Off for six!
Thank Christ...I am exhausted.
I fullfilled a promise to take my father in law fishing on Friday. He is a great fella and the fish-gods smiled on him that day. Between the 3 of us we must have hooked more fish than any reasonable fisherman has any right to expect. Even my fishing commando freak friend seemed satisfied with the days produce....although he has become so spoiled I fear he may have to start fishing trout ponds soon.
One of the main reasons I took my current job was that the shift work would afford me the opportunity to fish midweek when the 'fishing pressure' is at its lowest . This is a rather odd term that conjures up images of my favourite flow pinched between the jaws of a vice being cranked closed by a myriad of hill-billie filth with murder in thier eyes and bibs on......dinner bells a'ringin' and quarts of tarter sauce at the ready. KILL KILL KILL!!!!!!
My fishing friends are all hard core catch and release guys......they would probably find it easier to kill their own mothers than a wild fish from their favourite rivers. It is probably an impossible task to try and explain the catch and release ethic to someone on the outside.....you know ...a rational thinking normal person. I know there is more to it but the simplest way to put it is..'the less fish you kill, the more you can catch later'.
My father in law had a tough time with this one I believe, but to his credit he followed suit with the romans on his guided adventure....all fish released ,...unscathed.....nothing hurt but their pride.....even the ones that made the poor old boy salivate. Growling stomach be damned.
We arrived at about an hour before sun up in order to get first crack at 'em. Our plan was to fish the easy access point first....smack them around a bit there then walk at our leisure to the tougher to get to spots.
We had to shift gears in a hurry.
First light brought about a 'bank maggot hatch' the likes of which I have never seen on our little river......especially for a Friday. It was like opening day.
UGH!
This better not be a recurring theme.
I don't play well with others anymore ....not sure I ever did..and after seeing 2 or 3 world class fish placed on stringers we hit the trail early.
As I said earlier...turned into a brilliant day with great friends and great fishing.....and that is a true blessing.
Whenever I hook and land one of these fish I feel truly fortunate and if I can manage to do this away from the scrutiny of the wake and bake pothead meathunters ...we'll ....anymore I suppose that is becoming a harder situation to procure than finding the fish themselves.
Poured rain Friday night and my little piece of heaven blew its banks and subsequently became unfishable for the weekend......this is good news for me and my little fishy friends.....no weekend slaughter.
I will see them on Wednesday......and hopefully no-one else.
