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Post 24 Jul 2021, 12:14 • #1 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
We always hear great stories here. Good days afield, sun shining, eager trout looking up, a nice picnic in a scenic spot, and wonderful equipment serving us well as we enjoy the outdoor spaces where trout live while catching a few for quick snapshots to share with friends.

But there are other days…the ones when we do not take pictures to share…



Like the one I had recently where I hiked a long way, to gain access to a difficult stream I suspected had seen little pressure. When I got there, I discovered that the stream was relatively infertile, the trout were small and few…and then it began to rain. And…it was still a long way back to my Jeep.

I don’t mean it rained…I mean it poured! So, I hunkered down in the least-lightning-attracting spot I could find to wait it out. Did I say it poured? I had my light rain jacket on but was somehow wet both inside and out. As the storm spent its fury on the hills around me, I listened to lightning and counted slowly to anxiously know if it was coming closer or moving away…comforted little by the fact that my glass flyrod was not graphite.

The creek began to rise and clouded with silt due to the heavy rain and I realized I needed to get to the trail side of the stream or I might not be able to cross soon, as the upstream waters channeled into the drainage. Since I was wading wet, I crossed the waist-deep stream, thankful I did not have waders on as they would have filled with water.

Once across, I scrambled up a few hundred feet to access the trail and began the long slog back to the trailhead….soaking wet.

Fortunately, the Jeep started…or it would have been the non-perfect ending to a non-perfect day.

But we learn things we wanted to know on each trip.

I wonder what is around that next bend…??

I know I am not alone here.


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Post 24 Jul 2021, 15:51 • #2 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Phew. Glad you scrambled out. Anybody who enjoys a lot of good fishing trips has had bad ones, that's for sure. Not the time for somebody to say "We need the rain," as was mentioned to me once after a night-fishing caper. Well rain is OK; it's the thunder and lightning we don't need. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66385&p=351923&hilit=thunder+canoe+paddle#p351923 Another time night fishing, I saw a good fish rising just as a bolt of lightning struck a tower on the other side of a Maine river. I risked it, made a cast, and hooked a big brown. I risked the time to land him, probably about 5 lbs, but didn't take time to measure or photograph. The lightning strikes were on my side of the river by then. So even a bad trip can have a good outcome. If I had been down by the powerlines in my canoe, it could have gotten unpleasant.


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Post 24 Jul 2021, 16:23 • #3 
Master Guide
Joined: 06/07/12
Posts: 865
Location: US-CA
Yikes! Glad you are ok and on the home-side of the river…


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Post 24 Jul 2021, 17:44 • #4 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/26/14
Posts: 3578
Location: US-MN
Well, at least it was memorable....


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Post 25 Jul 2021, 14:47 • #5 
Master Guide
Joined: 08/03/14
Posts: 945
Location: central AR
Sounds like an average trip for me……


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Post 25 Jul 2021, 19:52 • #6 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 09/18/09
Posts: 5561
Location: Relocated to the Drought Stricken West.
I'm glad you made it to the right side of the creek, and that the trail climbed away from the high water mark.

If you don't have bad days, you won't have good days. Fishing is 90% showing up.


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Post 26 Jul 2021, 06:59 • #7 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 11/09/10
Posts: 1355
Location: US-CA
You are blessed, Donnie.


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Post 26 Jul 2021, 09:41 • #8 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
Truly...in so many ways.


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Post 26 Jul 2021, 10:50 • #9 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/25/16
Posts: 1069
Location: Rocky Mountains - Colorado
Glad you are safe...we have had some crazy rain/thunder storms in Colorado this past few days. Mud/rock slides and closed roads and worse with lives lost in Pouder Canyon.

My youngest Grand daughter (12) was with us this weekend, and I was going to introduce her to fly fishing...drove to a quiet spot where we could shore cast and the river looked like chocolate milk and was running crazy...so no fishing...but time with the grand daughter is priceless so...we picked up my wife and went into Creede and had an early dinner at a local bar&grill.


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Post 26 Jul 2021, 11:35 • #10 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 05/22/16
Posts: 1760
Location: SJC
There is a saying to which I was introduced through climbing -

"Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment."

I should have excellent judgment by now, but that is far from the truth ... :)


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Post 27 Jul 2021, 16:11 • #11 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 07/11/14
Posts: 1784
Location: urban Colorado
I've had days (years) like that ;-)

it's all character-building though. As my brother said once, I've had lots of those experiences, when do I get to actually enjoy this well-built character of mine ?

once on Wilson creek in NC, fishing in a downpour and it was pretty good until I heard a weird roaring noise and saw a foot-high wall of brown water coming down the stream..
luckily got out on trail side of the creek, which was fine until the trail went back into the creek and I had to thrash through the rhododendron jungles back..


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Post 27 Jul 2021, 17:29 • #12 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
ok Donny, I told my Laurel & Hardy story, and you didn't even comment...

Thanks for the report and photo - I always tell people I've fallen in all the best fishing holes in North America.


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Post 31 Jul 2021, 06:11 • #13 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/09/09
Posts: 2796
Location: US-NM
Glad you made it out ok .........Aurelio


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Post 31 Jul 2021, 13:30 • #14 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 06/09/05
Posts: 2524
Location: US-CO
bulldog1935 wrote:
ok Donny, I told my Laurel & Hardy story, and you didn't even comment...

Thanks for the report and photo - I always tell people I've fallen in all the best fishing holes in North America.



Hahaha Ron! Don’t usually stop by that part of the site. Just read through it now…quite the day to say the least. We all have them! I do love your last sentence here and I may borrow it from time to time.


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Post 03 Aug 2021, 15:04 • #15 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/20/11
Posts: 1880
Location: US-MD
Yep those lightening storms are nothing to mess with… got caught in one once in a boat on a lake and just layed down in the bottom until it passed… better safe than lit up like a Christmas tree.


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Post 05 Aug 2021, 09:43 • #16 
Piscator
Joined: 08/10/05
Posts: 19078
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
I hunkered at the bottom of a cliff during a white bass run.
The thunder didn't break for 10 minutes, and there were two lightning strikes on top of the cliff.
When I hiked the 3 mile trail back to the car, a giant oak was across on the trail.


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