Hello again from Kelowna. Chris phoned last week and asked if I wanted to do a filming trip with Nick on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first thing I asked was, "What time are we leaving on Tuesday?"
"6:30am at Home Restaurant in Hope.", he said.
"6:30am in Hope, that means I have to leave at 4:30am!"
4:30am does not exist in my dictionary. Well actually, it does, it's the time when I go to bed.
In the end, I decided to skip breakfast with them, so I could get my 30 minute extra sleep and left Richmond at 5:00am on Tuesday.
Tuesday May 29thThe first 30 minutes at the lake on Tuesday was quite funny. Nick was intense when seeking for signs of fish as usual. We anchored, then spotted a school of fish splashing further away, quickly motored over and reanchored.
I had two rods set up, one with the typical indicator rigging, while a sink tip and leech on the other one because I like to be active instead of staring at an orange dot the entire day.
Within a couple of casts with the olive leech right after we reanchored, a tug at the end of the line was followed by a big bend on the 4wt rod. I was somewhat surprised, or shocked in fact that I was into a fish so fast, even before the two old timers had it dialed.
The 1lb brook trout dove and circled in front of me, it was going to be a fun day I thought.
Just as I was taking a photo of my first ever brook trout in the net, Chris yelled, "Rodney, the indicator!!"
I looked up and was unable to find it, but the bend in my other rod told me that I was now into a double header. I quickly sent the other fish back into the water and picked up the dancing rod for more thrill.
The school of fish continued to circle around us. Everytime it came by, the indicator would dip quickly but also slightly, so one really has to set the hook precisely. They did not seem to be picky eaters. At times when a bite was missed, another fish would grab onto the fly again, and again, and again.
This basically went on for the next hour before the switch was turned off. It seemed as if the fish had all gone to bed. Moody fish, Nick explained, apparently it is typical to see this pattern when fishing for brook trout.
That afternoon, although the bite was off, I was able to connect with a few more fish, including one that I estimated to be around 3lb. They are short, but thick, making it rather difficult to grab in the net. Although they do not leap like rainbow trout, they are certainly not sluggish, which some have told me in the past. These fish dive and take frantic short runs, making them rather exciting to target on a light fly rod.
Wednesday May 30thThe day at the lake started with some hide and seek as Chris explained. Nick directed Terry and I to a different launch while they went to one for the bigger boat. When we arrived at our launch, Terry and I thought it was rather tight for our boats so we decided to see where Nick and Chris went. I also was concerned about Terry hurting himself when unloading my cartopper as it is much heavier than it looks as some have experienced in the past.
Off we went to the other launch, only to find myself stuck at the base of a steep trail where the truck drivers had no problem getting up.
After several sad attempts, i gave up and radioed for help so Terry and I made our way back to the other launch again.
After all that drama, it was very relaxing once we were on the lake. The first few hours were rather quiet as Chris has explained. The wind also made things more frustrating. It was circling continuously instead of sticking to one direction. I found it rather tough to fish the indicator properly since the wind was blowing it around too much. Between a few missed bites, I landed a 6 incher that had beautiful markings on it.
As Nick and sleepy Chris made their way to the other end of the boat, I decided to revisit a spot where I tried earlier. A light tug was felt while stripping in the leech. I recasted to the same spot and I felt another tug as the leech made its way back to the boat. I set the hook and found a rather energetic fish that darted from one end of the boat to the other. It turned out to be a 14 to 16 incher. As I was releasing the fish, I had the video camera and tripod turned and focused on the fish. I leaned on one end of the boat and made the boat tilt slightly. Just before I was letting the fish go, I saw the tripod tipping slowly because of the tilt. The fish made a splashy exit as I jumped up and grabbed onto the tripod just before the $2,000 video camera reached the edge of the boat.
With all that excitement, I heard screams and big splashes behind me. I looked back and only to find a rather big trout getting some air time around Nick and Chris. I turned the radio on and Chris said that he made my mother rather confused.
I made my way over, it turned out the hatch took place, just at a different end of the lake.
The funny part was that this particular spot was only meters away from where Terry and I launched our boats.
Never neglect the water right in front of you, the grass is not always greener on the other side.
The next hour or so, it was basically a fishing show, hosted by Nick. Terry and I struggled with working the two rods properly as the wind continued to be indecisive. Terry's reel screamed loudly twice as he was fiddling around with the other rod. Both fish gave him some brief excitement before saying goodbye.
When I finally had the boat position, indicator depth, fly size and colour figured out, an orange dot disappeared. I grabbed the rod, set the hook, leaned back and stripped the line in frantically as the fish was running straight towards me. Meanwhile, it made a beautiful leap behind me, which the other guys witnessed. It was a beauty, easily 3 or 4lb. While the fish was darting all over the place around the boat, the circus continued in the boat. I had my shoes off at the time, so I was trying not to step on anything with my bare feet while repositioning myself. I turned the video camera on and hoped to capture all the excitement. Meanwhile, Chris had his video camera rolling behind me. After a couple of heart pounding minutes, the fish seemed to have calmed down. It stopped jumping and was slowly being guided to the boat. Just when I thought that I was about to land my biggest rainbow trout to date, the next problem arose. The indicator didn't pop and it was now 9 feet above my hands! With 18 feet of line between it and the fly, there was no way that I could land it without popping it first. As if the fish knew something was up, it decided to do some short dashes again. It headed straight to the front anchor rope and turned again just after it passed it. A wrapping around the anchor rope would have mean the end, but luckily it turned once again and got out of it. Although it didn't wrap itself, it was still diving deeply under the boat. With more line being peeled out, I decided to reach for the indicator and attempt to pop the quick release. I grabbed the line and the fish went for another strong dive. A quick snap that no fishermen would like to hear ended the show instantly.
The size 12 chromie emerged as I pulled the line up, I guess it slipped out of its mouth with all that pressure.
Oh well, they call it fishing, not catching for a reason after all.
Later on last night, I reviewed the video tape, only to discover that I wasn't recording during that fight.
The question "Why didn't you press the button?" is now haunting me once again (those of you who read about
the trip with IronNoggin last year, would know where the question came from).
Anyway, that's the trip so far, hopefully tomorrow I will be able to capture the video that I have planned to do when I fish for more brook trout or kokanee with fishersak and his dad. It looks like a lovely day in Kelowna, so I am off to Trout Waters Fly Shop now to see Nick and Savas.
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Topic: The Master, Rodney And Me, Fishing Merritt A Mini Journal May 29th & 30th, 2007 (Read 9051 times)