Yesterday was the opener for our little Rock Creek (not the one you read about) that flows through the ranch. I took it upon myself to do a little exploration
through the meadow section and down through the canyon. There wasn't much for fish, but it was pretty. There has only been a year-round flow of water in
the creek for three years, now, after Mr. Foley bought the ranch, and didn't drain the creek to grow alfalfa. Because of the recent addition of this stream
to fish populations in the main Clark Fork river, no one knows exactly how the fish like to use the creek. I have heard stories of fish behind every rock and
in every pool. I did not find that to be the case yesterday. I fished by wading downstream for about three miles. I fished the biggest holes, small pockets and
even a few deeper riffles, swinging my Marathoner pattern through every possible fish hide-out. Ron, one of the other guides and a manager, fished earlier in
the morning (with a dry fly) and didn't catch anything. He may have seen two. I was determined to be the first to catch a fish in the creek this year. And
finally, deep in the canyon, below a mountain lion den, I swung the 'Thoner along a snag on the far bank and:
...I was a happy man! Oh, and I shaved my beard, and am now wearing contacts (enabling me to wear cooler-looking glasses).
Zac
. I'm
holding off on fixing my eyes. I still have dreams of summiting a 20K foot peak, and I hear you can go blind at that elevation, if you had Lasik surgery.
Still, a dream, but I don't want it to end, quite yet
.
