BY JOHN BERRY
[email protected]www.berrybrothersguides.comI guided for several days early in the week and I had a day off before the busy Fourth of July weekend. When I checked the South West Power Administration website, I saw that the long anticipated low water was due to occur. I discussed the possibility of a day of fishing with my wife, Lori, and she was ready. We were getting our gear ready, when I heard a knock at the door. It was Fed Ex delivering my beloved Sage Light Line (this is the rod I lost and then was returned to me). I had sent it back to Sage to be repaired and I was jubilant at its return. I immediately considered this to be a good omen for the day’s fishing.
We loaded our gear and my yellow lab, Ellie, into my ancient Volvo, drove to the access and walked far up stream. It was a sunny, pleasantly warm day. There was no generation and the river was on the bottom. There was a bit of wind (ten to fifteen miles an hour). Lori went to her favorite spot and I walked over to mine. From where I was fishing, I could easily see her. She was into trout almost immediately. I could tell from the way she was false casting that she was fishing a dry fly. I assumed that she was fishing a sulphur parachute. I had observed several hatching on the previous day. I started out fishing a copper John, which is a good imitation of the sulphur nymph. I was struggling a bit. I hooked a good brown but it broke off. I noticed that Lori was landing fish after fish.
As I was tying on a sulphur parachute, I glanced downstream once more and I noticed the Lori was into another fish. Judging from the bend in her rod, it was a big one. I saw Ellie launch into the water after the trout. I was mesmerized by the battle and just stood there and watched. The struggle continued for some time before I noticed Lori working her way to quieter water. I surmised that it was most likely a trophy. I reeled in my line, secured the hook and began working my way down to her location to have a better view of the battle.
When I was about half way there Lori called out to me. She said that she had a big brown on and needed some assistance. I picked up the pace. Lori was having an equipment malfunction. Her reel seat had worked loose and the reel was turned to an awkward angle. She was concerned that the reel would malfunction and she opted to finish the fight by stripping in the line.
This is a strategy with great risk. The best way to fight a big fish is on the reel where the fish can run and pull out line. This makes the trout fight against the reel’s drag system which puts enough pressure on the fish to eventually tire him but not enough to break the tippet. By stripping in the line, you take the chance that the fish will not make a quick move and break off. Luckily the brown was tiring and the soft tip on Lori’s rod, a Winston Joan Wulff Favorite, took the shock of the erratic movements of the brown. Lori was in her element. She deftly worked the brown near the shore and finally landed it. It was a righteous twenty four inch male brown. It was her largest brown ever and she had caught it on a dry fly.
I reached over my left shoulder and pulled my waterproof digital camera from my fishing vest. We took a few minutes to take a few photos including an underwater shot of the big brown. The biggest problem we had during the process was to keep Ellie from grabbing the big trout. We then carefully revived the fish and released in back into the river. We had been fishing for less than thirty minutes.
I walked to a nearby riffle and began fishing in earnest. My first fish of the day was a fat sixteen inch cutthroat. I picked up a stout seventeen inch rainbow and then a nice fourteen inch brookie. All I needed to complete my grand slam was a brown. In the meantime Lori caught a nice brook trout. All that she needed for her grand slam was a cutthroat. The day turned into a hunt for the last trout we needed for our respective grand slams. The wind picked and the hatch wound down. I went back to the copper John and moved down stream to a nice riffle. I caught a fat nineteen inch rainbow. It was the first of many. I stood there and landed maybe thirty fish with the average trout being around sixteen inches long.
I had caught enough. For Lori that is not possible. I walked back to where she was. Her obsession was to land a cutthroat and get her grand slam. She was catching trout after trout but she caught no cut. We walked back downstream to where I had been fishing. Ellie followed. She fished that spot for another hour and caught maybe thirty more. I walked around and tried different spots picking up several trout in the process. I came to realize that it was getting late. Lori was hesitant to leave but we had things to do.
We walked out hand in hand with Ellie leading the way. We had encountered perfect conditions, low water and hatching insects. It was the kind of day we will recall years from now. I look forward to that!
