Had an adventure out at Deep today. Hiked the boat down to the lake - the gate is still closed, so had to walk across the highway with the little 8' flatbottom. We were excited - it was a nice afternoon, a few sprinkles, but we could see fish splashing as soon as we looked across the water. Put the boat in, looked down -- you know that sinking feeling you get when you realize you forgot something important? I forgot...oars. Not to be deterred from catching fish, I fashioned a ridiculous paddle by finding a stout branch and securely strapping a life preserver to it. Fortunately, it was not windy, and with some considerable effort, managed to get out to where fish had been. HAD been. We were casting flies, likely stuff - wooley buggers, soft hackles, but had nothing to show for it. Plus, the life preserver paddle was leaving much to be desired, so we struggled our way ashore to find a better tool for propulsion. We struck gold with a big fat not yet rotten chunk of bark! It was a good foot and a half across and two and a feet long. By sitting on the front of the boat, I could get us cruising right along. Now we were in business. I trolled and cast flies all day, Ryan switched to a wedding ring. Over the course of the afternoon, we got bit 10 times or more, but never managed to get a fish to hand. Ryan even threw out a little piece of worm under a bobber, and got pulled under twice, but could he get a fish to boat? Nope. It rained on us, the fish went crazy - jumping clear out of the water. Some nice guys with a trolling motor lent us a paddle for a while, we were cruising in style. The fish did not care. They kept striking short. I managed to hook up with a feisty little 8" that jumped clear of the water when he nailed my fly, but lost him after a short battle. We went home confounded by hatchery trout, so much for them being easy.

Next time...

---