They all were all there to make our day……….
The cops were there…………..
The cows were there……………..
And the fish were there…………..
The day began as many of my guide days on the Kinni. Meet my client at Perkins Restaurant in River Falls for coffee and discuss the expectations and logistics for the day. Wednesday was a full moon and I briefly pondered the angling lore of this moon phase and how it would effect the outing. The meteorologists were predicting rain, in the biblical sense,,,,,,,,,,again, but the weather was to hold off till late in the day. The partly cloudy, fall day was chilly in the AM and perfect for fishing. Little did I know what was to follow…….
We arrived at the parking lot at the same time. There was the standard greetings and excited talk that goes along with the anticipation of trout fishing adventure. Hugs and high 5’s were exchanged and our animated discussion continued as we shuffled gear from one vehicle to another. Gina, the half Italian, half Irish, red head was as excited as I was. This was our second and final outing of the year and our gregarious behavior apparently had been misinterpreted by one of Perkins regular customers. It was mere minutes before the Police arrived.
The first officer to arrive on the scene approached us with the apprehension and serious demeanor of cop on a domestic abuse call. All 325 lbs of his manly frame filled the driver seat as we stepped to the open window. He wanted to know if there was a problem. Perplexed, we assured him that everything was fine and that there must have been some kind of mistake. There was an uncertain look in his eyes as he drove to the front door of the Perkins to speak with the original caller of the complaint. We had not been convincing enough. As the second car, and a female back up arrived, the second round of questioning commenced. Once again we assured the officer that no funny business had taken place and that the call must have been referring someone else. This officer assured us that the call was indeed directed at us. The look in her eyes of concern softened after we could not contain our laughter. Once again we reassured her that there had been a mistake.
Upon entering the restaurant there was no lack of discerning looks from the customers. The hostess, the manager and a number of the wait staff who all know me at Perkins apologised profusely as we were seated. Apparently one of the elderly regulars at Perkins, recently has made a habit of making calls to the men and women in blue. They think he likes the excitement that the police bring and on top of that he likes how his new cell phone works. He had struck again. They felt embarrassed for themselves and us. It was truly an odd start to the day.
The walk to the lower river was uneventful until the cows came. As we neared the end of our walk, hundreds of cows appeared from numerous directions on the trails through the woods. These normally docile creatures surrounded from all sides and visions of the zombies from the night of the living dead danced through my head. Any quick movements on our part would have caused a stampede in the heavily wooded area. After the Perkins episode I was convinced anything could happen. Luckily we were able to slip under a barb wire fence and avoid the zombie cows. The rusted fence miraculously held as the cows pushed and jostled to join us on the river. I was certain cow #1107 wanted a piece of us.
Fishing was fabulous! The combination of the weather front moving in, the full moon and who knows what made the fish crazy. The Fall olives appeared at 1PM. The fish competed with each other for any morsel of food that fell to the water. Dead drift, swinging flies, dragging flies and skittering flies all got attention. After the hatch nymphing with small P. tails and twitching big buggers drove the trout wild. We lost count of how many fish we hooked or landed. Fish from 4″ to 15″ were brought to net. I did not want to leave the river. Days like Wednesday are what any fly angler dreams about and the joy of abundant success was evident on Gina’s face.
The rain began at about 4 PM. We got soaked on the walk back to the truck. There was no lack of conversation. All in all, a great day. The signs pointed to it all day long. Nothing short of incredible. The way it should be.
7 users commented in " Must Have Been The Moon "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackWow, what a fun day, although you may not have thought that in the beginning. Zombie cows, I love it.
Mark
Great story….when I walked the dogs Wednesday A.M. having just heard the weather for the next few days I thought it would be a good day to seek trouts….Thanks
Big John
A buddy and I were out the same afternoon. We fished the first 2 miles downstream of the falls, and WOW! One of my top 3 days on any local stream. We fished right through the rain until about 6pm, and the fish never let us rest. Streamers and Buggers were the order of the day, i fished the same olive bugger for 4 hours and I too lost count of strikes, hooks and landed fish. Some fish would strike, i would let the bugger drift and twitch it and the fish would strike again. At times there was audible laughter at the dumb luck of hitting the river on such an active day. The river sure looked different after the flooding, and in my opinion, the fishing had never been better.
Not wanting to appear sexist but, the cops probably found the same part of this story as incredulous as I did. . . the part about this woman hiring you as a guide. . .I think that most men would pay her to go fishing with them or at the very least take her fishing for free. Hell, I would even provide her with a real pair of waders instead of those glorified hip boots. Is your secret ‘Deep Woods Off’ or some other type of cologne?
Randy, Randy, Randy
Contrary to your belief, or disbelief, I do have some redeeming characteristics. Although they are not many, I am able to fool some of the people some of the time and some of the fish most of the time. Gina, may be interested in fielding an offer. But you would have to throw the first pitch.
I happen to own a real pair of waders Randy. But sometimes, I like to wear the hip boots for a change of pace. As far as Andy’s guiding, well he is too modest. He fools the fish ALL the time.
Hey Andy,
I’ve never had so much fun with a fishing client that the cops came around to pay a visit. As a fellow guide, I think I should aspire to reach this milestone too!!!
Ha!
Danny Brown
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