Tournaments On the Roster Again for Next Year!

Fishing has taken a backseat this year as I have taken a year off for my daughter being born.  I have only fished a couple of times throughout the spring and summer.  My boat has only touched the water once this year.

I would like to make it out more, but family obligations, laziness, cost of gas, and lack of water have kept me at bay.  This fall I may make it out once or twice before I have to winterize the boat.

In thinking about next year, I have decided to get back into the tournament action.  I'm not sure, but I may step it up a bit and do the BFL's and try to get into the next higher series with the FLW.

It's nice for me to have the excuse that I have to go fishing.  Otherwise I may be pursuaded to do other things.

My favorite summer was a few years ago when I was fishing club tournaments and the FLW.  I had to go fishing almost every weekend. 

I won't ever have that opportunity again if I continue to live here.  As long as I can make it out of town for a series I will be happy. 

No Fresh Trout For Breakfast

Vacation is over.  I've been back to work for a couple of weeks now.

The mountains were chilly while we were out there.  It rained every day except for Saturday, the day before we left.  Wednesday it rained the entire day.

We would get up in the mornings and go hiking or fishing and be chased off by the rain by early afternoon.  We did drive around some and check out the mountains. 

One of my favorite drives was driving up one of the unmaintained passes in my explorer.  The road was rough and had lots of puddles making it fun to drive on.  The scenery was excellent.  We drove slow and had to pull over for oncoming traffic.  It was something I had never done before.  When we got to the top of the pass at 11500 feet we got out and climbed the mountain beside us so the boys could touch snow in August.  The both threw snowballs at me.

Fishing was great.  I had a Kokane Salmon on the fly at one lake.  It got off at the shoreline and I was dissapointed I didn't get it in since I have never caught one.  I also caught rainbow trout, brown trout and brook trout.  The brook trout were the biggest of all.  We found a nice beaver dam on the way up the pass and pulled over to fish it on the way down.  I had several 14 inch plus trout take the fly.  I only landed a couple little 10 inchers though. 

On the 3rd to last day we found a perfect stretch of river to fish that was public access.  As we were wading and fishing it I almost had a River Runs Through It experience.  There was a boulder sticking out of the water.  I watched the current going around the rock and saw a 20+ inch brown trout slowly rise to the surface and suck in an insect as it came floating past. 

I whipped my fly rod back and forth and laid the fly perfectly out in front of where the trout had risen.  All of a sudden my line went tight.  It was coming in awefully easy for such a huge trout.  I thought a 20+ inch trout would put up a much bigger fight.  I was right.  It didn't take long to realize a smaller trout had gotten this fly.

The kids had fun hiking through the mountains and playing around the cabin.  My daughter loved hiking since she could sleep and be carried the whole way.  She did get a little upset when it started raining and sleeting the first day we were out there.

Even with all the rain we had a lot of fun.  The cabin was nice and we played cards to pass the time while we were there. 

Next time I go out there I want to have a cabin or a campsite on the river or on a lake.  It's difficult waiting on everybody to eat breakfast and get ready to head out for the day.  I would rather slip out for an early morning fish and come back to eat fresh trout for breakfast.