On the Water: April 3, 2011

One evening I was on Twitter when Joe (AKA SoCalSalty) said that he hoped and thought that I needed to get out and take some time to relax and fish or at least do something with the weekend. But with the dismal weather reports and my two go-to fishing buddies out of town at Hatfield and McCoys Trails, I wasn't sure much was going to happen. I thought I'd chalk this weekend up to some household chores and try to finish unpacking/organizing everything.

First Catch Magic

As the weekend progressed I thought this decision was for the best due to the fact that the weekend started with thunderstorms and snow, then progressed to an inch and a half of slush, snow and muck on the roads Saturday night. I woke up Sunday looking outside thinking I might be able to squeeze a short trip in this morning, but as soon as I went to get my gear ready a pop up rain/hail storm coated the area, again another sign that I had made the right choice to take this weekend off. But after a few hours of working around the house, I got that ever so gentle nudge and blessing to go out and fish this afternoon since the weather was break and as she put it I was going "stir-crazy" being inside the whole weekend. With Cassie's and Joe's suggestion that I get out this weekend I didn't even let the weather deter me. I was out the door...

And man was it worth it. I headed to one of my favorite fishing hole close my house on the Cheat River. After a fresh stocking this past week, I was slightly worried that my hole would be filled with people, but to my surprise, there wasn't anyone there. The whole stretch that I love to fish was wide open, there was a ton of people out, but I think this stretch was a little to far out of the way for most people to want to attempt to go to.

Another "great" self portrait.

After I finally made to the water, I could have really cared less about catching fish, it was nice just getting out. To my surprise, a little first cast magic hit. It wasn't the biggest catch of the day (measured out at 16 1/4"), but it was the icing on the cake today to have caught a fish on my first cast. Especially on the a weekend that I didn't think or even plan on fishing. The picture to the left doesn't even do this fish justice, but the coloration on this fish was amazing, so lively and bright. After the hooking up on a great looking trout on the first cast, I didn't matter much to catch another trout the rest of the evening. That wasn't the case though, only a matter of ten to fifteen minutes later, I hooked up with another trout. This one didn't hit nearly as hard and I had actually missed it only a cast earlier. I wasn't sure if it was a smaller, more timid trout, but I was mistake, it was actually a larger trout. I was wondering why this fish acted so awkwardly, other than the fact that it was a stocker. Upon further inspection the fish was missing a pectoral fin and had half of its jaw and upper lip missing. I wasn't sure if this fish would even make it. It very well could have, but I would feel bad if I let it go and it died. This is one of my main problems with stocked trout, they are just thrown in there, some in even poor conditions. But in this situation, you must take the good with the bad. And for those of you wondering, I did put that trout to good use. It was delicious. 

Fresh Trout Fillet with Green Beans and Red Potatoes.