Die Fische

The text had come from Jacob, manager of Greuene Outfitters a few days back.

It was shocking not only because i hardly knew him, but because he had access to a raft, wanted to hit the water and explore, and for some reason had chosen me out of all the people that he talks to on a daily basis at the fly shop, to ride shotgun for the day.

I think i almost broke my thumb trying to text back in record response time “Sounds great, i’ll bring the food and drink!”

Days later i was doing double takes, glancing in the rear view mirror and trying my best not to be super geeked out by the fact that i was towing a REAL GUIDE’S RAFT (courtesy of river guide Kevin Stubbs) behind my Element, cruising River Road high on life and heading to adventure.

After running the gauntlet with the car and trailer at Rio (have you tried backing in there recently?), Jacob and i were floating down from Rio Raft, with rods, waders and grins that looked so maniacal that anyone stuck on the shore probably thought we had just escaped from a mental institution.

Within the hour we had both landed decent size fish, a good way to start the day for sure. My first just happened to be on a special spot that locals refer to as Barking Dog Hole, a place that has provided me with many beautiful trout this season. It wasn’t the biggest fight of the day, but it did give me the temporary confidence i needed to  relax and enjoy the day instead of stressing out about the first catch. After letting the trout (below) return to the water i decided to wash away the anxiety and took a break to enjoy a breakfast taco courtesy of Ruby’s and Jacob.

Taco in hand, feet propped on the raft, i absent mindedly tossed my line back into the water. Seconds later Jacob mentioned how funny it would be if i managed to get a bite while eating and wondered out loud if i’d choose the trout over the taco. I know this sounds like B.S., but i swear, before i could answer i stared in disbelief as my strike indicator went under like the Titanic and i suddenly found that my knee-jerk reaction was to choose fish over food. Handing my unfinished breakfast taco to Jacob i suddenly found myself fighting an EXPERIENCED 20″ trout that had my reel humming for a few minutes before i managed to net the fish, unhook my fly, go for the glamour shot and promptly have it jump out of my hands and dive back into the sanctity of the Guadalupe.

Dang.

Sometime later, further down the river, while working a current, we looked up to see a plethora of flies high above us in the trees, looking like hung bandits, suspended from above as if to warn of the futility of casting to this enticing fishing hole. Grabbing a long, forked stick, i thrust it into the branches, twirled, and pulled down endless amounts of tippet and flies, sometimes with 10-15 flies wound around my pike, doubtlessly thankful for being rescued from public display. Sure it wasn’t fishing in the conventional sense, but my rogue fishing technique did manage to bring me a healthy catch of flies of all shapes and sizes, a satisfactory haul by anyones standards.

There were many spots that were covered that day, and many more that we had to skirt simply because there was to much ground to cover.  There was so much that happened in one day that it seems strange to try to fit it in a few paragraphs for quick digestion. Instead, maybe i’ll try this;

- Slipping on a rock and having water come within half an inch of the top of my waders, in the cold…scaryish.

- Me worrying all day that the construction crew wouldn’t let us under the bridge at Ponderosa, while Jacob was cool as ice.

- The fiberglass infestation taking it’s toll on Jacob, causing him to cut off the sleeves of his long sleeve shirt with the tiny blades on my hemostats.

- The many large trout that threw my hooks without worrying that it might lower my self esteem.

- Paddling the rapids below Devil’s Playground after dark and almost getting cold clocked and knocked unconcious  by a bald cypress in the process.

- Trying to lug a heavy, giant raft over multiple retaining walls, and onto a trailer with two people, after a few drinks…in the dark.

Would i do it all again? Hell yes!

The word is A-D-V-E-N-T-U-R-E folks. You don’t get it from sitting in front of a PS3, or by watching online videos of other peoples experiences. You get it from throwing yourself out there into the jaws of life. Sometimes it’s benign and boring, other times it’s wily and unpredictable, and it always has the ability to be unnerving and anxiety laden, but come on, that’s half the fun.

And listen, when you’re drifting with a stellar dude like the one below, you just have to put your anxiety, concern and worry in check and know that it’s all good.

P.S. Thank you for the adventure Jacob. Thank you for the raft Kevin, enjoy the wine.