy the moment" and I did. I love being on the river. (up)

A number of guides floated by, some anchoring but most continuing on their journey. I ended up in a good spot (up) very near a guide I know (Travis) who was teaching a newbie how to cast. I hooked a few fish, some taking my flies and I asked Travis if he'd like to move his client into my spot and he happily said yes. I wanted to do something nice, to feel good about helping someone. I even gave Travis a couple of Rick's secret tiny green nymphs since he didn't have any. After a little while I saw the newbie land a fish for a photo op. It put me in a better mood and I felt good. (up)

By this time the large group from way upriver moved next to us since they were being crowded by a couple more groups. (down) Although they were nice enough, they were very loud. (down) I prefer the peaceful rippling water sounds to the shouts and yahoos. (down) Rick convinced me to fish closer to him in an area I don't usually fish. That was fun and we love to fish together. (up) We were both hooking fish and tried to be very quiet about it so not to attract attention. Why do people think the only fish in the river are the ones we're catching?

Around 3:00 people started to leave the river and we were basically left alone. (up) I think there was one other guy fishing nearby when we both hooked and landed fish at the same time. (up)

We worked our way down river toward the boat ramp and saw a couple fishermen using spinning rods to drown worms. (down) They weren't catching any fish (up) and we moved out of their line of sight.

After we caught a few more fish we decided to call it an up day. It turned out to be a really fun up day. I'm looking forward to fishing tomorrow and hopefully a little more open water.