As my wife Minori, good friend Tad Sweet and I loaded Tad’s truck with our fishing gear I was filled with great expectations for the day’s fishing prospects. Just five days earlier Minori and I had fished the river with excellent results. On that particular day we found several spots where the fish were actively feeding on the surface. The fish were taking midges and we had no trouble fooling them with size #18 Griffith’s Gnats and Adam’s Parachutes. Most of the fish we caught that day ran between 10 and 14 inches but we did fool a couple of 15/16 inchers. All of the fish were in great shape and they fought hard making for a great day of fishing.
On this day however, the river gods would not be so kind. The snow storm that hit on Thursday had dropped way more snow on the area than I had guessed. The warmer temperature on Saturday was melting the freshly fallen snow and this was adding new snow melt water to the river raising the water level slightly, dropping the water temperature and adding color to the water. This triple whammy spelled doom for me and my two fishing partners. If it were not for Minori’s persistence and a deftly fished BH Red Copper John this threesome would have gone home completely shut out. Not that that would have been such a bad thing. Us so called experts need a good ass kicking once in awhile to keep us honest. As the day wore on and I could not buy a fish no matter what I tried all I could think about was how people come into the fly shop and expect me to have all the answers. And, after 30 plus years in the business and 40 plus years of fly fishing experience I begin to believe I do have all the answers. Then a day like Saturday comes along and abruptly brings me back to planet earth.
