fishing for words

[Trying to catch up on stuff around here, so this is a bit late.]

While circumstances conspired to prevent my celebration of Opening Day of trout season (April 26) by actually fishing, I did head to the cabin with Sean and Christopher Saturday night, with plans to hit Moccasin Creek. Sure, Moccasin is stocked, but trout is trout. We stopped at Diamondback Grill to enjoy some burgers, then headed for the cabin and hit the hay.

Sunday morning, Hit Moccasin Creek we did. Christopher, Sean (with my old fly rod), and I (with my new 5 wt. fly rod) were on the water by 7:00 a.m. Sunday. The surprising lack of fisher folks allowed us to pick the best spots. Again, the creek was full of larger brook trout and soon all of us had a fish on the line.

Sean did well for his first time fly fishing, even if it was nymphing, which isn’t what one imagines when fly fishing is mentioned. (Nymphing employs weighted wet flies, which are presented to the fish in their feeding lane underwater.) While Christopher left close to mid morning after pulling in a few fish, but Sean and I spent much of the day on the creek, and in about ten hours Sean had landed a dozen trout. I stopped counting at a dozen. Later in the evening, I fished by myself and right about sunset literally hooked ten trout in thirty minutes, all out of a small pool.

Knowing it was to be a short trip, Monday morning Sean and I headed back down to Moccasin Creek to spend a “little time” on the water before we had to head home. Well, a little time stretched into hours. But I blame it on Sean’s illness…he caught the bug. When I asked if he was ready to leave, his response was “One more cast.” We had fun trying to entice some fish in a deep pool by the dam, fish we could clearly see. I think we both pulled a couple of fish out of there, thanks to my expert fly selection!

A busy but tremendously fun two days.

For folks who remember gas prices crossing the $1/gallon threshold, this might sound familiar:

Stuck in the past: Some gas pumps won’t charge more than $3.99/gallon

$4 a gallon gas is definitely a headache for drivers, but it is posing an even bigger problem for some gas stations. In many rural areas of the country, gas stations with older pumps are discovering their pumps were not made to charge more that $3.99 9/10 per gallon.

Rumors of shortages can’t be far behind. What’s old is new again and again and…

A little bit lighter in the wallet, Christopher and I were another step closer to expanding out fishing horizons.

Finally understanding why fly fisherfolks collect numerous rods, my son and I attended, bid and doled out cash at the Diablo Valley Fly Fishermen’s annual auction. Parting with the green stuff was facilitated by our knowing that it would eventually end up helping any of the various conservation groups supported by the club.

Initially prompted by Christopher’s living and working on California’s north coast, Humboldt County to be exact; we hatched a plan earlier this year to find ourselves fly rods suitable for steelhead. We needed something on the order of 7 wt. rods with matching reels. And that’s exactly what turned up on the auction list.

The bidding was a bit infectious for Christopher but in the end he and I walked out with new Redington 9½-foot, 4-piece 7 wt. rods and CD 7/8 wt. reels. At a heck of a price. I also picked up a Redington 9-foot, 4-piece 5 wt. rod to replace the stick I learned on, an entry-level L.L. Bean 5 wt. rod I hope to hand down to some soul who might want to try a bit of fly fishing. Sean’s first on the list.

Once we get line on the 7 wt. rods it’ll be time to consider steelheading; despite all warnings…adverse weather, high flowing and cold water, and sometimes fickle fish that are constantly on the move.

Yeah, it’s a little bit crazy.