It had been the weirdest Spring I can recall in many years. Rain is expected in this season here on the West Coast, but this year it was truly extreme; bringing rockfalls that closed state highways and flooded rivers. It was no time to take a boat out on the lake. Finally things have calmed down and we began to look for the first of the golden weather.
YR gave a good enough forecast for the last Wednesday of the month, so after making a cheese and onion sandwich for lunch I took off. I often fish on my own if there’s nobody else free, in fact people often prefer I fish alone, particularly when I take cheese and onion sammies! While slicing the “tough cheese” for the sandwich I managed to slice my left hand 3rd finger. The first aid box came out and a patch went on. I hoped it wasn’t a bloody omen!
It was spitting lightly on the way up the valley, but it stopped well before the lake and when I arrived there were no other vehicles in the trailer park and I had the lake to myself. One of the joys of living a long way from any city. The bay was a sheet of flat, dark glass and while 6 young paradise ducks sat mutely on the ramp, the air was filled with kingfisher’s repetitive piping and swan’s fluting calls as they led their fledglings away from this intruder. Meanwhile a hawk patrolled the swampy margins as it’s mate soared overhead peeping loudly and performing some astonishing aerobatics.
I saw a fish rise but it ignored the Hamills streamer, so a change was made to a nymph and not just any nymph. A good mate, lets call him Mark, had found some flies on line and thought I’d like them, so he put in a bid, winning them for only $6. The container itself would have been worth that, but there were several dozen nymphs in the box, so one was tied on and when a trout went cruising past I put the fly ahead of it and a feisty Brunner brownie was taken, netted and released. I messaged Mark to let him know his flies worked. Then a fish sloshed around the edges and sedges, but ignored the lure. Shortly another one was spotted on the feed with it’s tail thrashing the water. Out went the nymph again, the fish rushed over and it was game on until it came to the net and was released.
Lunch was taken in a favourite haunt and when that was done, I went into a nearby backwater that had been good in the past. There was a slight swirl to indicate a fish, it raced over to nab the nymph, proving itself to be quite the solid unit. It was also smart and knew every patch of weed and tree stump in the reach, as it straightaway went around both of the aforementioned obstacles. I thought I’d be able to get out of trouble by moving the boat around the tree to follow the fish, but it was to no avail. The thing busted me off, but had also lured me onto a mudbank and the Osprey was stuck fast, so it took a bit of sweat to finally extricate the Silver Frog.
Once I’d rowed out of the backwater, the very light airs ceased altogether, the lake became glass flat again and all birdsong stopped. It was quite eerie for a while, but then the predicted winds from the west made their presence felt, the surface became rippled and it became difficult to spot fish. I thought I’d had a good day so turned back to the ramp, where I tried a different way of getting the boat back on the trailer. It all went pear shaped so I reverted to the usual method which all took a bit of time. Just as well there were no other people waiting to launch their boats !
Once home my Wife and I pushed and pulled the boat up the slight incline in the yard and over the lip of the garage entrance and it was tucked away until next time, which given its in three days, will probably be Summer.
Bring on the golden weather.
