Wild stream adventure?

[troutphisher]

I fished a wild stream today, in the western North Carolina mountains. This was a free stone (Boulder) stream. The weather was 65 and the water temp right at 43. The water was crystal clear with no leaf litter.

The day started on a bad note, and got worse as the day progressed. I got to the stream at 10:00am and started to getting my gear on and rigging the rod. Then I noticed, no reel?
I left the dam thing home!, I couldn't believe it. I was calling my self all the best fowl words I could think of, I dropped the F bomb like it was cheap wine. Good thing I was the only soul around and other folks didn't hear the language. I am quite sure it was illegal, to speak such words in public.

Well I thought, drive home an hour, or 40 minutes to the fly shop. I went to the fly shop and purchased a Okuma sierra  reel , Rio WF5F line and backing, plus three more leaders. This brain cramp cost me a buck fifty, but I wasn't going to let it ruin my day.

I got back to the stream, got rigged up and hit the water. I fished the tight headwaters first, and worked down stream about 3 miles in all. I came to a place I know well and wanted to get a picture of the falls, and the pool, I was going to fish. Only one minor problem, I had to get out on this ledge to get a good shot. I noticed the granite slab had leaves on it, but made a calculated judgment, I could negociate the obstacle. Wrong. I jumped from the ledge above, about five feet down, and as soon as I hit the ledge, I was in trouble, It might as well have been ice.

I busted my Arsch, but even worse split my elbow, it was like a stinger, my left arm went numb and I couldn't move my fingers, dam that hurt!. I ripped the sleeve of my sweat shirt, My favorite by the way, and made a patch for my elbow. I should have just left, but I wanted my money's worth.

After about fifteen minutes, I pressed on. I fished this pool and missed several nice rises, one of the fish flashed is orange belly, I knew it was the male brook I was after, but after a couple of rises and misses, I moved on. I went to the next run, and cast a couple more times, nothing.

I fished all the pools and seams down stream and only manage a couple of small rainbows.
I knew it was going to get dark soon, it was 5:15 and I was fishing this great pool with slow water, I wanted a couple more casts, before I pulled the plug. Another big mistake.

I waited to long, and it got dark, I tried to work my way back up stream, because I was in a gorge, but it was getting hard to see the rocks and boulders, so I walked up to a clearing that was about 300 feet up, and steep. I figured it was my best chance at getting back to the trail and safer then slippery rocks at night. The climb was steeper than I thought, It took me 30 minutes to climb out, I had to take breaks on the way up. Some of the climbing was more like crawling, I was trying to keep my feet dug in, I was pushing the rod up hill and moving in short assents. When I got to the top, I noticed, I didn't have my midge, nymph box anymore? Close to 100 flies gone, I also lost my split shots and float powder.

Here are some pics.

[peter p]

Hang in there TP.  Tomorrow's another day

[Woolly Bugger]

Damn,  busted rods reports, now busted asses and elbows too! Glad nothing broke..

nice pics.

You know your getting old when the morning after the night before isn't worth the night before the morning after....

[DJ65]

All I can say is............damn son. 

[BC]

I feel your pain TP . I've had days like that . Drove two and a half hours one Sun. a couple years ago . Had a spare rod/reel , even had two pairs of boots , but forgot to throw my waders in the Jeep . It was higher elevation , but pretty big water , and there was snow up there , and Icy rocks . That might have saved me from gettin' seriously hurt . Ya never know . I think maybe when we don't listen , God pops us with sticks , and the more we refuse to listen , the bigger the sticks get . In some cases , like yours and several trips I've been on, I think maybe 2x4's are involved . And I don't even want to get started on how many times , " Just one more ," has gotten me into trouble . I ended up hikin' out from a stream one time in the dark , and we all know how dark that is , with only the flash of my camera and a cigarette lighter to light my way . It only took the one time . I had fished a good bit farther than I thought from the trail out . Not much fun . A hike that should have taken no more than 45 minutes max lasted 3 hours . And I've definately hobbled out of the woods a couple times after being hurt . One time involved a couple trips to the Orthopedic Dr . It absolutely amazing to me how much we are willing to endure in pursuit of these little fish .

[Gofisher]

Wow TP, here I go bragging on your stories and now you add death defying challenges to them!  Glad you got out of there OK. As far as the reel, everyone can always use another one...

[troutphisher]

I went back today, to try and find my fly box. No luck  o-o.
I retraced my steps, up the hill, during the climb out, nothing.

It didn't look that high during the day light. I took a picture standing from the edge of the trail looking down at the stream.

Well someone might find them, and hopefully use the flies to catch fish!

[Woolly Bugger]

I went back today, to try and find my fly box. No luck  o-o.
I retraced my steps, up the hill, during the climb out, nothing.

It didn't look that high during the day light. I took a picture standing from the edge of the trail looking down at the stream.

Well someone might find them, and hopefully use the flies to catch fish!

I once lost a fly box on a climb out of a stream, I feel your pain....

[phg]

We all have those days.  I once arrived at the creek only to find that I had taken all my flyboxes out of my vest to replenish them, and had forgotten to put them back.  Fortunately, a few minutes of rummaging under the truck's seat produced another box that had been misplaced sometime before.  The flies weren't the best choice for the conditions, but they at least allowed me to fish.