First Trip

I finally made myself go this morning. I knew the waters would be high and swift; so I went to the most un-swift place I know of. I headed to my all-time favorite spot on the Right Fork of Middle Fork. Things were going fine on the way there. A couple of grouse were in the road and I was able to get a nice photo of a Common Merganser pair. Alas. I got to the place I intended to fish; I've fished there since the 70's. Well, guess what. It is in the active process of being made into a major clear-cut.

I headed back downstream to a section of log jams that are always good. There was just too much water. i couldn't get in to the location. If you stayed in the water more than about ten minutes, your legs went numb and you had a hard time walking. Not a good situation. Therefore I had to go to Plan C. I finally found a place where I could stand which was about 2 square feet in size. From that spot I had to cast straight downstream (never good) so you can already tell how difficult it would be to actually hook a fish. I did manage to catch 3, lose 3 and miss 2 from that one spot. I did catch another one further downstream. All and all it wasn't a bad 2 hours. But, it should have been better. Definitely much better than the first 3 times out last year. I do believe that it was the first time I have ever been there in the spring when I did not hear a single turkey gobbling. I guess it is a challenge to find a tree big enough to roost in. I did hear 2 different grouse drumming, they were the first I've heard this year.

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