Thomas Wolf was right......

[Yallerhammer]

......Sometimes, you can't go home again.

The last few days, I've been thinking about a favorite little stream of mine, we'll call it "Memory Creek." One of those little, tiny hands-and-knees pure native spec streams. It's the stream that instilled the love of watching a trout hit a dry fly into me when I was a kid. It's also the creek that instilled me with the love of those little bejeweled native speckled trout. It taught me about stealth and drag, and many other things. I would hike into it with a 7-foot tapered leader and a few dry flies. When I got to the creek, I would cut a slender birch pole and tie the leader to the end of it, and commence to wearing out the speckles. I've thought about this little creek a lot and savored my memories of it, but I haven't fished it in almost 35 years.

So I went back today. Or tried to. I found my way through the rhododendrons into the streambed, and crawled through about fifty yards of this:



Then, I saw this:



I knelt behind a rock and flipped a fly into the tail of the pool. It hadn't floated three inches before it diappeared in a flash of color. I set the hook, and a short time later, I had this:



WTF!!!???


I cast my fly into the head of the pool near the waterfall, and got this:



Hmmmmmmm.

It was a sign of things to come. I fished on upstream for a good ways, and the fishing was great. every pocket deep enough to cover a fish had one or two or three in it. They hit hard, and fought hard for their size. But they were all rainbows. Every. Damn. One. Most of my fish came from simply dangling a few inches of line from the end of the rod and sticking it back into places like this:



Normally, I would be happy catching these fiesty little wild rainbows in this number from a creek this size. But it makes my heart hurt a little to find that they have taken over my Memory Creek.

Moral of today's story if there is one? Maybe sometimes if you have some good memories, it might be better to nurture and treasure them than to try to relive them. Things might not be the same, and you might wind up overwriting old, cherished memories with new ones that aren't as sweet.


A half-mile farther up, this creek runs through an open hardwood hollow at about 4500' elevation, spreads out; and paradoxically, seems to be a much bigger stream than the lower end. There are seemingly endless series of large plunge pools and flat riffles, deep holes under mossy shaded rocks, dark pockets where anything can be lurking. You can actually cast a fly sidearm on a lot of it. In short: one of those private, magical secret places that everybody needs at least one of. In years past, I have caught some 10-inch specs out of that stretch of creek, and once, an honest-to-God 11 1/2 incher.

I hope they are still up there. I didn't fish up that far. I don't want to know. I really, really don't.

[Dougfish]

You know you're going back. C'mon...
Shit changes. Stream bred bows are awesome fighters. They out competed the brookies down low.
But what about higher? You need to know. Want to know.

I don't look down my nose at worthy competitors. Maybe I should.
TU says I should. He should be on the bank. Racoon  food. But I can't. I love a fighter.

Nice TR. 

[TylerDurden]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

[themidge]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

You're a newb too, my man.

[TylerDurden]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

You're a newb too, my man.

it would certainly appear so, does that mean i cant call a newer newb a newb?

[themidge]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

You're a newb too, my man.

it would certainly appear so, does that mean i cant call a newer newb a newb?

10-4

[Onslow]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

You're an annoying interloper who deserves nothing less than to be thrown on a bank and eaten by coons. newb too , my man.

Fixed.

[Yallerhammer]

You know you're going back. C'mon...
Shit changes. Stream bred bows are awesome fighters. They out competed the brookies down low.
But what about higher? You need to know. Want to know.

I don't look down my nose at worthy competitors. Maybe I should.
TU says I should. He should be on the bank. Racoon  food. But I can't. I love a fighter.

Nice TR. 

Oh, I love catching those wild rainbows and browns too, I don't have anything at all against them in general. Just hate to see the specks gone from this creek. No big waterfall on this one, so it was inevitable, I guess. The browns are the ones that have gotten most of the brook trout streams around here.

[Yallerhammer]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

Hey, I'm a poor-ass fisherman, not a photojournalist. Send Geraldo Rivera or Ansel Adams in there next time.  Homey not gonna buy a $1000 mega-camera for your benefit when there's better ways to spend money, like alcohol, ammunition, and loose women. Deal widdit. 

[Jfey]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

Hey, I'm a poor-ass fisherman, not a photojournalist. Send Geraldo Rivera or Ansel Adams in there next time.  Homey not gonna buy a $1000 mega-camera for your benefit when there's better ways to spend money, like alcohol, ammunition, and loose women. Deal widdit. 

Exactly.   Zip it TD.

Cool report Yaller.  As Doug said,  you'll be back.

[Dee-Vo]

I enjoyed the tR, Aesop.

I'd like to know about that higher section. Want me to find out for ya?

[TylerDurden]

oh fuck off it was a joke

Hahaha Phall that was hilarious by the way!!!!

[rbphoto]

not bad newb, although i probably could've drawn better pictures with an etch a sketch.

Hey, I'm a poor-ass fisherman, not a photojournalist. Send Geraldo Rivera or Ansel Adams in there next time.  Homey not gonna buy a $1000 mega-camera for your benefit when there's better ways to spend money, like alcohol, ammunition, and loose women. Deal widdit. 

$1K for a "mega-camera" would be a steal. 

Just take me along next time.  I'll not fish, but photograph and I'll make certain to tell nobody about your bow-trickle of a Memory Creek . . . .

just bring good beer, no women & we'll split the ammo costs