Magical trout river
On the way
A long way to the river threw never before explored regions. Driving threw winding roads I pass small towns, villages, fields with many cows. Every so often overtake heavy duty farming equipment. A stark contrast from the busy city streets I am used to. Sunny, but chilly the air had a freshness to it. On my way to the location I cross a bridge. Flowing below is the river I am heading to. Narrow, overgrown with plants and slow flowing water. The last turn leads me down a narrow road. I drive up and down a couple of times before I find somewhere to nestle my car. Will be fishing with my Ito Craft Expert Custom paired with the Shimano Vanquish 2000 reel. I change into my waders and get going.
First trout
Start with a Bux spoon. White with a dash of red at the end. Impossible to check the river hiking by the bank. Wading upstream is the only choice. The river has natural springs thus the water is freezing. First casts give 0 bites. Unhurried I wade to the next area. The first bite came casting near a beaver damn. I cast to the exact same spot another bite. Fish are aggressive, but no hook ups. I have one more bite in the area and head further. Next spot and on the first cast fish is on. I smaller trout.
Trout after trout
The river is only 2-3metres wide. On some stretches the depth reaches up to waist high. 3-4m is the average cast, anything further is impossible due to vegetation or river curves. Beaver damns divide the river in natural steps every 25m. And in those damns almost every cast brings a fish to the landing net.
For the next 800m I get a fish with almost every cast. Trout sizes vary. I have to take detour since the river becomes too overgrown to pass. Plus cannot get over yet another damn. I can make out a natural pool on the over side. I fight threw the brush and end up there. The damn has almost stopped the flow creating a deep area. Also I can cast near 10 meters. And with each cast a fish, some I manage to land some shake of. A big trout 3m from my feet grabs the lure, it starts going crazy. I reel in the line and reach with my landing net. It is in. A fast fight. I unhook the trout. Around 40-42cm., try to take pic but it came out blurred. I take a close up instead and release the fish.
Bites do not stop
Never ever have I experienced such a river where with every cast there is a good chance to land a decent trout. I wade on and the trend continues. A new patch. I Cast, I land a trout. Trout are ferocious and fight till the very end. Some jump, some try to go deep others try hiding to the water plants. I land some, others get away. I lost count of the bites and how many fish I caught. I step out of the water about 3 hours in to get warmed up. Can not feel my knees from the chilling water temperature. With bites so ample I want to keep hammering. Feel lucky to find such a river.
Ending
Upstream the river morphs from beaver damns to a narrow patch of 40cm between water plants. If i manage to cast accurately I land a fish. I change the lure from a spoon to a hard lure. A 7cm custom minnow. Want to sift out the smaller trout. For another 800m I get bite after bite. Some areas a hard to pass as I wade I drag trials of plants. Then the river shallows down and the bites get less often.
After 6hours of amazing fishing I decide to end the day. Heading back to my car pass some curious cows.
