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September 26, 2006:
I recently completed a year tour in Iraq and was looking for a place to relax and enjoy fishing again. I have been to the North Fork several times over the years but never in the fall. It seemed like the best place to kick back and enjoy the fishing I had been dreaming about for a year.
I arrived at the River of Life Farm at 7 am and was met by Myron as he was walking out of the house. After the five hour dive from Kansas City, he urged me to take a power nap but I would have none of it – there was fishing to be done. So, Myron hooked me up with a canoe, drove me up to Kelly Ford, gave me some advice on where to fish for the day and set me loose. |
16" North Fork Rainbow caught
at Lamb Shoal. |
I paddled up to Lamb Shoal and put in below the riffle. By this time, it was about 0800 and the sun was up and it was about 60 degrees. I started out with a black stonefly with a prince dropper and quickly landed the first trout of the day, a nice 16 inch rainbow. She hit the stonefly.
As I was releasing the fish, I looked up and watched three White-tailed deer (a doe and two fawns) cross the river, right through the riffle. It was a beautiful moment. |
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Around 10am, I started fishing down the river putting in anywhere that looked promising. I landed another 12 inch rainbow just below Kelly Ford, again on a black stonefly with a prince dropper. This time the trout hit the prince just as it was coming out of the swing downstream. There was a Caddis hatch coming off most of the morning but I had left my dries back at the River of Life Farm. Would have been nice to have a Caddis as a strike indicator with a soft hackle dropper – lesson learned.
I fished the rest of the way down to the River of Life Farm missing several hits and loosing two fish that where hooked. By the time I landed the canoe at The Farm, the score was John – 2, Rainbow trout – 4. I went down to the Hideaway Cabin and relaxed on the deck over watching the river. An Osprey had been shadowing me all day, and as I was sitting there, it landed in a tree across the river with a fish clutched tightly in its talons. Another great moment at The Farm. Unfortunately, no camera.
As the sun was falling, I headed out for my last try of the day and ended up at Jack’s Riffle. This time, I brought along my dry flies and landed my last fish of the day on an Elk Hair Caddis with a soft hackle. It was great to be back at the ROLF to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the Farm. With the sound of the river flowing by, I grilled a steak and some veggies at the Hideaway, and drifted off to sleep. |
September 27, 2006:
I met Brian Wise, my guide, at the office at 7am. Brian and I had been e-mailing each other since before I left Iraq and he seemed to be even more excited to get going than I, if that were possible.
He had the canoe loaded and ready to go and after a quick bite of German Pancakes (compliments of Myron) we pushed off.
The day was cooler, about 55 degrees, and the mist hovered at the treetops as we started out. |
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Early morning on the North Fork |
Our first stop was The Falls. Now, as promising at The Falls look, they have never been a big producer for me. Brian was beginning to wonder about my skill level as we pressed on to Jacks’ Riffle. While there, I hooked the first trout of the day. As I was playing the fish, it dove through some of the river grass, and we lost the fish. The river grass posed a problem throughout the day as any amount getting hung up on the line after hooking a fish dramatically changed the equation when trying to land the fish. |
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We pressed on from Jacks Riffle and headed down the river stopping in front of the Tree Houses to try our luck. Once again I hooked a decent fish only to loose it. Trout 2 – John zip.
As we left the Farm, Brian set me up for some night fishing, showing me where to concentrate my efforts and how to fish the river at night.
We worked our way down stream and stopped at one of Brian’s favorite spots, Hensley Riffle. |
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The weather was turning nasty and storm clouds were slowly working their way up stream towards us. We continued with one of Brian’s Black Stoneflys and a Prince dropper and, on the third cast, as the Stonefly was rising off the bottom, a nice Rainbow smashed it. We quickly forgot the approaching storm as the Rainbow made a run downstream eating into my backing. Brian coached me along the way as we worked our way down to the hole where this beauty as running and after a decent fight I landed it. What a magnificent fish. The color and strength were everything I had read about these native trout and this one fish made the entire trip worth while. |
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And we landed it not a moment too soon. The storm arrived and the lightning and thunder began to pick up. Brian decided it was the perfect time to start cooking lunch and he got it going before the rains came. The lunch consisted of pork chops with mushrooms and caramelized onions in a wine reduction sauce as well as spiced potatoes. Just as Brian finished warming things up, the downpour began and we ate lunch hunched over our plates, thankful for the hot meal. For desert, Brian gave me a couple of his wife’s chocolate chip cookies. Thankfully the rain ended just as we finished lunch and the sun returned to the river.
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I guess the fish had enough of a break during the rain because on about the fifth cast another fine rainbow smashed my Prince dropper just as it was completing its swing. The fish also headed downstream and again went deep into the backing until I could catch up to it. After another quick photo of Brian and the fish we pressed on.
We continued our way down the river stopping for Brian to give me a quick class on fishing wet flies. A really simple method to fish for these native trout and a method I hadn’t used since I was a teenager in Pennsylvania. I pulled in two of this year’s trout on a Royal Coachman pattern and was starting to feel good about my remembered skills. But, it was getting on in the day and we were meeting Myron at the Blair Bridge take-out and had to move on.
All in all, it was my best day on the river so for. Ended up with seven fish from 7 to 17 inches, a bunch of new skills Brian had taught me, and a host of great memories. |
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