Had a recent camping trip get cancelled due to family obligations and the necessity of unloading of boxes as our family moves back home. Over the last couple months, I’ve been untangling a web of chaos of work, travel, and home renovation stress with a newborn---Life is good, but it’s been a whirlwind lately, that only a good fishing trip can cure.
5:00 was the leaving time as I drove to pick up J4 to chase some remote waters I have wanted to fish for years. I packed in a rush scavenging through my cluttered/rearranged garage trying not to wake the baby. With two hours of sleep and a late start, I was off to erase the stress .
Gorgeous backcountry water was found:
Here’s our luxurious boat ramp:
Dowstream and Upstream as I drag the boat:
J4 Chasing some smallies:
Aggressive little guy:
It came a thunderous monsoon on us just about the time the fishing was getting good, we had to rush out quick to keep from getting stuck in the mud. We loaded up the gear and slid back up the trail slinging mud off the Tacoma. It began to look like a Mike Anderson rain-out trip.
Took some more exploring, had to avoid a really nice river access due to some scary meth-heads camping in cars. One dude had a three foot freaky scar from his thigh to his ankle hanging up on the dashboard.
With a little more poking around, creative boat launching, and long stretches of bony boat dragging, J4 and I found ourselves in some very fishy waters with no one around.
Smallies were tightlipped, but we had some nice shots:
At the top of a deep hole, we found what we came for: a gorgeous musky slashed the fly in the deepest spooky corner of the pool. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect spot for this fish to live.
A swimming release—she kicked off just fine.
Just what I needed. Still really stoked about this place.
