Yesterday was my birthday, so I took today off and met up with another WaLaker on the river at 5:30am.
By 6:30 he had a nice bright hatchery hen on the bank. An hour later I hooked a little native. While standing in thigh deep water and attempting to back up to the bank to tail it I tripped and sat down, up to my armpits in water my wader belt saved the day. Kept the air in and the water out, the air in my waders helped me to pop right back up. Only a little water down my right leg and that was about it. But it was still COLD. Even with that I was able to keep my line tight and C&R the nate.
My buddy had to bug out about 9:30 but I stayed and kept casting. Finally about noon I was ready to hang it up. Jumped up on a big bolder and started my "last" casts. Finally I had a bobber down and set the hook. At 1st I thought I had a snag then zzzzZZZZSplash! Nope fish on! Right after she broke the surface she tucked herself behind a car-sized boulder about 10 yards downstream and just sat there. I was pretty much stuck because with the angle of the line, if I got off my rock to chase her my line would be rubbing against the boulder she was hiding behind so I just kept pressure and waited, finally about 30 seconds later she came out from her hiding spot and I almost got her up to me before she decided to head downstream again. This time I was able to jump off the rock and give chase, holding my rod over the bushes and scrambling down the bank. After a few more minutes I was able to bring her in, grab her by the tail and heave her onto the bank. Fun fun fight and made the whole day worth it.
It was overcast all morning. Water level was dropping and had good clarity but as far as other fish caught, I left about 1pm and only saw one other caught the whole day - very slow..

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