Good Head
As an angler, I have often preached “There are no Rules” (OK guys, here is where your arms go up).*
Anyhow, the rule is; An angler should never spend more time driving to and from a destination if the fishing time is going to be less than the driving time. This rule tends to keep an angler in check from the gripping clutches of a debilitating ailment my Bride calls Fly Fishing on the Brain. This simple rule can help fend off the crazed thoughts of an angler who requires redemption from an unsuccessful fishing outing, obsessively needs to break loose from the drama of life, knows there are only a few days left in the season or unknowingly wastes money they don’t have. It is one of the symptoms of unconscious incompetence and can become overwhelming to the angler. The rule was basically put into practice to save marriages but also serves to extinguish the pathological, compulsive behavior that fly anglers can exhibit when establishing order of importance in their life.
Sometimes I break the rule. There, I said it. I will not undergo treatment until next weekend. The steelhead season is almost over.
*This absurd practice/gesture was started by my friends Rob, Jeff and Randy, who I am sure were intoxicated at the time. Their silly, boyish, immature antics commence when I attempt to answer a serious angling question. The “arms up” are a signal, as I understand, for all activities to cease as I climb upon my soap box and begin to preach. I guess for this group of rugged, good looking outdoorsmen it is their form of man love. Gee guys, I appreciate it and hope it does not sound too much like that movie.
BRULE UPDATE
Yesterday was a great day on the river. Wet, foggy, windless yet warmish conditions made for some great casting practice on the water. Catching or hooking was entirely another matter. If it was not for the last cast of the day there would have been a goose egg in my column. By all accounts from the anglers we talked to(except for one, and the guy was fishing with night crawlers) fish were not being caught. The general chat was that anglers had been having some tough fishing over the last few days. The muddy path showed no lack of traffic, but after 6 solid hours of fishing we had only managed to touch 1 fish. It was a gift.
Theory for the day was somewhat the same as in mid-October;
-When the fish count numbers come out this December they will be lower than expected.
-The majority of fish being landed are in the 20-23″ range. Of course, all the bigger fish are getting away! Anglers on the Brule always know exactly how long the fish are that they never land.
-A couple old timers that we spoke to yesterday felt that the low catch rate could be attributed to charter boats for hire. These commercial fishing boats, which previously had not been present, have dramatically increased around the mouth of the Brule and surrounding area. Steelhead in the “keeper” size(26″) seem to be in short supply. Brule theory 307 states that Charter boats could be keeping the 26″+ fish and that is why we are not catching as many of that size. It is Brule theory 206 that states that the fish are not in the river yet because the charter boat captains have located large schools still in the lake.
WANTED EMPLOYMENT
My Bride/financial advisor has informed me that if I would like to continue living the dream that I need to find some seasonal employment. If any readers of this blog are aware of such an opportunity, please shoot me an email.
Thanks in Advance
Andy
10 users commented in " Brule River Report, Rules and Employment "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackAndy,
Good post. I have been beating myself up all week after an unsuccessful
Sunday afternoon on the Brule. Lack of concentration, no creativeness in fly selection, fishing the same pools the same way I have always fished them… no lack of fly fishing afflictions. The drive time rule (lets call it rule 3:17) is entirely valid though I have been thoroughly engrossed in mapping a way to cut off 15 min on each leg in an effort to seek redemption in a one day “caution to the wind” effort. Rule 307 probably has merit. You played Rule 206 only in an effort to entice the to break rule 3:17 and deplete any marital capital previously banked. I am carrying a large short position in marital capital… time to double up.
Swen
Hah, The old self beat up. It is a good remedy to shake things up… Although another 0 for 0 outing may cause you to slip deeper into the abyss and contemplate……. Rod warranty testing. I like the way 3:17 flows. Lets call it Goat 3:17 (To those who might want to flame me for being irreverent I will respond now,,,, really?)
In a year were allegedly all the fish are either in the lake, in the boat or up stream of the town of Brule, desperate measures must be taken. OK first, I will use my networking skills to lure the Charter Boat Captains with whisky and hookers(apparently that really works). Boats will crashing everywhere and the steelhead will be safe to swim up the Brule. There should be plenty coming up river through the end of the season. Second I will leave a secret fly on the underside of the bench at the sauna hole. Just between you and me, my secret fly changes every year. I imagine both the Hens and Bucks will get really grabby when they see this work of art. If you don’t get any hook-ups the whisky/hooker thing didn’t work and there are probably no fish in the river.
The laws of physics will not let you shave any more time off the drive. Hell you have been making this drive for 10 years now. Google drive time cannot anticipate/predict the deer rutting you are about to encounter on your back road route. Nice try.
Good luck on the double-up roll of the dice. Living in a trailer down by the river may just be the ticket.
Thanks for feeding my addiction
I bet the steelhead numbers this fall will equal or exceed last year’s numbers. Flows and temps have been very conducive to escapement since mid August and will stay good for the next couple of weeks. I think we’ll see that a lot of fish moved in early. Many fish do go above hwy 2.
I think a lot of people have had poor fishing because flows have been on the rise a lot, there have been lots of fronts, and fishing pressure has increased. Anytime the good anglers I know have had flows on the drop, stable barometric pressure, and got away from crowds, the catching has been outstanding.
The same people blaming the charter boats for catching all the fish are the same guys blaming the wolves for killing all the deer.
Good stuff! Anglers are an awesome breed.
Thanks for the great insight.
A
Andy,
I was looking for the fishway data for 2012-2013 and have been unable to find. I did notice 2011-2012 was short on the 3 yr olds. In fact the 4, 5 & 6 yr olds all exceeded the 3 yr olds for that run. It would make sense the run is missing mid-sized fish. Good to hear the 20-23″ are present. Chalk it up as a “Rebuilding” year.
JL
I think that all of your employment woes could be answered if you were just able to convince the ‘Discovery Channel’ to start filming a reality series about your life much like the Axmen or Moonshiners series. Hell, your life is just as colorful as the characters on those shows and you could keep on doing exactly what you do and watch the fame, celebrity, and money come rolling in. You would have to outsource the production of Bentley’s Balls and Gray Goat t-shirts to China just to keep up with the demand. If you contact them, don’t forget to tell them about your ‘ordination’ and no doubt you would have couples lining up just to get hitched on the show each week. Think about it. . . it could have some real potential.
Thanks andy R. Have begun negotiations with DC and HC. There are concernes about my PC. Great suggestion, I’ll let you know how it turns out.
JL
I have not seen raw data, just the fishway counts. Rebuilding, you mean like the Vikings.
Let’s just hope we’re not talking like the Twins.
Heaven forbid.
Leave A Reply