Improv
10-08-2007, 06:30 AM
I started this weekend off with the intent of getting a head start with the “Park’s Challenge”. The weekend went as follows:
Date: Sept 6, 2007
Time: 4:00 AM
Location: Strawberry Reservoir “Ladders”
With the newly fallen snow and crisp clear air that smalls and reminds you of Halloween, I was more then a bit excited to be fishing to say the least. Although my arrival at Strawberry was wee bit early, I thought I could take a quick nap until I could at least see the water. Sometime around 5:00 I was awoken to the sound of gurgling, with the occasional revving of a truck engine. You know that place somewhere between dreaming and reality? Well… this is where I was when I looked out my windshield to see a pair of headlamps shining out of the water. Reality quickly kicked in as I realized that I was looking at a truck that was into the lake up to his windows. I looked around again to see if somehow the lake unexplainably rose 20 feet any perhaps I was in the lake too but just didn’t know it. However, such was not the case and I quickly made my way out of the car to make sure the people involved in this accident were okay. It didn’t take too long to figure out that two wayward duck hunters had back their truck, boat and trailer too far into the lake. Now I’m no expert in backing up boat trailers, but my guess is if water starts coming in through your truck windows, you’re in too far.
The next hour would be spent trying to figure out a way to help these guys. As it turns out, these guys were stuck a lot longer then I originally thought. They had been doing the put the truck into reverse, back into drive back into reverse until they managed to break the drive shaft. So… regardless of our efforts, this truck was not going anywhere without a winch and tow truck. Did you know you can call the poaching hotline and they will gladly call the county sheriff, who will in turn call a tow truck service in Heber? Well, they will. Meanwhile, it was now light enough to launch the pontoon and enjoy what I thought for sure would be some epic fly-fishing. I was now all set up and all but ready to launch when another duck hunter came over to say hi. As it turned out he too was stuck and needed some help with his truck. I’m not sure how he managed it, but he found the only 5-foot deep by 4 feet wide hole in the whole area. Amazingly enough he went right over the hole the first time with nothing more then a loud bang and a spine wrenching jerk. Curiosity got the best of him so he decided to stop the truck just shy of the other said of the hole, which wasn’t far enough away as the truck slowly slide right back into it. This time without the advantage of forward momentum, he was now, to the highest degree, stuck! This guy was prepared with a winch, but in the absence of a tree or rock, stuck-ie number 2 was without an anchor. So… this is his reason for visiting me. Surprisingly, I had learned this guy had asked another follow duck hunter if he could help, to which he replied “maybe later – after I get a few shots in.” Now keep in mind, this guy asked this duck hunter for their help at 4:30 in the morning- you can’t legally shoot a duck until 8:00 AM! So what does a duck hunter do when he gets stuck? Ask a fly-fisherman for help.
This is the part of the story in which I tell you that fishing was off the hook and that I bag a trophy that will be very hard to beat – even if you managed to land a lake trout with a fly rod. However everything you have read to this point has been true, so why start lying now. Fishing was slow! The wind blew, the snow fell and my butt froze and one measly cutthroat to my name. So, as I see it, Karma still owes me one.
To be continued…
Date: Sept 6, 2007
Time: 4:00 AM
Location: Strawberry Reservoir “Ladders”
With the newly fallen snow and crisp clear air that smalls and reminds you of Halloween, I was more then a bit excited to be fishing to say the least. Although my arrival at Strawberry was wee bit early, I thought I could take a quick nap until I could at least see the water. Sometime around 5:00 I was awoken to the sound of gurgling, with the occasional revving of a truck engine. You know that place somewhere between dreaming and reality? Well… this is where I was when I looked out my windshield to see a pair of headlamps shining out of the water. Reality quickly kicked in as I realized that I was looking at a truck that was into the lake up to his windows. I looked around again to see if somehow the lake unexplainably rose 20 feet any perhaps I was in the lake too but just didn’t know it. However, such was not the case and I quickly made my way out of the car to make sure the people involved in this accident were okay. It didn’t take too long to figure out that two wayward duck hunters had back their truck, boat and trailer too far into the lake. Now I’m no expert in backing up boat trailers, but my guess is if water starts coming in through your truck windows, you’re in too far.
The next hour would be spent trying to figure out a way to help these guys. As it turns out, these guys were stuck a lot longer then I originally thought. They had been doing the put the truck into reverse, back into drive back into reverse until they managed to break the drive shaft. So… regardless of our efforts, this truck was not going anywhere without a winch and tow truck. Did you know you can call the poaching hotline and they will gladly call the county sheriff, who will in turn call a tow truck service in Heber? Well, they will. Meanwhile, it was now light enough to launch the pontoon and enjoy what I thought for sure would be some epic fly-fishing. I was now all set up and all but ready to launch when another duck hunter came over to say hi. As it turned out he too was stuck and needed some help with his truck. I’m not sure how he managed it, but he found the only 5-foot deep by 4 feet wide hole in the whole area. Amazingly enough he went right over the hole the first time with nothing more then a loud bang and a spine wrenching jerk. Curiosity got the best of him so he decided to stop the truck just shy of the other said of the hole, which wasn’t far enough away as the truck slowly slide right back into it. This time without the advantage of forward momentum, he was now, to the highest degree, stuck! This guy was prepared with a winch, but in the absence of a tree or rock, stuck-ie number 2 was without an anchor. So… this is his reason for visiting me. Surprisingly, I had learned this guy had asked another follow duck hunter if he could help, to which he replied “maybe later – after I get a few shots in.” Now keep in mind, this guy asked this duck hunter for their help at 4:30 in the morning- you can’t legally shoot a duck until 8:00 AM! So what does a duck hunter do when he gets stuck? Ask a fly-fisherman for help.
This is the part of the story in which I tell you that fishing was off the hook and that I bag a trophy that will be very hard to beat – even if you managed to land a lake trout with a fly rod. However everything you have read to this point has been true, so why start lying now. Fishing was slow! The wind blew, the snow fell and my butt froze and one measly cutthroat to my name. So, as I see it, Karma still owes me one.
To be continued…