Saturday, August 29, 2009

Finicky Fish







After a few days of driving across the country, I finally landed in Boise. It was a long trip with great stretches of barren landscape between destinations. Wyoming looks a lot like southern Argentina with its dry grass and stubby bushes. Without a radio, I found myself singing out loud just to break up the monotony of the drive heading West on I80. I belted out old pixies, Weezer, and Red Hot Chili Peppers songs without fully knowing all the lyrics. It was enough to get me to Utah where the scenery quickly changed. I finally saw mountains and rolling farm land again. Friendly signs that I was close to civilization.

Alex and Suz had completed a remodel of their 1930's house and it looks phenomenal on the inside. It has all of the modern amenities (high end appliances) with the classic craftsman styling of that period. It has been a couple years since I've visited so it was all new to me. On the counter were fresh veggies from their garden which had done really well this year due to the composting and weather this summer. It reminded me of my weak and neglected garden in Dallas which yielded nothing but a few small watermelon. I was glad that this would be my home base for the next couple weeks.


Not wasting any time, Alex, Ian, and I met at the Owhyee river in Oregon that evening. The river is known for having some of the best trout fishing in the area. 20+ inch fish are common as long as you can get them to bite. Now I'm very experienced in catching 20+ inch browns in Arkansas, but out west it's a different story. Of the three anglers, only Alex was able to hook up once. It was a nice pumpkin of a fish coming in somewhere in the 22-24 inch range. Although the fishing was tough, the scenery and company more than made up for it. The plan while I'm here is to head north to Yellow Pine and fish some of the creeks. There is also some secret lake up there which is supposed to hold some huge rainbows. I can't wait to hook up with my first trout of the year.

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