Fishing With Face

'Jeva hear of Murphy's Law? grab a bottle of fruit juice out of the refrigerator and settle down with a Youtube or Library book on basics pf an outboard motor. If you fall off that gunwale it will have to be the kid who swims to shore to get help.

Quote: petroglyph

I like your gunwale.

kind of funny that the term comes from when that was the place the guns went. Wait, this is Face we are talking about! probably a literal gunwale on that boat LOL

Quote: Fleastiff

'Jeva hear of Murphy's Law? grab a bottle of fruit juice out of the refrigerator and settle down with a Youtube or Library book on basics pf an outboard motor. If you fall off that gunwale it will have to be the kid who swims to shore to get help.

I felt so dumb. When Jonny L came to tinker, he mentioned Google, too. Here I am building everything I can think of using nothing but Google, and that never once crossed my mind =p

Quote: odiousgambit

kind of funny that the term comes from when that was the place the guns went. Wait, this is Face we are talking about! probably a literal gunwale on that boat LOL

No way. Not in NY. I dunno what they'd get me for, but I know they'd get me for something. They'd probably consider the water a highway and the boat a vehicle, claim the waves make any discharge unsafe and reckless, and I'd be up on 18 different weapons charges.

But if they ever open up a seagull season, I know right where to put the turret =)

So this is what negative variance feels like...

We just can't find it. I have been to about 27 spots this fall, at least half of them with Jonny L. That's a good 40 attempts at a fish, and up over 60 including the kid. So far, not one, single fish has been landed. Ash went out on what I think was her first and only outing and nailed a beauty by fly rod the day after me and the kid were in the same stretch of water using the same thing. But for all of our effort, we just can't find it.

But I keep trying, and occasionally I find something of interest. I did track down some fish today, in one hole that's sort of become a legend. It seems to be the first full, the last empty, and holds fish every day in between. But it always has some sort of stick right in the middle, making it the most difficult spot to fish. Today was no different.

I saw the fish right away, not yet realizing it was a fish. Reading shadows is an art, and it needs sharpening lest you lose the skill. So many things underwater look like a moving fish. Could be a stick, a pile of leaves, a rock overhang, or even a differently colored layer of the crick bed. You add the wave action, and it all undulates back and forth. I always have to pick out a marker. Something on the bed that's prominent, and then watch to see if the distance between it and the suspected fish changes. I was doing that with this one for over a minute before I saw it yawn wide, revealing the bright pink/white inside of its mouth. Finally, some fish to throw at.

Well, I went and snagged the tree in short order. It was close enough to spook the fish, but not so close that I had to smash through the run. I easily got it unhooked and decided to continue on, hoping a slight spook would be recovered from by the time I got back. And it was. I saw at least three piled up in the shallows, digging away at the bottom to make their beds. And big! Oooh, one was a legit monster, the other not bad at all. But, as always here, the approach was pretty much impossible. To lead the bait to them, you had to parallel a tree for a good 20'+ with almost no ability to change the length of your cast or your drift. It's little more than pure luck to get it in strike range, and you had to suffer 20 casts in between with snags and short throws and wash outs. I saw that there was enough clearing for a tight cast coming from the other side and upstream, but closer review showed that to be just about as impossible. One, simple, spidery twig sat right in the lane. That one thing erased all hope. I tried anyways, putting the bait right on the fish's head. Surprisingly it didn't spook, but that's totally ineffective for catching the fish. After several "safe" attempts proving the safe route impossible, I went for the Hail Mary and put it in the tree. Fish spooked, game over.

It was still cool, though. You've all seen this crick, usually with pics of us in ankle deep water catching finger length minnows. But twice a year, the whole thing changes and the monsters come back. 30 years and it's still, to me, one of the weirdest things to see happen.

(Definitely need 1080p for this one. Look between the triangle formed by the fallen trees.)

Quote: Face

(Definitely need 1080p for this one. Look between the triangle formed by the fallen trees.)

Great share, Face.

Trying what you pulled off there would have cost me a thousand yards of line, hung up in every single stick in view.

As the guides used to say, "never bet against women and kids" when fishing.

I think it has a lot to do with pheromones, do you mask?

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it =)

It's such a pain in the ass. Snags weren't exactly a problem, as the current prevented the fly from getting under the submerged tree. But it was that current that was jacking me up. It's a lot like throwing out a tiny ball of paper by use of fan. You can play it just right and sink it, but 99.99998% of the time, it just gets blown wide. That's what this was like. Time after time of getting a good float only to have it wash out at the last minute. I got as close as maybe 12" of its face, then bleh, washed out to the side of him. This after a perfect float for 15' - 20'. So Frustrating ><

I don't mess with smell when fishing. About the only time I can even recall it entering my head is when / if I happen to get petroleum based lubricant on my hands. Messing with boat motor, messing with reel gears, getting gear out of my truck,... if I get some lithium grease or motor oil on my hands, it'll hit my brain. Just about anything else, I don't think twice. Banana juice or Labatt Blue or kid boogers or cigarette ash... can't say I've seen it affect anything.

I do thank you for the kid comment, it got me thinking for a long time. Days, really. I think there is something to it. I think, as a fisherman, you get so caught up in improvements that you improve your ass right out the door. Who knows how many good presentations I had going that I stopped because it wasn't "good enough". Just look at this short video, most of my casts got pulled back before I even got a good float on. A kid, on the other hand, just puts it in the water and let's her go. And what do bugs do? They fall into the water and they just go. There might be some fact in that yarn.

Good day today. Good work, good car,... I needed to go fishing.

I actually got out yesterday for only the third time all year. The first two were dull, 45min affairs as I have no idea to do with this year's weather. But yesterday was too nice and things were going too well, so I spent some time down at the rock. Stayed just 75 min, but nabbed two stockers. Wasn't really what I was after, but at least I can say I caught a steelhead this year =p

As good as today went I decided to go out again. A few beers in a bag, shirt off, sun out, it was a beautiful day. The first time in a very long time that I felt at home.



I had to walk as my truck was in the shop, so I didn't have crickin' shoes on. That meant shore casting the snake field, which was another quick 60min stay. No matter, with 2F commenting that the cottonwood is blooming in GA, I knew (felt) that the bass run would just be hotting up here. I figured I'd pull a few and be on my way. First few casts were good and I just sort of fell into steelie mode, casting where I would as if I were after them instead of the bass. It might've been my fifth cast of that...



Wasn't huge, but was plenty healthy. A little thin but not emaciated, and no apparent injury (that orange on its body are seed husks, not cuts). Slid out, quick pick, fell off the hook, and took off immediately. Not bad for a 70* sunny day =)

I kept up with that for awhile until I made it to this rock. I casted past it 3 or 4 times before I really saw it, but when I did, I had that "I wonder..." Flipped one really close, almost up and over it so I could nail that pocket right behind it. First time I tried it...





It's been a real good day =) I have yet another good thing for this thread, but that's video and is taking longer (and that just reminded me I have a rant to do). I'll be back when it's done (likely days =p)

nice!

I'll be hitting it soon

Quote: odiousgambit

nice!

I'll be hitting it soon

If for bass, sooner is better. Granted, this comment is fueled by history and not the present, as I have no idea what to do with the weather, but right now the smallies (and you're same latitude, so this includes you) should be at just about their hottest. My cricks are filling with suckers, and that's usually the beginning of the end. Cottonwood falling is like ticker tape signaling the true end, and that's gotta be coming any day now.

Unless, of course, you're just after more crick chubs and panfish. You're set on those from now until freeze =)

Quote: Face

you're same latitude

you mean longitude? would that matter? I think I am several hundred miles south of you

Quote:

Unless, of course, you're just after more crick chubs and panfish. You're set on those from now until freeze =)

I won't say I am after them, but anything that gives me a lot of action makes me happy

I'm never sure you keep any fish. Do you? I like to come back with one nice fish, but often throw all back.