I planned a last minute trip to Idaho to drive home with my son for Thanksgiving. Due to his schedule, I was going to have approximately 4hrs of uncommitted time. Oh what to do? 4hrs isn’t much, especially weighed against traveling with wading gear, but walking through the airport in wading boots is a small price to pay for a chance at some Idaho sized trout. For this trip, I decided to take an old Garcia Americana 8’6” 6/7wt I rebuilt a while back. The flex of this rod is quite enjoyable, and the modified 4pc configuration made it convenient to travel with. Paired with a San Miguel 3 and Rio Gold WF6F, I thought this would be a fun and effective setup.
Made it to the Snake River pretty much on my estimated schedule. Was on the water by ~1P, started working likely places hoping for a grab. It started slow, then picked up with the first few fish being in the 12 to 14 inch range. Quite typical for this stretch, they were beautiful in shape, color and health. Very plump! As the sun got lower the temp really dropped and the fishing picked up. I set on one fish and it was off to the races, a nice one. The Garcia had a beautiful bend, very fun indeed.
IMG_1951 by
DL, on Flickr
Got her in and snapped a quick pic.
IMG_1979 by
DL, on Flickr
The next two were about the same size, like someone turned on a switch.
IMG_1978 by
DL, on Flickr
IMG_1977 by
DL, on Flickr
As the sun continued to drop, I was fighting a 14incher and realized I couldn’t feel my index finger. After a quick release I fumbled for my phone, it was 4:50P and 37 degrees. To a Californian, that’s lethal so I decided to continue the fight another day. On Thursday I was sure to be thankful for those 4hrs, plus not too many strange looks from folks at the airport.