Phoned Mike Maxwell last night about fishing this morning; he didn't pick up, and before he phoned back, I had already taken my sleeping pills, so I told him I was going around 6:00 a.m. He told me he might go mid-morning, when he gets a break from work.
Some guy was there fishing Power Bait with a big rod when I arrived, having caught two. I went on down to my most dependable hole and got not a hit, figuring not many got stocked yesterday. I went back upstream and caught one where a fairly deep current slackens. Getting no more hits, I went further up, just below the exit bridge where in the past I've caught many, getting no hits there. But under the exit ramp in the shallows I caught four.
Salmon eggs, as I usually fish. All of my trout I released today.
I didn't feel my usual verve. Had to make myself get up, carry my camera bag with my right arm still giving me some trouble, and walk down under the entry ramp to the fast water below. I felt sure some trout would be there, and though it took awhile before I got my first hit and landed the trout--the water pretty high and the current tricky for drifting eggs--some are there. I caught yet another and missed a strong hit.
Not many hits missed this morning. The guy using Power Bait caught as many as I did. I watched him closely, even though I felt this a nuisance, feeling jealous because I like to think nothing's better for stocked rainbows and brook trout--brookies no longer stocked in Jersey--than microlight method. That's a presumption impossible to proove. Plenty of times I've done better than other guys in the vicinity, but plenty of times others have kept up, too. I like to think I'm not the vain sort. That I'm there on a stream for my own good time and don't care how others do, but though it's true I come to enjoy myself, I do get competitive.
Better than that, all four of us--two other guys showed up--recognized each other with waves and hellos. It's a lot better to fish a stream with others who put simple good will before doing better than the next guy, and as usual this was evident today, in spite of my edgy mood.
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