mandinga
09-17-2004, 04:34 PM
Hi all, I am new to ifish and oregon...but I have read that you should post a story 1st...so here goes.
Every year for the past 5 years I have spent my winters braving the sierra nevada mountains. I would commute to sacramento from reno 1-2 times per week for 2 reasons. The first reason was the amazing steelhead run that comes through the American River(I say amazing only because I am from nevada and any type of steelhead run is amazing.). The second reason was of course in-and-out burger...mmmmmmm.
The In-And-Out was actually 4.7miles from where I liked to fish so it worked out perfectly! Fish 5:30-11, lunch and back to the river was a daily routine.
On this particular trip I had my best friend and accomplished angler with me. We left the house at 3 am, ignoring all of the weather warnings and pushing on towards the fish. The forecast was dim, the weatherman said that the roads were open, but that he did not reccommend trying to cross the pass. I remember getting about 30 miles up the mountain when it really started coming down, REALLY! There was at least 14" of snow on the road, and I know that because I got out and checked. We had one opportunity to turn around, so I looked at Derek and said "wanna go back?" and re replied "it's up to you..."...A brief moment of silence..."I think the fishing is going to be really hot today, we're pushing forward!" Well, that may have been a mistake. The 2 hour trip took us almost 5 hours, but we got there. At this point I didn't even want to fathom how we were going to get back home since they had closed the freeway 10 minutes after we left! :angel:
Once we got to the river we were already geared up, so we headed right to the river. Alot of people prefer snagging steelhead on this beautiful urban river, but not us! At our spot there was not a soul for at least 1/2 mile. We fished the rest of the morning and right through lunch, then we finally decided to head to the burger joint...just then I spotted a small pod of about 3 fish. The front fish was a medium buck and there were 3 small bright females right behind him. I decided to try to get the smaller fresh fish. I tied on a #14 size caddis and began my drift...WHAMMOOO! the smallest one in the bunch took te fly on the first drift! This was going to be a good day afterall! Then the line went slack and the silver beauty swam away. To my dismay there were still 2-3 fish in the same hole, so i casted again. I remember seeing the fly drift past the fish and I was about to pick up my line when it stopped. I thought for sure that i was hung up on the bottom(which frequently happens), but then the line started to swim upstream...really slow. So, I set the hook and really made this fish mad! The fish never jumped, but I knew it was big when it started to run upstream with amazing force! I was in fast water, and I was afraid that if the fish went downstream I would surely lose it, so thank god it was going up...then she turned around and started bucking wildly downstream. Her pace was feverish and I knew that if I didnt chase her I would lose her. I was fishing off an island that if I went upstream and crossed back over there would be no problem, but where she was taking me I had no idea if it was even crossable! Being young and stupid I decided that this fish was much more important than my life, so i cautiously started walking. I had to cross about 40 yards of fast moving water to get to the other side, and somehow I made it! At one point I actually floated from bar to bar...that scared me sooooo bad. :applause:
Once I reached the bank the fish was tired so I dragged her ashore. She was just as big and beautiful as I had imagined her in my dreams. I mean she was BIG, and FAT! An older couple had come to my aid when they saw me floating down the river with a fish on and they were in awe..."thats the biggest fish I have ever seen come out of this river!" the man said.(I later found out that he is a professional guide on the river) I decided that I needed to hurry and take a picture of this magnificent creature before I harmed her. I reached into my pocket to get my digital. I grabbed my camera and I was handing it to the old man when the fish began to shake violently in my hands causing me to drop my brand new camera into the water...OH MY GOD! I couldnt believe what had just happened... :mad:
To this day I can remember exactly what that fish looked like, however I can't remember for the life of me what the fish from the previous 6 trips had looked like. They were on the camera too. :smile:
People always ask me if it was worth it...yes, it really was! :angel:
Thanks for reading. If anyone is interested in fishing with me please email me at isaacbowen@hotmail.com
-cm- :cheers:
Every year for the past 5 years I have spent my winters braving the sierra nevada mountains. I would commute to sacramento from reno 1-2 times per week for 2 reasons. The first reason was the amazing steelhead run that comes through the American River(I say amazing only because I am from nevada and any type of steelhead run is amazing.). The second reason was of course in-and-out burger...mmmmmmm.
The In-And-Out was actually 4.7miles from where I liked to fish so it worked out perfectly! Fish 5:30-11, lunch and back to the river was a daily routine.
On this particular trip I had my best friend and accomplished angler with me. We left the house at 3 am, ignoring all of the weather warnings and pushing on towards the fish. The forecast was dim, the weatherman said that the roads were open, but that he did not reccommend trying to cross the pass. I remember getting about 30 miles up the mountain when it really started coming down, REALLY! There was at least 14" of snow on the road, and I know that because I got out and checked. We had one opportunity to turn around, so I looked at Derek and said "wanna go back?" and re replied "it's up to you..."...A brief moment of silence..."I think the fishing is going to be really hot today, we're pushing forward!" Well, that may have been a mistake. The 2 hour trip took us almost 5 hours, but we got there. At this point I didn't even want to fathom how we were going to get back home since they had closed the freeway 10 minutes after we left! :angel:
Once we got to the river we were already geared up, so we headed right to the river. Alot of people prefer snagging steelhead on this beautiful urban river, but not us! At our spot there was not a soul for at least 1/2 mile. We fished the rest of the morning and right through lunch, then we finally decided to head to the burger joint...just then I spotted a small pod of about 3 fish. The front fish was a medium buck and there were 3 small bright females right behind him. I decided to try to get the smaller fresh fish. I tied on a #14 size caddis and began my drift...WHAMMOOO! the smallest one in the bunch took te fly on the first drift! This was going to be a good day afterall! Then the line went slack and the silver beauty swam away. To my dismay there were still 2-3 fish in the same hole, so i casted again. I remember seeing the fly drift past the fish and I was about to pick up my line when it stopped. I thought for sure that i was hung up on the bottom(which frequently happens), but then the line started to swim upstream...really slow. So, I set the hook and really made this fish mad! The fish never jumped, but I knew it was big when it started to run upstream with amazing force! I was in fast water, and I was afraid that if the fish went downstream I would surely lose it, so thank god it was going up...then she turned around and started bucking wildly downstream. Her pace was feverish and I knew that if I didnt chase her I would lose her. I was fishing off an island that if I went upstream and crossed back over there would be no problem, but where she was taking me I had no idea if it was even crossable! Being young and stupid I decided that this fish was much more important than my life, so i cautiously started walking. I had to cross about 40 yards of fast moving water to get to the other side, and somehow I made it! At one point I actually floated from bar to bar...that scared me sooooo bad. :applause:
Once I reached the bank the fish was tired so I dragged her ashore. She was just as big and beautiful as I had imagined her in my dreams. I mean she was BIG, and FAT! An older couple had come to my aid when they saw me floating down the river with a fish on and they were in awe..."thats the biggest fish I have ever seen come out of this river!" the man said.(I later found out that he is a professional guide on the river) I decided that I needed to hurry and take a picture of this magnificent creature before I harmed her. I reached into my pocket to get my digital. I grabbed my camera and I was handing it to the old man when the fish began to shake violently in my hands causing me to drop my brand new camera into the water...OH MY GOD! I couldnt believe what had just happened... :mad:
To this day I can remember exactly what that fish looked like, however I can't remember for the life of me what the fish from the previous 6 trips had looked like. They were on the camera too. :smile:
People always ask me if it was worth it...yes, it really was! :angel:
Thanks for reading. If anyone is interested in fishing with me please email me at isaacbowen@hotmail.com
-cm- :cheers: