Farewell Session

Kyle and I headed back to the private stretch of water I talked about in my last post. We had high hopes for some hogs on hoppers because of our last visit there just a few days ago. We arrived a bit earlier than last time and started off with some nymph rigs. It was pretty slow going, a couple of whitefish and a couple small browns. Our spirits began to sag as the day progressed and we were seeing no action on top. We had a run in with the same guy that talked to us twice about being on his property. He walked up and asked, "So is this becoming a weekly thing or what?" I replied, "No, actually I'm moving up north to Provo tomorrow (which I am) so this is me saying goodbye." We chatted politics, mutual acquaintances, etc. He is actually a really cool, nice guy. We offered to get him into some fish, and also offered to help around the ranch if he needed it. Both offers were declined and we left feeling confident that we would not be bothered, or be a bother, for the rest of the day. WRONG. Not too far upstream, a diesel truck stops on the dirt road running through the property. An elderly man, along with a younger what seemed to be ranch-hand, hopped out and walked towards us. Without a word spoken, they start throwing rocks and branches into the stream just ahead of us. I said, "Thanks." The elderly man replied, "No, thank you, get the hell out of here!" Kyle piped back, "We have every right to be here, Matt get out your camera and film these guys." Not another rock was thrown and they left without another word. I thought it was pretty childish... not a word, just throwing sticks and stones into the river. Whatever we had fish to catch. About 45 minutes and a PB&J later, the sign letting us know it was hopper time went off... a fish tried to slam my indicator. The rest is history, great fishing on hoppers all day long. Kyle managed to stay dry, and we burned about 6000 calories and our calves probably grew a solid 3/4 of an inch from the walk. Oh yeah, and I caught bow out of the stream. We talked to a guy who has fished this water a ton for 7 years and I think he said he has caught 4 bows so it was a nice unexpected treat.