Oh so close!

     As you all know Americas birthday was yesterday and we took advantage of having the day off and perfect weather conditions to float a section of the Blackfoot river with our friends Bryant and Hailey.  The cloudless skies and mid 70's temperature made for a wonderful day of floating and of course I brought my fishing gear along for the trip and made another attempt to land my first fish on a fly rod.  I enjoy going with Bryant because it seems like I learn something new every time, he's like having a guide along with you, maneuvering his raft perfectly into position to accommodate my lack luster casting abilities.  After an hour or so on the water we were having no luck with the fish so we stopped for a picnic lunch in a bend and soaked up some vitamin D.

     As we continued down the river, Bryant had me tie on a streamer in an attempt to lure a big brown trout out of his lair for a lunch of his own.  Moments after switching to the streamer I had a nice fish come after the fly but didn't hit it, just seeing the flash of colors swoop at the fly though got my heart racing a bit and had me trying even harder to place the streamer in the perfect spot.  About a mile down river from our lunch stop I casted the streamer next to the bank and stripped it into a shelf of deep water behind a rock, it was attacked instantly and the fight was on!  I had a bunch of line out from stripping in the streamer so I let the fish slowly take it out while Bryant worked at getting the raft stopped and the net ready.  As the fight continued he darted towards the front of the boat, coming nearly out of the water and flashing all of us in the boat before heading into deeper water.  My line tightened up as soon as he got to the front of the boat and he began making a run downstream, when all of the slack had ran out my drag was set too tight on my reel and in a slit second he had discarded my streamer and was gone.  I was literally shaking with excitement as our boat continued down the river and we all replayed the action.
     I have no idea how big he was, the girls and Bryant all said he was big, I know he felt like he weighed 30 pounds!  Bryant often tells me about a big fish in the Blackfoot that has eluded him many times he refers to as Walter, I now have my own elusive friend in the mighty Blackfoot, Carl.  

     
     That pretty much ended our fishing action and we floated the rest of the way relaxing as much as possible.  We followed our day on the river with a fun bbq back at our house with our float crew and Kelli's parents.  A small fire after dinner kept us cozy after the sun went behind the mountains as we watched a few of the neighborhood fireworks display.  The only time my mind could stop thinking about Carl was when the boom of a firework would startle me into looking up!  When the fireworks came to a stop and we finally settled into bed I couldn't help but think about getting back on the river.  I drifted asleep with visions of a big cutthroat turning back and smiling at me on his way down the river, the look on his face telling me thanks for the fight, better luck next time.  We will meet again Carl, oh yes, we will meet again!

Remember, a bad day chasing fish on the river is still better than a good day at work!:)