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| This is Sharon. She got omitted from this post because I didn't get a chance to fish with her...but she had a good day too! |
After lunch, we decided to switch things up for the afternoon. Sharon and Wendy went with Dane while Mark and I fished with Brad. The prospect of getting another perspective really interested me but I have to admit that I really enjoy fishing with Wendy. We make a pretty good team. We always cheer each other on and have taken some pretty good pictures of one another during out time together. On the other hand, Mark’s sense of humor is second to none and he never lets things get too serious. At the same time, Mark hadn’t boated a fish that morning and I was hoping to bring a little positive mojo to the boat.
We drifted maybe a mile with Brad and it didn’t take long for Mark to get a few fish on the line. He lost one or two but stuck with it. If he was getting frustrated, he never let it show. His persistence was then rewarded with an incredible fish. He played it really well and figured out when to let a fish run and when to bring it in. The tale of the tape on this rainbow was probably 22 inches and over 5 pounds. I had the pleasure of taking some pictures of Brad and Mark with the trophy. This was by far the biggest fish that Mark had ever caught. It is equally impressive that he has only been seriously fly fishing for a few months.
On a side note, learning how to fight a fish is a hard skill
for someone new to fly fishing. Not
putting too much or too little pressure on a fish and gauging the strength the
fish has as well as anticipating what it has left is a lot to process. I think experience is the only thing that can
help someone acquire that skill.
As we got close to where the trucks were parked, Brad had us
put the nymphing rods away and busted out the hopper rigs. Each rod had two hoppers on it. Brad was hopeful that hopper season was
getting close and thought we might find some fish keying on them. While we didn’t catch any, it was really fun
and intense. The hope and thought that a
fish was sitting behind every boulder that you cast to demanded your attention and
focus. Casts had to be accurate and efficient
but errors were quickly erased by the quick current of the river. It might have been the most fun that I have
ever had fishing while not catching anything.
It is also noteworthy that most guide services were calling
it quits for the day at the end of this drift but not Cowboy Drifters. The boys put the boats on the trailers and
took us back up to the original put-in.
We then shuttled them back to a take-out and we drifted a few miles
again. Then the truck rodeo began
again. The trailers were taken down to
the pull out and Mark shuttled the fellas back to us.
It became glaringly obvious that Cowboy Drifter guides were
not going to be outworked and were committed to giving their guests the best
experience possible. Our guides didn’t
watch the clock or say we had to quit at a certain time. They might have stayed until dark if we wanted
to. When I asked Brad about whether he
ever wanted to pass off the rowing job and pick up a rod, he smiled really big
and said, “No way man! The fish you are
catching, I am too. I get to help with
your drift and put you in a good spot.
When you catch one, I do too. But
when you lose one at the boat, that’s your fault.” The boat erupted with laughter at this
point. This was the kind of thing that
happened pretty much all day. Both guys
blended sincerity with humor and encouragement and that type of attitude in a
guide should be appreciated because not all guides share this disposition.
This drift was shorter than the
last one by a couple of miles. We caught
a few more fish around the 18-19 inch mark but nothing as big as what he had
caught earlier in the day. We were
getting tired and the fish had seen a lot of flies over the course of the
day. Mark took a break for the last
couple of miles and Brad put me back on the hopper with the hopes that some
fish had moved to the shallows. It had
been windy in spots and the hope was that the wind might have carried some
hoppers into the water. It was a fun way
to fish but we didn’t get any bites unfortunately.
So, we loaded up the boats and went back to
where we put in. We took a lot of
pictures and shared a lot of laughs.
Personally, I was sad to see the guys go. We had spent a lot of time together and they
were pretty endearing guys. I really
hope that our paths cross again sometime.
I wish that I could also return the favor for all of their hard work and
guidance, but I don’t’ think I could ever give them a comparable gift. This was, without a doubt, the single best
day that I have ever had fly fishing. I
have never seen and boated so many big trout and the scenery only made things
better. This trip will be the topic of
many stories for years to come and I cannot thank Brad, Dane, and Cowboy
Drifters enough. Is there anything
better than being given a good memory by good people? I used to have a friend that believed that
“Life is all about the stories you can tell.”
I now have a story unlike any other!
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| Brad is the burly fella on the left and Dane is the babyface on the right. |
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