Can your wife do this? (Bull Trout Trip VIII)

Don't be fooled. Just because my novice fly-fishing wife caught two really nice fish does not mean that it is easy to do - especially on this river. I have friends who have fished this river many times and not caught anything - ever (accept for maybe small whitefish and bows), or if they have its only been one or two large fish out of all the times they have fished it. I've had her on the Metolius once every winter since we have been in Bend. That's three times. She has never caught anything on a fly rod without me standing behind her, holding her hands, helping her cast, mend, set the hook, etc. This day was different. I coached her for 30 minutes on casting and mending. Then I put her in the sweet spot and tunrned around to do some fishing of my own. As soon as my back was turned, I heard her making a fuss over something. I turned to see her rod (my 6/7 wt. Redington) keestered over, jerking around like there was a fish on the line. The fact that I was in shock is evident in the first words out of my mouth: "Is that a fish?" Duh, it's a fish - unless rocks, sticks, logs, license plates and nasty old boots fight back when they are hooked! So, I sprang into action..... I walked back down river to her side... and just stood there. Usually I help her fight the fish or just hold onto the rod, but she seemed to be handling everything very well. There was nothing for me to do. I just sort of stood there, giving suggestions now and then, watching my wife catch the first fish of the day. And was it ever a beauty! 25 icnhes long, weighing 5 lbs, this bull tout was the result of my wife casting, mending hooking and landing like a pro! Not bad at all!

Needless to say, I was busting at the seams with pride. She was pretty thrilled herself. Let me emphasise once more that this is not something any old fly fisherman can do. It just doesnt happen. Skilled fly fisherman can fish this water and walk away skunked - and they do - all the time. I hooked two fish, one of which found its way to the net (Annie netted my fish for me - should have seen it. Just like a guide!). It was a 24 incher, but sort of skinny and scrawny. A nice fish, but not nearly the fish she had just caught.

We fished another hour and decided we should get back home to pick up the little guy from mom and dad's. I made a perfect cast, mended, and handed the rod to my new fishing buddy. But I hesitated. I said to her, as I took the rod back, if you are going to hook a fish, I want it to be on your own cast and mend. I pulled the line in and again handed her the rod. Since we were about to leave, I decided I wanted to get some pictures of her casting. As I began digging around for my digital camera, she makes her first cast. Before I can even get the darn thing out, she's got another fish on.. by looks of the bend in my 9wt rod, it's another dandy. She's so good at being patient and letting the fish run, then picking up line when the fish is not taking it. She performed like a seasoned fisherwoman. About 5 minutes later I netted another nice bull trout, just shy of the 25 inch mark, and just girthy! What a pig!

I keep quoting something she said while she was fighting that first fish. "Now I see why you like this so much," she said. Do we have a convert here? She had a blast yesterday. Now I just need to put her on a steelhead. Although these bull trout are big, strong fish, and difficult to catch, steelhead are often bigger, stronger, and fight harder. The only downfall being that you have to go further to find them, and although the fights are often spectacular, they are generally short-lived. Everything has its pro's and con's I guess.

Anyway, I think we have awoken the fishing senses in a certain young lady. Here's to many more days of fishing with my eternal fishing partner, and to many, many more Tight Lines!

Bull Trout Trip VII

Sorry to report that this post will not contain a smörgåsbord of fish pictures. What you see is what you get. It's not that I only caught the one 20 (or so) incher pictured here. It's not that at all! In fact, that day out on the Metolius was every bit as good a day of fishing as the last time i was there, which I claimed to be the best day I have ever had fishing there. Might have been even better. I hooked 5 nice Bull Trout (got pictures of just one so that we could spend more time with wet lines rather than snapping pictures). For whatever reason, I was less on top of my game than I have been in the recent past and lost two nice ones after several minutes of fighting each. Those barb-less hooks just don't want to stick sometimes. The three I did land were nice fish as well, the largest going somewhere in the ball-park of about 23 inches. I'd say 25 inches but I am learning to be conservative when I do not have an instrument with which to document the actual length (i.e. camera, measuring tape, etc.). I can't remember how many whitefish and bows there were - maybe two whitefish and a bow. But all in all, not a bad day at all. I hope they are still hungry by next weekend when, after years of talking about it, my father-in-law, Van Elg, is going to be in town. Perhaps we'll fish. The question is, however, will the Metolius share the love with a complete stranger. My buddy, Bret, has fished with me 5 or 6 times out there - and no love whatsoever. He's hooked his fair share for sure, but alas, The river giveth, and she taketh away. Maybe if I leave my rod at the car for the first hour, and she (the river) knows I am there, but not fishing..... nnnnaw. She just loves me. Does it have anything to do with my faithfulness to the river? Maybe. Does it have anything to do with the many hours I've spent getting to know her? Maybe. Does it have anything to do with the ceremonial Drinking of the Headwaters at the beginning of each season? You bet your wading booties it does! At any rate, it has been a truly great season on the Metolius. I hope we can make it out one more time before all the fish start to move around and spread out before spawning, and then head back down to the big water of the reservoir. There are only a few positive points that come to mind when I think of the Metolius turning off for the summer: 1) It means that spring is here and the beautiful Central Oregon summer is about to begin, and 2) Central Oregon summer means Deschutes River Steelhead - a more than worthy pacifier to hold me over until I can fish for elusive bull trout on the river that taught me how to fly fish - The (Mrs.) Metolius River. Tight Lines!