Yesterday I Hit the River...

...and unfortunately the river hit back

Untitled from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

They all can't be stories of triumph over adversity and glory.
To edit out the the tales of woe which feature the long drive home with the chin to the chest and the lump in the throat would be worse than dishonest and more importantly undermine the integrity of my little fishing journal and all the value that it has for me.

LOL...

I lost a huge fish yesterday.

HUGE

I started the day knowing that I was a day late and a dollar short.
This happens.
The river had set up beautifully for the weekend and I did manage to get in right on the top of it but the real stellar cosmic water would be flowing over the structure that I love probably Monday-Tuesday-ish. The new fish would've stopped pushing through. They would've found the holding water that they were probably in last year and we would've met again.
They would've been all cocky and stupid with overconfidence from living the past 9 months in the big water as the top predator and I would've been only too happy to educate them a little on their place in the world...magnanimous in victory...releasing them to swim again.
The pain in my back and shoulder from the hike in and the fishy fighting a more than fair trade for the soul curing medicine that catching these fish provides.
It is not all about catching fish...but it is a bit. Quite a bit.
I tried to get in there but family obligation and the Philistines at work did their thing. Maybe fishing has come to mean too much to me?
Opportunities pass in life...most never to return again.....and it fucking stings sometimes.
I don't get skunked very often even when the water is shit...and I didn't yesterday.
The big fish seem to go negative first and the silly shakers are usually still willing to compensate you somewhat. Maybe that is how they get to be big fish?

I caught 4 of these little hatchery bookends and one wild one of about the same size. It used to be that a right pec fin clip signified a Michigan stray and it does have the look of those fish. It is funny to think that those knuckleheads pushed that far up just to grab some salmon eggs.
Pretty in their own right.
Not what I am looking for...more of a bonus or consolation prize on days like today.
I knew the river would be tough and it was.
I went from hole to hole marshaling as much courage as possible and pinning all my hopes on the one hole I know of that holds enough water to possibility encourage some fishing activity.
Finally I get there.
Not bad....but not good. 5 - 6 ft deep in spots and I can see right to the bottom.
First drift I hit a fish....(bla bla bla...fishing melodrama hyperbole insert...)
...5 minutes later with a burning shoulder and a rod bent right to cork I am still on this giant beast of a fish which is head shaking and sounding in water that has merciless clarity...
It has been close enough at this point that I can see it is well over 10 lbs and way bigger than 30 inches and will...lol...bump one of my unfortunate top tens off the list....I almost had a hand around her tail at one point....
One last run and "pinc"...slack line...arguably one of the worst feelings in the world...
I just about puked.
The entire time I fought this fish I could see the other fish in the pool being spooked about.
I retied just in time to have a couple of knuckleheads show up and ask me if they could join me....I will end the story there...I hate people....nobody moved another fish out of that run and it was a long hike out.
It has taken me until today to come to grips with the fact that yesterday was a great day.

Untitled from Gene Norland on Vimeo.

I had a chance at a world class fish when the odds were against me in a beautiful place. I saw some deer and a bald eagle up close and took advantage of a day off work to get some exercise.
This was a blessing ...reasoning not the least of which being because it was remembrance day.
BUT DAMN!
In the great perfect words of fishing sage John Geirach
"Only an idiot would blame the fish"
:o)