I keep going back to thoughts of my recent fishing vacation. Either a statement about how much fun I had or perhaps about how pathetic my life is away from work and family. Either way, I do have some great memories.

The last evening out on the river Mikey asked me if I had seen the bats flying over the water the night before. I said, "Huh?" because I wasn't really listening. He asked me about the bats again. I answered in a distracted "no". Not annoyed, just had my mind on fishing. A few seconds (literally) later a bat flew near me on the water. I remarked that the bats were out tonight and I'd just seen one.

Right after my statement I hauled the fly out of the water, the fly flung past my head, waited, and on the forward cast I noticed the fly line limply bulging in front of me, the fly laging behind. I thought that I'd caught a week on the back cast. At least until I caught the sight of something out of my right eye. It was a bat. He landed at my feet. I turned on my Petzl headlamp to see better. My size 6 orange grasshopper was tangled up with the bat.

I tried to reach down and free the bat. It hissed (or clicked) at me. I was certain that he wasn't happy. It looked like a good meal to the bat and now he was on the ground, in the dark, trapped.

Mikey continued to cast and we chatted about the situation. He sounded amused but I was becoming more concerned. At the very least I had to cut my fly loose. I preferred to save the little creature's life, if possible. I finally convinced Mikey to walk over and help me (he was on the other side of a big pool).

Mikey soon arrived, although with a bat on the line it seemed that he took his own sweet time. I was afraid that the hook had hurt the bat. Mikey was able to get close while I kept the fly line out of the way. His headlamp shown down on the bat as he bent over it. That small amount of light was all it took to stun the bat. Mikey quickly removed the fly, determining that the problem was tangled leader, not a hook penetration. The leader had looped around the little guy's wing. In no time we were freed from each other.

Mikey and I walked back the the truck, sharing a good laugh. I don't know what happened to the bat. He likely flew away after the shock of the light wore off. That was a new experience for me. My first bat on a fly............
9:59:20 PM    comment []