On Friday I decided to take an unpaid vacation day and head to a northwest Wisconsin where a river flows that I have been interested in fishing for some time. As a preemptive strike against the calories that I would be burning this day I decided to try out Taco Bell's new breakfast menu.
The waffle taco did indeed give me the calories I so desperately was seeking but it will probably be the last one I will ever purchase. If I am going to have a fast food breakfast I usually prefer the cinnamon and raisin biscuits from Hardee's or the sausage burrito with picante sauce from Mcdonald's.
I was a beautiful day like anything was possible. Me and Del were singing Little Runaway and even Foxy joined in for a few verses.
Click on this video if you would like to hear Del Shannon sing Little Runaway. Sing along if you'd like and encourage your dog to join in for a couple verses.
The day was going perfect. There wasn't a cloud in the sky until this one cloud showed up essentially ruining what had been a relatively perfect day. Why does this always have to happen to me.
The river turned out to be much what I thought it would be like. Of course there was water flowing from high elevation to lower elevation. Trees grew along the edges of the river and the bottom consisted of a mix of sand, gravel and rocks.
I was searching for deeper sections where I figured big Brown Trout were lurking. I often forget the pitfalls that exist when fishing sections of rivers that I have never fished before. What looks like a deep hole from afar often ends up being very shallow upon closer inspection. It is also frustrating when you find yourself walking into a deep hole that looked very shallow a few steps before. My temples throb with hateful rage when I see large spooked trout scattering in all directions. The only saving grace of the matter is the knowledge that I can come back to this spot at a later date to exact my revenge.
For a majority of the morning I had this strange feeling like I was being followed when at one point I realized that it was just my own shadow.
I saw many of these little black Stoneflies in two distinct sizes. I also saw what looked like some kind of Mayfly or Caddis hatching but my attention was mainly focused on catching trout with streamers and I left my entomology book back at the car.
I was glad I took a day to enjoy some solitude in the northwoods of Wisconsin.
The section of the river I chose to explore was very wide and the deep sections were few and far between. It was no wonder to me why my friend Kyle told me to explore this section when I asked him for advice. It was obvious that he wanted the prime sections all to himself. I can't blame him for this because I do the same thing all the time.
There was actually one point in the day where I saw a tweener sized Brown Trout strike at my streamer. After he didn't strike again on subsequent casts I knew that I had to change my approach.
I would like to clarify my definition of what a tweener sized Brown Trout is. It is a trout in the range of 14 to 19 inches. This size of brown trout is not a true trophy in my book but can still put a nice bend in your rod and a smile on your face.
Oftentimes when changing my approach I feel like I am Macgyver disarming a bomb. The technical aspect of fishing excites me especially when I am on the water and there is an essence of time in the air. I want to re-rig as fast as possible but at the same time making sure my knots are tied correctly and my lure selection is right. It is also good to pour yourself a cup of coffee from the thermos during these times.
I can even hear the Macgyver theme song playing in my head when I am switching reels and tying on new streamers. Yes I am pretty much the Macgyver of fly fishing. Do you want me to sign my name "Eddie" or would you rather I write "Macgyver" when I am autographing your fly box?
16 pound tippet you ask? I am as unconventional as I am eccentric. I have recurring nightmares about being broken off by forty inch Brown Trout.
You can often tell if someone is awesome or not by looking to see what bumper stickers they have on the back of their vehicle. I figured the guy who drove the white Durango that was parked next to me must have been named Ross because he had a Ross sticker on his back window. He must also be into Bigfoot research because I noticed his YETI sticker. Well a man after my own heart. I also collected that he had walked downstream from the bridge crossing that I walked upstream from. He must have known something that I didn't.
I didn't catch any fish on this day but I have never regretted a day I took off of work to go fishing. I will definitely be back at some point and perhaps next time I will walk downstream from the bridge.
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