|
|
1/22/00 NIGHT FISHING
EXPEDITION
After Tom fished all day Saturday throwing a # 8, & #10 black bead head prince kicker,
& landing six quality bows, he invited me to night fish the hole above cave riffle. |
Tom Schrader with a rainbow |
At 8:30 p.m. the moon
was just rising above the east hills of the river valley, and was well hidden by clouds
and rising mist on the water.
A temperature of 30 deg. posed no problem with freezing rod eyelets.
As we stood well out into the stream on a gravel shelf, casting across a deep seam, the
thought occurred to me that blind people can flyfish. It was totally feel and sound to
work the flyline.
This being my first night fishing experience, I ask Tom to demonstrate his finesse at
catching big browns. He explained that this is the time of day when the big trout come out
into the open waters to feed.
Again, casting is totally blind and it is a good idea to wear clear safety glasses,
especially if you are with someone else.
Tom probably pulled off 50’ of working line & was throwing a #6 weighted marabou
sculpin pattern.
After five or so casts, Tom’s voice lit up with the announcement of his first strike.Of course I could not verify and had to trust that Tom was not hallucinating
from the mystic beauty of our surroundings. |
It seemed only another ten minutes
before Tom burst into joyous celebration as his line & rod came alive with
"SOMETHING BIG ON." The zinging of his reel played beautiful music!
After five minutes of euphoria the 18" brown was pulled onto the streamside
vegetation. |
Tom's night brown
|
| I was CONVINCED, &
ready to get into the excitement of night fishing the North Fork. Tom is not only an expert guide brimming with enthusiasm, he also casts
right handed, while I am left-handed. This enabled me to stand ten to fifteen feet
downstream from him and maintain his coaching communication. Tom told me to cast across
& let it swing, then strip by the foot. He told me that most strikes are on the swing.
I immediately got a couple of good hits on a #6 weighted black flash-a-bugger. Soon I too
was hooked into my biggest brown ever AND, night fishing:)
Landing this beautiful big fish (17"), was an especially thrilling experience in the
dark.....since one’s imagination adds extra thrill to the fight. |
We fished for another thirty minutes
before heading into a late supper. Tom landed another trophy before we climbed back into
the canoe and headed home.
|
A nice brown trout caught by Tom Schrader on his night time outing. |
As I dropped Tom off at
the Chalet with much thanks and wishing him a good nights rest, I thought he was finished
for the evening. However Sunday morning as I gave him a wake-up call for breakfast, he
informed me that he had gone back out and caught another eleven browns & bows. Seven
browns over 14" & two bows, one measuring 18".
He left the stream at 5:30 a.m. with a smile frozen on his face.Myron |
 Back to
the Fishing Reports Page |
|
