There are outings we remember because they signify change in our lives, and yet enjoying action in their midst--or at the end of the day--might trump all else.
We didn't catch the fish, but caught sight of them just before they sank and swam away. I had hooked something in pretty close. Had got a cast out that fell short, and I left the bait alone for an hour or two, before I decided to reel in the shiner and cast again--farther out. Instead, I was hooked up, but I had to move the fish through a lot of bottom obstruction not fully decayed yet. I did that, and the fish fought freely until it got into more stuff in close, just before I would have hoisted it onto shore. I thought I saw green. Pretty sure it was a largemouth a little over a pound, maybe a pound-and-a-half.
I baited up and did cast further out there, but I was plenty happy with whatever the fish was.
Our first stop had been The Sporting Life in Whitehouse. A dozen-and-a-half shiners were really at least two dozen. I forget the guy's name again, Scott, I think, but I made sure to tip him. You never know if action is going to be fast, so releasing at least a dozen of them at the end of the day just upped the shiner population in Round Valley Reservoir.
Temperatures never got above the mid to upper 30's, but wind was very light at most. I wore my new Beyond Allta Polar L8 Parka. Matt asked me what it's rated for, so I checked on my phone, finding it's good down to minus 70 F. Outdoor Life magazine says it's the warmest coat on the market. I felt like it was 90 degrees out, so I kept the coat unzipped for the most part. I wouldn't have paid the regular price of $595.00, but the $219.00 sale price was a great deal. You would think you could pay over a few thousand for parkas good for Antarctica and the arctic, but I haven't seen them online. Maybe I would just need to look harder. Mine is filled with Primaloft Gold, not down. Primaloft manages better if the coat gets wet. The Beyond website recommends sizing down once or twice, because the coat is made to accommodate four layers of clothes underneath it. I was willing to get a large instead of the usual extra-large, but my wife insisted I stay with the status quo. It is a little bulky, and I wore a base layer, a fleece sweatshirt, and a wool shirt underneath today, but it never felt as if cold air was getting underneath or bulky in an uncomfortable way. I like the feel of its presence, and I guess my wife was right.
Especially because of what follows. I never got Cronk's hunting bib back to him after using it ice fishing three years ago, and it seems as if he doesn't care and has no use for it himself. (Still have to bring it to his attention.) I can put that bib on over layers underneath, and the Allta L8 over all that, no problem. Doubt I could do that with a merely large coat.
Eager to put it to more tests yet.
After going on four hours, it was time to begin packing out.
"There's a fish on this rod," I said, observing the tightened line from one of the 11-foot noodle rods I like to use here, getting a little better casting range.
Earlier I had put a shiner pretty far out there. Matt came over and fought the fish, which almost got stuck in a clump of vegetation that includes some stems sticking above water surface yards from the edge. He got it through and almost to the bank when the hook came loose. The fish wallowed on the surface a long moment, and that, I thought, was behavior like a pickerel's, not a trout's. But I caught sight of how the back of the fish curved, and the orangish fins, concluding that it probably was a small laker of about 16 to 18 inches.
The guys over from us caught a pickerel, a yellow perch or a bass, and a nice rainbow.
Next year Matt's girlfriend, Kaitlin, visits, so we'll do something as a family, not fishing, although Matt is fully confident he and I will get back to the reservoir as yet.
