Yesterday was one of those days where a fisherman just had to take advantage of the nice weather and throw out a line. There are only so many days left to enjoy the sun, so I hurried off to find some feeding trout. The Brown’s are making their way to their favorite spawning grounds now and I was looking to intercept. I was going through my tackle selection to figure out what would work best. My lures are looking a little tarnished from the summer abuse, or what we call being well used. The water here is crystal clear and the fish are becoming active as the water temperature begins to drop.
I walked up to one of my secret locations; well it’s not such a secret anymore and removed new shiny hook from its package. There should be a disclaimer somewhere on the package saying “Caution, this hook is known to produce large fish”. I gently peeled the plastic package away and tied the eyelet onto my 8 pound monofilament line. As I was securing the knot I gazed out onto the horizon to see the Rocky Mountains are now full of snow. That’s a word no fisherman likes to hear or lay eyes on, this means fishing the river will surely come to a halt. I put that idea out of my mind as soon as it entered and casted away into the blue. I was letting my spinner bounce on the bottom two or three times before picking it off and reeling in slowly. My secret hole was not producing any fish. I was stumped and chose to move on downstream after a hundred casts and changing hooks three times. Those darn trout can be very picky and will not eat a thing some days.
The key to my success lies in the fact that I can read water very well, which was both taught and learned. I have spent many hours in the winter months reading books and watching DVD’s on this specific skill. I guess all the time spent paid off, I was now finally into my first trout of the day. This little Brown was hanging off the seam in the slow still water. As my lure came out of the current he smacked my spinner and went airborne shaking the hook loose from his toothy jaws. I then chose a location where the water was slow and was just about to make a drop in grade. I was around fifteen to twenty yards upstream of the drop.
I casted at the two o’clock position and banged into a very feisty brown trout. I released him and reloaded for another go round. This time a scrappy rainbow caught and flew high into the air, this fish was one tough customer I must say, he had me fighting to keep up. I landed him on the bank and looked him over with gratitude, another very beautiful trout for my reward. I continued to catch four more fish, one after the other until my arm could not take anymore. If I can offer some advice here to the reader, get as much info as you can on how to read a river, you will greatly increase your odds the next time you venture out.
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