The Flu on the Fly (and Vice-Versa)
Came home from work Thursday excited about the prospect of having an entire weekend of doing nothing but fishing. Just one more day...
And at 10:00 that night, I started feeling "achy." You know the type - joints hurt, back feels tense...thought I was simply coming down with some Bug du Jour (my wife's office is a veritable Petrie dish). I'm no wuss when it comes to being sick, but I needed some rest. So I decided to double-down on some NyQuil and sleep through it.
An hour later, I found myself in the fetal position, shiverring uncontrollably, writhing in pain, and literally pleading with my wife, "Please don't let me die." By 1:00, death was almost welcome. Sparing you the obscene details, I lay in bed Friday, now disgusted and dejected at seeing my "Too-Cool Weekend" literally and figuratively flushed down the pisadu.
Woke up Saturday...feeling improved, but with a lingering touch of febrility. I could handle it. Besides, this was MY weekend, dangit. I'm going
somewhere. Didn't feel like dealing with crowds and walking to find solitude, so I abandoned Erie headed to the ANF. I knew I was off to a bad start when 20 minutes into my trip, I realized I'd left the camera at home...
Having lost the "good traffic" to my blunder, I rode the wagon train of orange hats and pumpkin shoppers until I reached my destination.
Difficult, technical, and just what I've come to expect from an ANF stream. Every twist and turn looked "fishier" than the last. I came upon several fish, but the day would ultimately belong to them. The one fish I caught, a chunky son of a gun, gave my fiberglass rod all that he could before I got him to hand. He looked like he'd seen some better days himself.
Though the air grew cooler I could feel the trace remnants of my fever breaking and I decided to head back to my vehicle...did a little litter control along the way...
(Canadian...for the trout with discerning taste
)
Checked out another piece of water before I called it quits...by then I was well-chilled, and decided to fire up my portable stove and make myself a hot meal before making the trip home.
Uberflysnob finishing shot, as adjusted to conditions:
Sunday's agenda:
Church, and
Sleep