my 'one fly' 2010

 We still felt fresh fish were our best option and Rippinlip suggested the Walnut Access area. I drove down the blacktop towards the parking area avoiding walking excited fishermen and roped dragged steelhead anglers. Oh, and let me not forget about the rubber necking swerving drivers. The whole time Rippinlip is trying to convince me there’s room for us to squeeze in between the hundreds of people along the crick bank. Again I got a front row parking spot on the end. We grabbed our rods and vests and headed towards the ‘Side Show.’ from the road Rippinlip noticed two vacant spots across the crick just down from a fast moving water falls. We crossed in shin deep water and miraculously got there before any other fishermen.
The crick was a better area for Rippinlip to drift his Depth Ray stonefly, than the lake, so we decided he should have the best position on the down stream side of the gentlemen between us. I, on the other hand, stood jigging my triple threat in front of steelhead in a slow back eddy pool like a perch fishermen off the side of a boat. I finally took the time to look around at my surroundings.
The Hollywood fashion police would have threw-up, went into convulsions, and fainted by the clothes worn by those with rods. Being a warm day and sun shining there was an array of shirts, coats, hats and boots being worn that would be too extensive to describe. Along with that there were lawn chairs, buckets, huge tackle boxes and gear bags along the crick bank. Wield yielding rods of every make and model was being used from fly rods to conventional rods to surf rods. Spinning reels atop handles being reeled in in an unconventional manner. Fly rods being flipped out with night crawlers and fish eggs on bait hooks. Huge bobbers that fell atop the water surface like a coconut falling from a palm tree. Steelhead would scatter when one of these would hit the water avoiding the heavy weighted lead that would accompany these. One of the most amusing side shows I’ve ever seen.
Within 45 minutes I heard a splash and saw my partner’s rod bent good towards the middle of the crick. Along with that was an oversized bobber, I knew wasn’t his, whipping through the air in tow. I looked across the crick and couldn’t find any one else’s rod bent to speculate that the hooked fish was anyone else’s but Rippinlip. Our first fish was on the end of my partner’s line with another line attached. The fish torpedoed out of the water as Rippinlip played it well even with another line attached. The guy next to me said I could use his net. I walked downstream from Rip and he got the fat 25” to 26” steelhead coming towards my outstretched arms with the net. He had the fish 2 feet away from the rim when it turned away from us testing the line and rod strength. Rippinlip muscled the fish towards us again and the tippet snapped as we watched the fish disappear into the stirred up water. The pressure was now on me to score the points.
We switched positions so I would get a better opportunity to drift my triple threat and hopefully work some magic. My casts had to be pretty darn accurate between drifting bobbers and bottom bait fishermen. Within a ½ hour I got snagged into something on the rocky slate bottom. Both of us tried to free the hook to no avail. I gave up and pulled my fly line and the tippet broke somewhere near the hook. We were out of the competition, so we thought!
We still had an hour or so before heading back and since we had good fishing stances we continued to fish for steel. I tied on an articulated stonefly on the end of the tippet and drifted it under an indicator. The guy, just downstream from me, was mostly fishing live minnows on his noodle rod but occasionally tie on an egg or some kind of fly pattern. Some how we got our lines tangled up and I let him undo the tangle. When he brought the tangled hooks to his hands my jaw dropped and my eyes widened as I saw a triple threat attached to his line.
“Where’d you get that triple threat?” I asked in disbelief.
“I tie that same pattern, I never seen another like it?” I asked quizzically.
I pulled an extra off my fly patch and showed him I had an identical pattern.
"It must be yours” he said convincingly.
“I snagged it a few minutes ago” he added.
He clipped off the triple threat and handed it to me saying “it doesn’t work anyway.”
What are the chances or odds of this ever happening?
I looked at Rippinlip and told him what happened. He gave a grin knowing strange things happen fishing.
I clipped the stonefly from my tippet and knotted back on the triple threat according to the ’one fly’ rules of engagement.
Now I’m not one to use a float when I swing or use a streamer of any kind but for some reason I left the indicator on. The third drift through my indicator sunk fast and I lifted the rod to set the hook. I felt the back pressure and yelled “FISH ON” as the steelie took off down stream.
Again, what are the odds of this happening??!!
With a good fight I chased the fish downstream with a net handling Rippinlip following. I got the steel to the net and 23 1/2 points on our score card. We didn’t catch any more steel before leaving but that coincidental ordeal was so unimaginable that no one could even think of conjuring up such a tale.

(3) ‘One Fly’ casting Competition

 

There are too many to list. Dano should have an accurate account of who won what.
During this presentation capcity_tim walked up to the stage, he was the 2009 ‘entertainer of the boards’ last year, to present a beautiful restored bamboo rod to this years winner. When they called my name I was totally caught off guard, totally! I almost had a tear in my eye when my friend Tim handed me the bamboo rod. Than Jack presented me with a travel cigar humidor, donated by Crowley’s, with 2 fine cigars inside. It didn’t take long for me to snuff out the Macanudo Ascot and light up the green Candela wrapped Iguana stogie.
I was a happy camper…


On Sunday, when I drove onto I79 south, I reached into my new traveling humidor and pulled out a Ferdinand y Isabella cigar. I bit off the twisted torpedo shaped smokers end and lit it up. The aroma and taste wasn’t bad for a Thompson Cigar Co. stogie!

Thanks to all. I enjoy entertaining everyone with stories of my fishing adventures, misadventures and, I’m told, humorous creativity.
You guys and gal’s rock!!!


________~doubletaper


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