Trout Fishing and BBQ

Was away from trout fishing for a solid month. A month too long, but other matters sometimes trump fishing. Choose a river which has been visited with decent results. Why not try again. It is not far from Vilnius. In Lithuania autumn is upon us. I head out as the chilly morning breeze scatters leaves. 50km threw the country side and the last patch of the journey is threw a corn field. Add that to the moody weather and you have children of the corn vibes.

The river water is good, not crystal clear for trout to spot me, but not muddy that they cannot see the lure in front of them. Water levels are decent. Certain areas have a meter of depth. For a river that is 2-3meter wide that is plenty. Today in hand is the M-Aire MG-46MLS and a new pairing the Shimano Vanquish C2500SHG. For the lure start with the MEGABASS GREAT HUNTING GH46 HUMPBACK Lime Black color. Cast after cast I make steady progress up stream. About an hour in do not see any life. No small trout, no bites. Just calm winds, flowing water and the chirping of birds in the background. Switch the lures still nothing. Back to the Megabass. Potential patch comes up. From both sides high weeds and in the middle a steady flow of water around 1.5m wide and 1m deep. I cast the lure. On the second twitch – fish on. Since the casting distances are small the trout has no where to run. I scoop it up with the landing net. A nice fat 30cm healthy boy. Couple of pics and release him. Trout are still here glad I am not waving the rod around for no reason.

The path along the river is treacherous. Fallen trees, thick brush make it a hard trek. An hour in another bite. A flash in between two underwater stumps. It misses the lure. Cast again this time fish on. A small pike. Does not deserve the landing net. Release him. 5 meters further the a deeper patch, another bite and another pike. Looks identical to the last one. Keep on moving. Another 2 hours of casting gives no results. River is quite. Cycle the lures again, nothing. Decide to stick to the Humpback since it already produced results. And soon enough this decision pays of. A tree with flow carving out the bank under it. It takes around 5-6 casts for the bite to come. The fish feels bigger. I drag him out of the deep. Only way it can go is down river were the is no water so the trout changes direction to go straight into my landing net. The terrain was in my favor. The seasons biggest at 41cm. Some pics and let it back. It shoots back into hiding. The treble hooks look like they got into a fight amongst themselves. Content with the results I decide to head home. Walking back to the car had me think. Is a pike population necessary to cull smaller trout. Thus leaving more food for the remaining to grow larger in size?

Part two of this story. The idea was to get to my car and have a nice BBQ dinner then head home. I had a disposable grill which was useless. Not enough coals to cook the meat threw. As I am waiting for the coals to burn. From the road ahead an old man slowly walks. He approaches me and straight away invites me to his home to cook the meat on a proper BBQ. Got a bit lost, since the offer was so frank and simple. But the meat was not cooking and I was hungry so why not. He takes the grill with the meat and tells me to follow. I cross the dodgy bridge 20m up the road a old but well kept summer home. He brings out a proper BBQ and we get acquainted. He is a retired 68 year old furniture maker by the name of Vytautas. We setup the grill and chat while we wait for the wood to burn. I prep the meat on the stakes and we continue to share stories. The meat is ready and he brings some plates and utensils. As we share a meal he tells me about his life and how he served in the soviet army in the 70s. He even brings out an old album. We chat some more and I thank him for the invitation and conversation. He invites me to come by any time I am fishing in the area. As I drive away I have a smile on my face about the whole experience. Living in the city you forget how kind and simple country folk are.

Trout Fishing and BBQ