Last day out

I had heard the rains would be coming on Sunday. Saturday may be the last day to get out during the nice weather streak we’ve been having. Initially, I wanted to go up above Porcupine, bike in a ways, to where Hans and I had had such a great day, way back in the spring. Both bikes had flat tires, and would not hold air. By default, I headed up LHF. I drove for ½ hour, hadn’t been that far upstream in many years. Each year that road gets rockier and rockier, good thing there. Keep out the riff raff. Seems every part of that stream I have fished, I can remember about every hole. Could see many changes, beaver dams, etc, it is true you cannot step into the same river twice.
I got into fish right away, several nice cutts, I was beginning to work this nice hole, lots of structure, could see some nice rises up higher, when the water began to turn cloudy. In less than a minute, it was run-off color. Then several Jeeps passed by on the road. I walked upstream 100 yards, to find an area that the Jeeps had been playing around in the water. I passed by the area, headed upstream further, to clean water. I came across several very long and deep beaver ponds, where the water had flooded the banks, and was causing the stream to change course. Some of the “ponds” stretched upstream 100 yards or more, and were above waist high. I wished I had a few sticks of dynamite, thought Robert Traver would object to such tactics.

Fished one nice hole where I hooked a nice brown, then upon casting upstream and under a tree limb, I had a trout inhale my fly, causing me to set the hook quite hard, resulting in the fish yanking back quite hard, and coming loose. I had thought I had popped my tippet, but upon inspection, I found the fish had actually straightened the hook on my fly. The day was quite fun.