gone fishin’

I got up way too early and got home way too late yesterday. It was a very long, very wonderful day spent fishing with my friend Andrew up at Kolob Reservoir. A veteran fly fisher, Andrew says the best time to fish is early morning. So we got there really, really early, but we didn’t catch our first fish until afternoon. Figures. It was so beautiful out though, and with both our dogs along for the ride, we had a great time, fish or no fish. The osprey flying overhead seemed to be having the same luck as us fishing.

Later in the afternoon, as more clouds rolled over, we found a sweet spot and the fish were practically flying into our boat. But don’t worry, they were flying out just as fast. Our barbs were de-hooked and we let the fishies go. Aside from a few I took photos of, we didn’t even take them out of the water before we let them go. I caught the big one of the day… a huge cutthroat trout over 18 inches long. He was beautiful, strong, and silky smooth. I’d never seen one up close before. Haley was intrigued too, and came in for a sniff. She didn’t know what to make of it.

We didn’t plan to fish all day, but we did. We didn’t pack up and leave until the sun was setting (and the sun was just rising when we got there). After dinner and the drive home, I was so exhausted that just standing made me dizzy. Sleep never felt so good.

I learned to fly cast in Andrew’s front yard a few weeks ago, but yesterday was my first time putting it to the test. And I certainly hope it’s not my last. I had a great time… and my cast definitely has room for improvement.