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December 2006 at River of Life Farm:
Every year during the winter I try to plan at least one trip to “new water”, and this year because of what I had heard from flyfishing friends and from surfing the internet I had my mind set to scout the “wild Rainbows” of the North Fork of the White if I got the opportunity.
Kim, and I had planned several short “get-aways” throughout the year that were cancelled at the last minute because of either business or family obligations, but this time the stars aligned perfectly and it looked like we were actually going to be able to escape. |
| I phoned my good friend and flyfishing brother Glen Miller who had fished this water before, to inquire about where to stay, where to fish ect. And his immediate recommendation was to “contact Myron at ROLF”. Now the name “ROLF” was not exactly new to me, I had previously been part of several internet flyfishing forum discussions and fly-swaps, and had become familiar with an obviously knowledgeable ROLF guide, Brian Wise, who I knew to be a superb angler and fly tyer. Brian's input on the forums is always friendly, helpful and professional, his enthusiasm for the sport and his love for the river shows in his words. |
Tree Top Hideaway Fireplace |
A quick surf of the ROLF website (riveroflifefarm.com) found cabins on the banks of North Fork of the White River… some with a WHIRLPOOL BATH!
…Well, that was enough to secure Kim’s approval, so we contacted Myron who told us that the Treetop Hideaway cabin was available and he would run down and light the fireplace
… it would be awaiting our arrival. |
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We pulled in to ROLF early Friday afternoon and was greeted by Myron, we enjoyed some friendly and interesting conversation outside the office as the fresh smell of the river and the sound of water rushing over “The Falls” confirmed that we were exactly where we wanted to be.
At first all I wanted to do was hurry up and get into my waders, rig-up a rod and get busy locating those stream-bred Rainbows before it got dark, but there was only a few hours of daylight left and neither Kim nor I was in the mood to “hurry up”.
We left the fishing gear in the truck and just took a walk along the river, we located several good looking tailouts and eddys, and made a mental note of several spots we wanted to fish in the morning. The night was clear and warm for December, we had dinner and sat on the deck talking until after midnight, listening to the river and staring up at Orion standing just above the ridge on the far bank directly in front of the cabin.
I woke up (a bit later than planned) to the sound and smell of bacon frying and while Kim and I were having breakfast our “guide for the day” (Bow, a big friendly black Lab) arrived and politely introduced himself , we shared a few bites of bacon with him which assured that he would keep a close eye on us all day.
Bow knew that the river had been up quite a bit recently from a storm further north and was still slowly falling-out, and I think he sensed that the fishing might be a bit tough on newcomers so he allowed us to pick our own spots, stayed clear of our lines, and when it appeared that we were unsure of what to try next he offered up other fun alternatives….like tug-o-war, and log-tossing’.
There was a current seam near the far bank at Soap & Tallow shoals that looked promising but with the river being up a foot or so I couldn’t get across the river to fish it the way I thought it needed to be fished, I tied on a #8 Pine Squirrel leech (which has become my go-to fly lately on waters I fish frequently), stripped off a bunch of line and double-hauled a cast which landed my leader about halfway into the eddy. I didn’t feel too good about this presentation because the current grabbed my line and quickly began to whip my fly out of the calmer water before it had time to settle any, but as the leech shot out of the eddy I felt one smack it, this was a good sign ! I then knew that not only would the fish eat my leech fly, they would actually chase it down, so my attitude immediately perked up.
I moved up to the tailout of Jack’s Ripple and began to drift the leech across and down, another one smacked it but didn’t get stuck. |
I probably should have switched to a smaller fly at that time but I have a lot of confidence in this pattern and thought eventually I would figure out the right moves to get one hooked.
A few more drifts through the same area (a dark mossy spot surrounded by strips of bare bedrock) and I had a 13 inch Rainbow hooked solid, the fight was on. I hollered at Kim who was playing log-toss with Bow and they waded over to snap a picture and admire the unique colors on the fish. |
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Bow and a 13 inch Rainbow (Click to Enlarge) |
I offered Kim a fly and told her how I was getting the bites but she was having fun with Bow and even ended up falling in the river trying to get a piece of wood away from him, it was hilarious! I fished out the rest of that spot catching two more slightly smaller Rainbows and missing several more bites. We decided to go up to the corner market for lunch and thought we’d drive down to Blair bridge and check that area out for awhile, Bow was kinda disappointed and we felt bad about bailing on him, although he didn’t realize it we thought he needed to rest a bit
Down at Blair the water and bluffs were breathtaking, there were several others down there cutting around in a jetboat but in spite of the disturbance I managed to land a nice little 12 inch Brown and Kim hooked up with a good fish that hit on the swing and broke her off. The Farm seemed like a more pleasant place to be so we headed back, Kim wanted to go back to the cabin and I wanted one more shot at Jack’s before dark, so I dropped her off and drove the truck back up to the tailout, thinking that it might be “on fire” just before dark. |
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I heard a voice behind me and looked over to see Brian Wise standing on the bank, it was great to finally meet him face to face, Brian is all that I expected him to be, and more.
Sunday morning I stood on the deck and watched Brian and a client work their way down past our cabin, they stopped below Soap & Tallow shoals and hit the spot that I was trying to fish Saturday morning and quickly caught two fish before heading on downriver. |
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Kim and I got the truck loaded, suited up and headed for the Patrick bridge area, the water up a quarter-mile path was swift and “wicked”, a bit overwhelming to us as we are more used to slower/lower rivers and much gentler riffles and pocket water. Kim sat in awe of the beauty of it all while I tried to get a grip on what it was going to take to extract a fish from this raging rapid.
I located a nice looking large eddy that I could get decent position on without having my feet swept away from me and began to pick it apart, it wasn’t any time at all until I got a solid take dead drifting the leech, the fish felt heavy even in the calmer eddy but before we got to see it the fish found the edge of swift water and started taking line hard, I put as much pressure on him as I felt I could on 5x and that turned out to be “too much”, as heavy as that water was I should have been fishing heavier tippet for sure.
Next time… |
(Click to Enlarge) |
Thanks Myron, Brian, and Bow,
for what you shared with us.
God Bless,
Glen and Kim |
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