Fish On

Poets talk about "spots of time," but it is really fishermen who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No one can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone.
- Norman Maclean A River Runs Through It

Three hours of frustration. Why do I do this to myself? People are landing fish up and down from me. I wasted another whole day for nothing!! The fellow upstream has just hit his limit, and I am hitting my boiling point. Two spots down, the old timer finishes and offers me his spot. Believe me I jump for it. Seeing so many fish come out of his gap, there has got to be one in there for me. Perched on a rock on the upstream edge of rapids, I see why this point has been good. Eight feet down lie two boulders cause water to flume through a gap about the width of my shoulder. He tells me put your line with a drift through the outside standing wave then draw across.

On my new perch I am learning the hole. The water is quicker here , but rather than weighting up, I shift down to a half. At that weight and about fifteen minutes of trial and error I am hitting the flume about two feet deep and coming straight across right angle to the flow. Then I see it. A double flash a two Reds explode out of the flume sprinting upstream. So clearly visible it startles we, but my rod get a firm yank and I set the hook. Fish On!!!!

The Red sprints to the middle of the river and I let her run, slowing it ever so gently to finish and test the set. It is firm and the battle is on. I steer her down river and reel in quickly as she runs for the bank. Downstream of the rock flume now, I know that she won't be coming to me. I am going to her. I come down off my perch into the knee deep river and bam, another run, but not in a good direction.

At my angle the line draws under a near snag and the end is near. A line on a log equals a quick breakoff. But the set holds. I do a few tugs this way and that but to no avail, the line in under the log to stay. Knowing the fish is probably lost any way, I go for broke. If the line won't come out from under, I will pass my rod under and take it downstream. A quick splash and into the flume I go, into waist deep but slow water now, I quickly pass the rod under the log and too the other side, expecting when freed, the line will be slack from the fish being off my line. I reel the slack and am surprised to find to find she is there with me, but now without much fight left.

I bring her to landing distance and with no shore to beach and not a net to be seen I do a first for me, I move my scruff my fish with my right and pick her free from the water. Hookup to landing, maybe 2 minutes. Memories of the battle won, eternal.

The perch stayed hot for me, and I limited in about ninety minutes. Fish four broke my rod tip, but a quick extra snap to take it to the next guide gave me a usable 8'2" rod from my 8'6" original. I finish the other two and go for my basking in the sun. The broken rod fished so well, my buddy picks it up and brought in three more before we called it a day.

Between us, we took ten from the run we were at, with likely sixty more coming to others.

Fish On!!!