Sometimes you can feel it in your gut! Big trout lurking in the depths of the weather………….

Yesterday morning you could feel the calling. Overcast. Little chance of the sun breaking through the clouds. Cool, sustained air temps. Threat of rain. All the signs were there. I needed to get to the river. However, I also had a pile of work that needed to be done. I was chomping at the bit. I became motivated.

Orders were placed; orders were packed. Horses were fed; horses were watered. The tug on the fishing portion of my brain(97%) grew stronger. Bills to pay, banking statements and phone calls had to be made. You know the drill. At 3:30 PM I was ready to run my errands and I had strategically planned to stage my bank run, post office, hardware store and grocery shopping in River Falls instead of Prescott so I would have a shot at a few hours on the river. I needed to have surgical strikes at each location in order to spend a bit of quality time probing the depths of my favorite river.  The schools of sub-aquatic trout continued their   subconscious text messages. My fever grew.

At 5Pm I sat on the tailgate of my truck rigged and ready. I noticed that there was only one other car, probably an angler. I was undeterred. I remember watching with distrust a group of skate boarding, Frisbee playing, college students looking curiously at the bevy of gear I had in the back of my pick-up truck. I sent them a cold stare along with a subconscious message of my own. “Your lives will end in heinous dismemberment if you mess with the shit in the back of my truck.” They understood. The trout texted again.

I hurried down the trail. My chosen access was the most heavily fished section of the river. It didn’t matter. This access also had 4 trout over 20″ last year that were confirmed.

My first cast hit the water. A fat 12″ brown. I was in. My second cast ended as a meal for the Tree People who stood behind me. They are always watching,,,,,,,and waiting. Their meal was the result of a hair trigger hook set. I thought it must have been a giant trout(probably a rock). I watched as the  elm tree devoured my offering. The skeletons of other meals hung from the same tree. I had been there before. Now that I had made my offering, they would leave me alone. I proceeded to catch a few trout. One on a nymph, one on a streamer, one on a dry. Nothing big. I had worked the area thoroughly, time to move.

Spirits still high I worked my way down stream. A technique called “walk fishing” is my favorite for covering water and relocating to the next prime spot. The technique allows you to fish along the way. Walk fishing however, can be dangerous! During this process one must continually move one’s feet, but concentrate extensively on the accuracy of the cast.  The danger lies mostly in the presence of the “Rock People” who are continually relocating themselves in the stream bed. They are also looking for an offering. To be successful an angler’s feet must negotiate, debate and have intimate relations with the rock people. It is touchy. Mostly the rock people just want to see you fall and face plant, occasionally they steal your fly.  They feel they need a good laugh as payment for the  intrusion we anglers constantly subject them to. Remember while your feet are talking to the rock people you must concentrate on the accuracy of your cast. The Tree People, The Bank People and The Shrub People all want a piece of your offering. The trout understand that these “People” are the gate keepers and key masters that are partly responsible for their well being. The anglers offering can not be considered until after their will has been appeased. A final note on the subject of walk fishing. It is much less dangerous to use this technique where the “Sand People” live. They are a down trodden people and distant relatives of the rock people. In these areas there are fewer trout because there is less protection. However, the snag monsters can live in these areas and they present their own set of difficulties. The snag monsters are a melting pot of severe interbreeding among the people of streams and rivers. They are outcasts. It is complicated.

As I rounded the bend to the next prime location I noticed two other anglers. Probably the owners of the car at the access. As I approached with rod and line reeled up I was greeted with kind interchange. Joe had taken a fly tying class from me years back and recognised me as I stopped to chat. As I reached to shake his hand I noticed something in his body language. A look, a smile, a quiver to his hand. I had seen this posture before. He told me the story. Joe, Shane, Mr. Net and Oliver Twist(the fly invented by Joe that caught the fish) had just land a giant. Taped at 26″, fat, healthy and unmistakeably the largest trout I have heard about being landed on the Kinni. Then Joe showed me the picture. Un-friggen-believable!!!!!!! I knew it! It seems that Shane had just purchased a new GO-PRO under water video cam. It was his first evening trying it out. He had the camera mounted on a 12ft extension pole and did some underwater filming of the fish. He was understandably guarded about the footage. You never know what you got until it is downloaded and viewed. I was exited for them both. Joe gave credit to his friend for helping him land the trout. It was so cool to know that a “Walter” of that size lived in the river and that a human had fooled and held him for a moment. The grand fish was released back to the river. Joe and Shane were heading home. It was 6:30 or so. I asked Joe to send me the picture/s to post for you. He said he would. I can’t wait.

All the messaging in my brain was spot on. I was giddy. I would stay and fish till dark. At dusk I managed to find my largest brown trout and brook trout of the year so far from the Kinni. No where near as big as Joe and Shane’s brown.

Oh, what a night!