I have to say, i have ha some pretty great/weird/terrible days on the river, but one that stands out in my mind was on the chehalis when i was 13 or 14....i was young, reckless, and stupid...
i was steelheading on december 26th...the water was low, clear, and slow...i didnt think much of it cause again, i was stupid.i crossed to the other side on a littlegravel bar by a secondary flow...after about an hour i decided to head back....went to grab my tackle, only problem was some of it was floating away. salmon smoltswe on the rocks jumping, beached, waiting for the waters to rise. i tried quickly to cross but it was to strong and high. i was 6 foot 2 at the time and was taking on water in my neoprene's. the water had turned a clay red colour. decided to turn around. with each stride i took i moved 5 feet closer to shore, and 8 feet downstream....i barely made iot back to dry land which was becoming rare very quickly. myself and others trapped on the opposite side of the flow pondered what to do....
the water level dropped after about an hour, although not to the original levels of earlier. when i crossed back over i had to use a stick as my eyes as the river was still clay red and i couldnt judge depth...
as you can tell by the fact i am writing this, i survived lol...but that changed me forever...i used to be reckless on the river and do some pretty dangerous things(dangerous to my health, no one elses). i have not worn waders since that day 4 years ago...lol but it was a lesson i am happy i learned, one must have respect for the river, if you dont, the river wont respect you.
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Topic: fishing stories good and bad (Read 4627 times)