This past week was the lads annual Hihium Lake trip...and it did not start off well for me.
After settling into our cabins we started readying our gear for a day on the water. I was stretching the coils out of my SA stillwater like I have done before and it snapped in my hands! What the...! So I headed out on the water without one of my favourite and productive lines.
After a dismal day of productivity, I was about ready to begin the lengthy kick back into camp when I noticed that my right fin felt sort of odd. I looked down and saw that it was torn in half. A few more kicks and it tore right off and sank to the bottom. What the...! Luckily one of the lads was nearby so I yelled for help and he kicked back into camp (trolling as he went, didn't want to go too fast now!) to initiate a rescue with others in our party that boated.
Thngs were looking pretty dismal on day one of a five day trip when you are in a remote fish camp. Fortunately the camp had a spare pair of fins in need of repair that I was able to jury rig and I was able to splice my flyline together with a bit of backing and 2 nail knots.
The replacement fins worked well and I ended up catching good numbers of fish on the line. A great ending to a grim beginning...however I did provide a fair bit amount of amusement to the others.