Was just reflecting on some memories of this past season and thought that maybe it may make an interesting thread.
Sad to say, my highlight experience of the year was a fish that got away.
I was fishing the "guzzle" in late June........about one hr from the low. All of a sudden two huge stripers came out of a trough and swam onto the flat in about 1 ft of water. As initially I was looking in another direction, the pair of fish were actually swimming away from me ...I shot the line to their deep side and about 3 ft ahead on them. Started to retrieve......one of the stripers actually did a u-turn and came after the fly (I have never had a fish do that before).....I saw him engulf the fly and then leap at least 3 ft clear out of the water....sad to say, he landed on my tippet and the rest is sad history.
I was fishing with Garry that day and when I saw the fish just yelled..."there are 2 ********* big cows".....Garry of course ignored me until he saw the jump. We both estimated the fish to easily be in the 40 inch range.
The odd part was that I really wasn't too disappointed......I just figured...I just saw the 2 biggest stripers of my life in 1 ft of water...I got a shot at them...one made a u-turn...I saw the take and jump......not a bad consulation prize!
Ron
Tough to pinpoint any specific event there were so many great times. The two stand out highlites for me this season was meeting and fishing with you guys in Cape Cod. Monomoy, Morris Island Channel, Brewsters and Popanesset Inlets hold very special memories and all the guys I got to share that with. I dare not try and mention the names as sods law says I will miss someone.
The fall saw me back in Montauk and I had a fantastic session perched on a rock about 40 yards from shore in white water in the big blow at the end of Oct watching Bass head and tail in the waves and froth, occasionaly one would grab my fly at the same time as a wave knocked me off so I got to swim with a bass or two. Magical beyond words..
I recognize "the usual suspects" after we had secured the beach head and decided to have lunch...If memory serves, it was shortly after these pictures that a school of blues came crashing down the shoreline. I didn't realize you had taken pictures of the island. It sure looks desolate. Thanks for posting the pics.
Fun thread!
Interestingly, most of my season highlites were already covered by others in their highlites post. That in and of itself is notworthy as I've been more of a loner over the years, creeping around in the dark, unhooking fish without lights, parking half a mile away from the "spot", trying to avoid people rather than hang with them.
I had some good fishing, this was my best year ever for albies from shore, but I'll remember it more for the time spent on the water with some good fishermen and damn fine people.
Fishing this year, for me, was all about meeting people, new friends and old friends.
Firstly Chad in Mangrove Cay, a Canadian who can drink me under the table.
Joe, Lou and Adam on Acklins. I had an absolutely fantastic time in the "lounge" at Feltons place. It was great to meet you guys.
Meeting all my old friends in the Keys.
Discussing the meaning of life with Juro over cigars and whisky. Contributing to the owners retirement fund in the Squire. I hope to meet some more people the next time I get over there but it was interesting to meet someone who is even badder (worse is the wrong word) than I am. You know who you are, going to hen parties at 3 in the morning.
I look forward to next year and to possibly meet some old old friends, some old new friends, some new old friends and some new new friends.
I didn't get to fish as much last year in the salt but the best day was after a crappy day in late september. I stopped by at a beach near Boston on my way home to visit the parental units for the weekend and decided to see if I could catch a few stripers at an outflow that usually has some schoolies that are willing to bite. Anyways it started raining when I parked my car and I quickly got into my waders and put on my jacket etc. Crossed the road and walked out to the beach. It was windy and the rain was coming at an angle, the kind that slaps you in the face and stings a bit not to mention a decent cross wind that made casting a bit difficult with the 8wt. The estuary was dumping out into the ocean and I positioned myself along the outflow and made a few casts with a olive over white clouser and hooked up. None of the fish were of any size one sub legal and a whole bunch of rats. But it was fun and definitely relieved me of some stress. Not only that but I went back the following weekend and met 2 fly fishing nuts about my age which is not often the case on a saturday morning who were looking to catch some stripers. Long story short, fly fishing is a great stress reliever, it clears your head, and once in a while you get to meet some cool people who become fishing pals who truly appreciate such a great sport.
2nd highlight
I was hired at a very unique overnight camp for boys to be the fly fishing and swim instructor at Roaring Brook Camp in VT. Out of the 3 sessions of kids we had which was roughly 80 odd kids over the summer 5 got hooked onto fly fishing like a crack addict to crack and even fooled a few rainbow trout in the pond and countless brookies in the tiny brook that fed it with some of their own wooly buggers they learned to tie. The biggest thrill was seeing this kid that was in my shelter group that was homesick for a week instantly lose all thoughts of mommy when he landed the biggest rainbow trout of the summer on his fly rod. The rainbow taped out at just about 20 inches due to its diet of crayfish which I saw because it had one sticking out of its gullet when I took out the wooly bugger. It put a decent bend in the 8wt fly rod he uses for schoolies out on the Vineyard and that was a pretty cool sight. Seeing the kid smile and finally giving my British co counselor Dom and myself a good nights rest without playing nursemaid was a definite highlight!
I hope to have some greater highlights this year etc and meet some more great people.
Adrian
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Fly Fishing Forum
163.8K posts
38.8K members
Since 2000
A forum community dedicated to fly fishing and sporting enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about safety, licenses, tips, tricks, rivers, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!