I don't mind telling you that Mikey and I have a favorite fishing lake. I don't even mind telling you that this lake is in Idaho, just 15 or so miles north of McCall. The name of the lake is Pearl.

I've been there at least once every summer for the past five. And I still can't drive to the trailhead without Mikey's help. So I doubt if it would be possible for most fishermen to find this place without really wanting to get there. It's a typical alpine lake, filled with thousands of small trout. A monster in this lake will be maybe 12 to 14 inches long. The average trout is probably somewhere south of 10 inches. And that's the other reason I don't worry about giving away this secret. Most fisherman are looking for trophies. I'm more interested in spending time in a high mountain setting where the scenery is at least as good as the fishing.

Pearl is reached after a six or so mile drive on a fairly good dirt road followed by a two mile hike that is mostly flat with two uphill exceptions. And that's the last reason why I'm not too concerned about telling about my spot. It isn't the easiest to get to.

Yesterday Mikey and I spent the day fishing Pearl. Of course, Mikey caught the most fish. But for the first time every I caught the first fish. I also had to save Mikey from drowning. He might be a great fisherman, but he's mechanically challenged. He forgot to put his float tube together, attaching the pontoons to the seat. So he got about 30 feet from shore and something just wasn't right. He was sitting way down in the water. Then, he moved to his side and the pontoons shot out away from the seat. He his the water, grabbing each pontoon and wrapping his arms around them to stay afloat. I helped him get back to shallow water and determined how to correct the problem. Mikey had to deflate the pontoons and slip the sleeves on the seat around them. Once that was complete, he was able to float safely.

I had an amazing experience catching my second fish. I was pulling the line back, getting ready to re-cast. The fly was right in front of my fin (fortunately I was not kicking my feet at the time) and I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. Looking left I saw this dark bullet streaking toward me through the clear water. At first I couldn't figure it out. Then the fish his my fly, I lifted the rod tip and had a 14 inch trout on my line. It took me a few minutes to figure it all out. I'd pulled hard on the fly and the trout must have seen it from a long way away and streaked to get it. I ended up seeing him for at least 20 feet, but it all happened so quickly. It's amazing how fast a trout can swim..........
10:28:10 PM    comment []