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Well, town had slush this morning so I headed up river to the lfz. With a temp only being 6 degrees this morning fish were a little sluggish. On 2 hours effort i managed to hook 2 head shakers that spit the hook quickly. there were a few guys hooking fish but they seem to have been mostly foul hooking. It was most sad when this one guy dragged an atlantic in by the arse and fiddled with it for about 2 minutes while downstream water rushed in to its gills. This same guy foul hooked a steelhead in front of me and also reeled in a brown backwards... he told me about how he hooked 7 before I came... I let it all come in one ear and out other...

After a long brake and million work calls/texts/emails... I found out that the radiator went in the wifes car and it contaminated the transmission along with the ldp pump being bad.... upwards of 5k total.... I then decided it was time to head out fishing again. Slush was cleared in the lower river with the balmy sun glaring through at 19the degrees... I chose to fish near town and had an instant bobber drop that resulted in an instant downstream chase after a hot dime bright buck... after a 100+ yard battle I was slowly backing this low teens beauty in towards the bank. As I reached for the line the hook pulled loose and I just calmly stood there and watched him swim back in to the darkness... oh well; would've been the biggest one in a long time for me. I have to say though; what a difference in the lower river lake bright fish from those darkies up river... I managed to have 2 more bobber drops in the next hour with one being hooked briefly...

Overall; can't complain.

Hey clint, maybe you could've landed that fish for me if you had bundled up and met me down there...

just kidding buddy...lol

Sounds like a roller coaster day, Dime. Glad you got into some. There have been some bright fish upriver, I couldn't land any this trip , but came close. Sounds like your day was made. Pics would have been nice, but it's OK- it's in your memory bank.  Hope the car repair works out well and you get to fish again before leaving.
 
Charlie

Dime-
Congrats on some neat fishing during a wacky time.
  Stopped carrying a net long ago. Kinda figure when they are lost close in like the buck you described all that really happened was ya didnt have to get your hands wet. Had all the fun anyhow.
  Would be different if you  wanted to eat one - but fun is fun, heck- thats why we do it.
  Been known to letup roll a bit close in just so they WILL do their own release.

Good point rt :)

Clint, in the lfz I found fish in soft water near the bank where the current is pushing away from the actual flow. Down in town I found them in current seems on the edge of turbulent water in 3 or so foot.... hookups in lfz were on black nymph with chartreuse head and also an olive caddies pupa... down low in town was on a dull green semi transparent bead...

If you're gonna try the floats; try not to just let it free spool. It pays to hold back on it slightly allowing your bead or bait to swing up off the bottom slighyly downstream from your bobber....I notice guys using center pin reels are accommolishing this drift by letting it free spool; but it doesn't do it automatically with a spin reel... rigging is very crucial with it as well. Good luck

Edit: ldp stands for leak detection pump.... I guess its some type of evacuation system that is supposed to detect fuel and vapor leaks... it figures that lea detection system would fail before an actual leak... all this computer crap is crap I tell ya... hey being your a car guy, let me ask ya, can a trans get flushed from its impurities with some type of hydraulic based cleaning solvent

Drake its a Volvo xc 70 with all wheel drive.... very expensive tranny to say the least. I believe there is an independent coil for the tranny on the bottom of the radiator that cracked internally.... no problems with the actual radiator itself but; it is one unit so it is a complete radiator replacement. The ldp has nothing to do with any of the big problems here but it is still a 400-500 dollar job.... the dealer who has the car now isn't saying the transmission is shot, but they are claiming that they wont be able to flush it completely which will lead to problems down the road.... unfortunately volvo parts are through the roof. The job is completely parts driven rather than labor. I already have talked to a few people who say it is worth a shot trying to flush the trans with hydraulic solvent coupled with high pressure... at the same time, the car just came out of warranty this past october and while it was still under warranty we had 2 instances where we broke down and had to get it fixed. I am currently in a battle with the dealer I got the car from, so im not ready to make any decisions yet. The car has 62k on it. Put a lot of money down and still owe money on it. Volvo has never done my family wrong. When I was a late teen my father handed one down to me with 220k and I drove that thing to 294k... we then gave it to a guy who drove it for a long time after.... they are great cars. I just feel as if we got some type of lemon and the dealer should step up to the plate and assume some responsibility...

Sorry for the chronicle...lol...If anyone has any suggestions or knowledge of this matter feel free to give your opinion, but maybe via pm.... let's keep the topic on fishing...