I made this post almost a year ago but thought I would dredge it back up to see if long time members missed it the first time or if our new members have a tale to tell.
If you have followed this sport for any significant amount of time I can’t imagine how you could get away without having had some kind of weird and wacky experience. I’ve had a number involving things like my dog and a tree stump, bears, bats, hawks, eagles, and porquipines. Please take a moment and think about your experiences and share one of your wackiest with the forum. My favorite goes as follows:
My strangest flyfishing experience took place four years ago on the Crooked River outside Prineville OR. The Crooked is a marvelous tailwater fishery and as a bonus it is about a half hour from some of the best sport rock climbing in America. Each May I take a few days for a combo rock climbing/fishing trip and it is a great combination I highly recommend.
The sun had set and the light was fading fast as I waded across some flat water just above a beautiful riffle. About half way across I noticed the fish were starting to rise and when I reached the bank it had turned into the closest thing trout get to a blitz. Dinner and camp would have to wait and though I could barely see I began casting a midge pattern to the myriad of swirls in front of me. It was a bit frustrating competing with all the naturals but I managed to fool a couple. As I released what would be the last fish of the day my fishing partner Walt walked up the high bank behind me and told me he was heading in to cook dinner. “One more cast and I’ll join you” I said as I made a few false casts. I laid the line out but before the fly hit the water a bat swooped down and snatched my fly. As I mentioned, it was pretty dark and I didn’t notice this event until my leader and fly line started levitating. I stripped in the line until I had the bat doing circles ten feet over my head and Walt was rolling on the ground in hysterics. Soon the bat grew tired and fluttered ungracefully to the water and I still had no idea what to do about this creature of the night at the end of my line. After a few moments I figured the hook was so small that I couldn’t have hooked it too badly so I gave the rod a quick snap and popped the hook out. The bat flopped in the water a bit then rose up and flew into the night. The only thing that could have made the experience wackier was if a nice big rainbow had decided the bat looked like dinner.
So that’s my Twilight Zone flyfishing episode. Let’s hear yours.
If you have followed this sport for any significant amount of time I can’t imagine how you could get away without having had some kind of weird and wacky experience. I’ve had a number involving things like my dog and a tree stump, bears, bats, hawks, eagles, and porquipines. Please take a moment and think about your experiences and share one of your wackiest with the forum. My favorite goes as follows:
My strangest flyfishing experience took place four years ago on the Crooked River outside Prineville OR. The Crooked is a marvelous tailwater fishery and as a bonus it is about a half hour from some of the best sport rock climbing in America. Each May I take a few days for a combo rock climbing/fishing trip and it is a great combination I highly recommend.
The sun had set and the light was fading fast as I waded across some flat water just above a beautiful riffle. About half way across I noticed the fish were starting to rise and when I reached the bank it had turned into the closest thing trout get to a blitz. Dinner and camp would have to wait and though I could barely see I began casting a midge pattern to the myriad of swirls in front of me. It was a bit frustrating competing with all the naturals but I managed to fool a couple. As I released what would be the last fish of the day my fishing partner Walt walked up the high bank behind me and told me he was heading in to cook dinner. “One more cast and I’ll join you” I said as I made a few false casts. I laid the line out but before the fly hit the water a bat swooped down and snatched my fly. As I mentioned, it was pretty dark and I didn’t notice this event until my leader and fly line started levitating. I stripped in the line until I had the bat doing circles ten feet over my head and Walt was rolling on the ground in hysterics. Soon the bat grew tired and fluttered ungracefully to the water and I still had no idea what to do about this creature of the night at the end of my line. After a few moments I figured the hook was so small that I couldn’t have hooked it too badly so I gave the rod a quick snap and popped the hook out. The bat flopped in the water a bit then rose up and flew into the night. The only thing that could have made the experience wackier was if a nice big rainbow had decided the bat looked like dinner.
So that’s my Twilight Zone flyfishing episode. Let’s hear yours.