Thursday most of us headed up north. To start off we fished the Running Man River on our way up. The fishing was just so-so. Even though the flows have come up a bit, the fish have gotten extra spooky due to the prolonged low flows. It’s probably not worth fishing here for now, until the flows increase some more.
Obi-Wan: These aren’t the fish you were looking for. There are no fish here.
Stormtrooper: These aren’t the fish we were looking for. There are no fish here.
Obi-Wan: You should fish elsewhere.
Stormtrooper: We should fish elsewhere.
Obi-Wan: Move along.
Stormtrooper: Move along… move along.
So the plan for Friday morning was to get up at 6:00. Now, for those of you who have fished with Jon Stanbery before, this is pretty late. He is famous for 4AM starts, or at least 5AM. So much so, that a couple of years ago I nicknamed him Drill Sergeant Stanbery because he made me do 50 push-ups when I didn’t get up right at 4:30. So, imagine my surprise to knock on his hotel room door at 6:30 and find him still in bed. Apparently the drill sergeant overslept. The demotion to corporal is in process.
Now if only I could erase the sight of Beachbum Bill getting out of the other bed wearing nothing but a thong all would be well, but the start of this trip is going from bad to worse quickly. Please note that Bill claims he was wearing regular underwear that rode up. All I can say is that I am drinking heavily right now to try and get rid of the image. As Kurtz would say, “The horror…the horror.”
However, it’s a weekday, so there isn’t as much of a rush as there might be on a weekend. The weather forecast is bad, which apparently is a good thing at this lake. Looking at the sky, it appears that we may get our wish. Cold, windy and cloudy to start – the perfect time to stand on a ladder in a lake.
BradW
Or to delay getting into the water by hanging out at the cars and “getting organized.”
I think Jon may have caught the first fish, and from a float tube since the flow is onshore.
Apologies in advance for those with a slow connection, but I was loving the view of the clouds, the lake and the changing look of things as the light changed. These are from early in the day, but I took plenty at sunset too, as you will see.
We were all so bundled up against the cold and wind, that it’s hard to tell sometimes just who it is in the picture, but I think these next two are Jon, Joe (Tech) and Jon again, after we had gotten blown off of one beach and moved to another that was a bit more protected.
While some continued to brave the elements, cast after cast after cast, others decided to watch and help Brad drink the scotch he had brought. Brad, Randy and Bill (l-r).
Brad apparently can’t decide whether to drink or get back in the water…
The sunset was awesome, the company was great and the whiskey was good – I didn’t even mind that I fished for 11 hours and got skunked when I could kick back with this view and catch up with old friends while sipping a smooth beverage.
Now, we started out with five guys (me, Jon, Bill and Brad and met up with Bill’s friend Curtis I think his name was). We were joined later in the day by Randy, Joe and his brother Jeff. So we didn’t all fish all day, but I think the grand total at the end of the day was three fish. It’s a good thing the friends, sunset and whiskey were good, because the catching wasn’t. Hopefully tomorrow would be a better day.
Since it was a weekend day, we got our start earlier (at 5 AM) and Jon actually got out of bed on time this time. While I am the one usually known as the person who would like to sleep late, please let this next picture serve as photographic proof that even I sometimes see a sunrise.
The wind is absolutely howling. It’s interesting how severe the wind can be, but a picture seems to freeze just that one moment and it doesn’t look that bad. However, in the first picture here, note the whitecaps, in the second picture someone (Randy?) is heading back to shore with head bent against the wind. Also note the ladder which got blown over – it wasn’t placed on its side. In the third picture, I got the camera ready late, but you can see the dust getting blown about so that it obscures the cars in the distance and blows out into the lake. Several times we almost got blown off of the ladders. After a few hours of this (and not a single fish) we retreat and look for a more protected cove.
Well, before we left we did decide to partake a bit. Although we had finished Brad’s scotch the day before, Randy had a bottle as well. Even though it was only 10 AM peer pressure forced me to join in and have wee sip along with these reprobates (l-r Brad, Bill, Randy and Jon). Curtis did not join us on this day and apparently Joe and Jeff were still sleeping off a drinking and gambling binge from the night before.
The new spot turned out ok for some – Bill got a nice 25” fish and I think Jon got another fish as well. There may have been others, they can chime in as a reply – I was too busy still trying to get my first fish to pay much attention.
Bill gives me his slot and a copy of the fly he caught it on. Unfortunately, the wind gives me the tangle from *. Not once, not twice, but three times I tangle my line in the wind and after just a few casts everyone is ready to move on to another beach that might be more protected. All I want is one * fish, but fine, sure, let’s go.
Oh look, isn’t that nice, Brad caught another fish at the new location. Gee, what is that, three fish now Brad? Grrrr.
It’s tough fishing for sure and I am not the only one skunked so far. We have all hooked into fish at least, and I have gotten one nice fish almost into the net before it got off, but it’s not easy to cast for eleven hours on day one with no fish and see evening approaching on day two and still no fish. I hook into another fish and lose it while trying to get it on the reel. But then finally, with shoulders and arm aching, I get one to the net. Woo hoo!
It’s a good thing too, because the weather turns nasty. The wind reaches gale force and then it starts to snow. Even in that storm, some people are still fishing, but most of us head in to drag out the ladders. With the skunk off, I am more than happy to call it a day.
Now, in all fairness, I should say upfront that Jon did not set a time to get up in the morning and said ‘let’s sleep in and I’ll call you when we get up.’ Nevertheless, this is Drill Sergeant Stanbery we are talking about here, so when Brad and I were up, showered, dressed and packed by quarter of seven (!) and found Randy up as well but still no word from Stanbery, we got worried. A knock at the door found he and Bill sleeping in again! Quarter to seven! Future Stanbery trip participants please take note! Sorry Jon, demotion to Private Stanbery is in process, in spite of the great trip.
Looking forward to seeing everyone else’s pictures and stories and I hope those of you who weren’t there enjoy the trip vicariously. I’m going to have one more glass of wine before bed to try and prevent the nightmares from coming (the horror…the horror). It was good seeing all of you and meeting a couple of new folks. Until next time! Jon
