A couple days ago I did my on-line renewal for my guides license and then went to my outfitters to get their signatures. A day later, I was called at 8:30am by John Arnold to see if I could work. I'll be honest, I had a few beers the night before with a couple friends and I was feeling the affect but turning down a day in January would be like finding a hundred dollar bill in your pocket and chucking it in the goat pen. (I don't have goats, just saying.) So I did a quick inventory of what gear I had ready to go and called John back to take the trip.
I hadn't put my boat on the water since October but I had cleaned it out and organized my fly boxes and rods to some degree. My cooler had also been cleaned out and although the outside of my truck was a mess, the inside wasn't too bad. I was ready within an hour and on the road to meet my guys at the Wolf Creek Bridge.
We were on the water by about 10:30am. I had fished up by the dam just a few days ago with Dan Kelly so I knew we could get fish there. My clients were Chip from what used to be the Fly-Way Ranch and his brother-in-law, Jerry. Apparently they had fished last year on this exact day so they were kind of making it a ritual. Dan and I striped steamers really slow through some dead water so I figured that's what we would do and Chip and Jerry were all into that; especially when I told them folks were getting walleyes up there. The streamer thing didn't pan out for us on this day.
A couple hours into it, after being blanked and watching spin-fishermen roping them, I pulled over and 'suggested' we do something different. They agreed and we re-rigged for deep nymphing. Let's just say, "Pink is in." We proceeded to rope fish ourselves after adjusting a little for depth and weaving in and out of bank fishermen to find a hole we could focus on. They each caught their share of nice rainbows and even a little brown thrown in for good measure—a very successful day.
I would like to make a shout-out to my walleye fishing friends on the bank. You are correct in that the regs say not to "operate a vessel within 75 feet of an angler or waterfowl hunter unless it is unavoidable. If unavoidable, travel at no wake speed or at the minimum speed necessary to maintain upstream progress." To this I would like to say that I don't know a time I was within 75 feet of an angler as a couple people fishing the campgrounds suggested. (Accept while rowing back up stream above the ramp the only way I could and believe me, I wasn't kicking up a wake.)Seventy-five feet is not very far. Being an avid bow-hunter, I know what 25 yards is and I know I was never within that. Having said that, I appreciate the fact that some of you felt I was too close and I will take that into account.
The regs also state not to "anchor a vessel in a position that obstructs a passageway ordinarily used by others." For those other anglers in jet sleds that park in the middle of runs that others are taking turns drifting through, this could be interpreted to mean you.
The bottom line is I'm not trying to piss people off and giving the conditions and the fact that there are so many people fishing from the bank on these nice January days, we might have to be a little more tolerant of each other. I respect your right to fishing the river and would expect the same. When you see a boat doing row-rounds, you have to know that by jumping in the same lane he has to take to get back up-stream, he's going to row past you and be in your way for a short time.
On that note I would like to use the gentleman on the other side of the river as an example of how things can work. While rowing up-stream to get to the top of a run, I noticed him on the bank eyeing the water we were fishing. I asked him if he was planning on fishing there and he said, "I was," in kind of a defeated tone. So I suggested he jump in on our way through and we will just row up to him on our next pass. I also told him what we were getting them on and when he left, he thanked us. We all caught plenty of fish and everyone was happy.
On that note, keep 'em where they live y'all and sincerely, good luck to all the walleye guys. The more you take out of the lower river, the less this will be a problem in the future.
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