First Cast Since Being Back in 'Merica

May 20, 2018
The reports from the Far East trip are forthcoming.  I have not forgotten.  Stayed tuned.  Until then a report from Sunday from one of our locals.

I've been back here in the States for a week now and I'm still recovering from jet lag.  In fact I only got a couple hours of sleep the night before.  I received a text in the morning from my buddy asking me when I'll be arriving at his house.  I texted him back that I had to cancel I felt like shit.  After tossing and turning for a while I called him back and told him I'm in I'll be leaving at 7am.

This once great creek was devastated from the drought.  When we checked it out during those lean years it was completely devoid of fish and all the fishing holes had been blown out.  We checked the lower section as I was in no real condition to make a strenuous hike to the more productive upper stretches.  Water was thin and holding water was sparse.  Despite this we both managed a fish within this section but as we continued to hike up the creek became less fishable and I cursed myself for not pushing through hiking to the upper stretches.  After bushwacking our way through we climbed to the trail and made our way to the better portions of the river.

Once there it seemed every hole produce multiple fish and even some quality local editions.  Although not as quality as years past but quality no less.  It is nice to see that the fish survived the harsh dry years and are now thriving.  Several dinks were among the "larger" models which gave us hope that later generations will continue to thrive.

All my fish were caught using a hackle hair caddis in tan-ish colors ranging from size 14 to 10.  I didn't keep track but I must have had over 20 fish to hand.  We ended our fishing excursion at 12:30 and were back at the truck by 1:30 just as we had originally planned.  With a fog coming into the valley it was a nice cool hike and provided a natural air conditioning.