I got a kitchen pass on Sunday from 8am till noon. After all the gardening and setting the dock height,  I decide to tackle the stretch of the Little East from the Novar Motorway Bridge up into Fish Lake. This is stretch of marsh/river I had seen from the turn-off over the several years we have owned our cottage. A section I have seen numerous times, but never got round to fishing.

Float tube on my back, I found a spot on the bank where I saw clear, but tea stained, water. Setting my rod up, I noticed I had already got a fan-club of several dozen black fly and ‘mossies’.  I got out the “OFF!” and sprayed Arms/Legs/Noggin with liberal quantities of 30% deet and it seemed to do the same job as that ugly gorilla that accompanies Simon Cowell everywhere (at least on the Mossies). The Black flies like getting into the hair and they seemed tenacious – if somewhat reluctant. I hoped the deet would last but I had another spray in the tube as a back up. No breeze in the warm, overcast air made it ideal for the bugs to keep track of me – albeit from a distance of two or 3 feet downwind.

Note to self: Bring the bug jacket next time.

Spirits high, I set off up-stream planning to fish the lake first, and let the fish in the river settle. I would fish the river while drifting back down later. Not seeing any rises at all, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to slowly troll a small lure as I paddled up the river. Not 50 metres later, the first hit on the line was an 8″ baby large mouth bass that took my gold-bead fritz lure (white body, green marabou tail). It was to be one of a dozen LMB (up to 15″) and some decent yellow-fin perch that I would catch before I made it to the mouth of the river.

Then, I drifted into a deserted and calm Fish lake. A few red-winged Blackbirds swooped around and the chorus of Bull frogs heralded the morning as I sat back and admired the scenery. Although I was fishing for the Speckled Trout, I had a feeling that the number of LMB in the river did not bode well for them.

The river was deeper, slower and wider at this point – though only 2-3 miles downstream of my usual spot. Already, I could see the river changing as it meandered down through Arrowhead provincial park until joining the Big East river (a few miles down). It seemed the bass were looking for the river as a feeding and mating spot, and the trout had decided to head upstream further only to be blocked by the old beaver dam. This dam created a good flow rate, riffles and white water.

Looking over to the far side of the lake I saw a huge Rock Face climbing several hundred feet into the pine forest above. Some large birds of prey were circling in the up-current on the edge of the cliff face. Knowing that the lake bed and the shore line always bear a close resemblance I knew very deep water lay at the base of the cliff – my thighs and calf muscles almost on fire as I went “ramming speed” over to that side. I had 3 more hours before curfew and had to make it count.

It was a dark, deep and rocky place so I put on a metal cone-head lure and went in search of some lake trout in the depths. It may seem odd, but at this point, I was dreading the Bass that continually kept smashing into my lure with gusto! I was unhooking a fish every few minutes it was hardly sporting.

I came to the conclusion that I should either come back when the ice is on the lake and go drill a hole (when the bass lie dormant) or at least come a bit earlier before the water warms up. Never the less, I hi-tailed it back down the river, re-applied the deet and hooked into many more SMB and LMB on the way back down. It was a productive day with a total in the 30’s, not bad for 3 hours fishing!

Without a float tube or Canoe, it would not be possible to fish the marsh-rivers up here, wading is too difficult and the water too deep in places. As there is no “bank” it puts off the average Joe-Fisherman and means the places are never fished.

What a shame.. and it’s all FREE!!

*Note – All bass caught were released as it is not yet bass season. The author was in pursuit of trout.

I say moment.

It could be a period of time as well.

For me, it was about a fly cast 498. I was just about to shatter the glassy surface of the water by throwing my fly rod into it. Everything within a 25 foot radius of me had felt the built up frustration within me. Intermixed repeatedly in my previous casts were results that included hooking small overhead trees, my back side, blades of grass and a picnic bench. Somewhere, around cast 75 I heard the noise of a whip cracking and my fly line became a touch lighter. I had just launched my fly into sub-space on an ill-timed back cast.

I found out very quickly that watching someone on a fly fishing video or observing another fly fisherman can NOT be equated to being ‘well on your way’. By cast 200 and something, I had put my back into spasm by twisting around to pull a tiny fly out of the ’seat’ of my pants. I took note of the obvious lesson here: go barb-less.

Casts 375 and 400 rolled around and I was getting that whip noise again and small knots on my tippet. I compensated and worked on the timing of my back cast and when I launched everything forward again.

That brings us back to cast 498 again. It represents those moments in our lives where we wanted to quit. All 497 ‘good enough’ setbacks seem to tip the scales to want to quit after that 498th botched attempt. It can be a critical time for anybody wanting to succeed. It’s critical because it does not take into consideration the potential reward of casts 499 and 500.

I overcame the urge to throw my fly rod into the water and worked my line up to prepare for cast 499. Unknowingly, everything became so routine now. I was thinking more of where I wanted the fly to go, then what I had to do to get it there. My line swished behind me – then back in front. My fly landed 10ft in front of me. No knots, no whipping, no boxer shorts attached. I repeated the process and, suddenly, I was at cast 500.

My fly went 20ft.

It was like something clicked and for the next hour I was able to place my fly in front of me at will.

What cast are you on in your difficult situation? If you quit now, you may be one cast away from success. Your current set of circumstances could be preparing you for what is to come.

{taken from Trout Waders – my other blog}

Randy Kadish, (Author of The Fly Caster Who Tried To Make Peace With The World) has written a short story that was published in Rackelhanen Fly Fishing Magazine. To lead you off on the story and visit this online fishing magazine  – Keep Reading.

I was born in a city, and grew up in a city, and fish in a city or in rivers that are near train stations close to a city; so when I walk down the street or ride the subways, when I carry my fly-fishing gear, when I wear my official fly-fishing vest and wear my galoshes over my felt-soled wading boots, people stare and probably wonder: Is he an alien?…

Entire Story HERE