Yesterday on the river sure felt like a trip
through memory lane. I was quite a fan of music when I was younger but things
were so different then. We didn’t have i-pods or music playing cell phones so
our music listening consisted of sitting
at home with our 33’s, the radio, cassettes, or the best of all going to seven
dollar concerts. I was a huge Zep fan followed by many others including
Skynard, AC\DC, Rush and even a little lesser know band the Kinks. I remember the Kinks announcing they would be
in Omaha and I was definitely excited but not sleeplessly fidgeting waiting for
the concert. It turned out that just before the concert I found out that a few
friends were going to be there so I hooked up with them. We got to the concert
and actually made it close to the stage and only about 7 or 8 rows of people in
front of us. It seemed that every concert I had been to at this point was
either incredible or a total bust and I was just waiting to see what the night
would bring. I don’t remember the opening act but when the Kinks came out we
were thrilled to see we were on about ten feet or so from Ray Davies. From Ray’s
very first words I could tell that he was there to entertain the crowd. The
songs pounded out loud and perfect and the entire crowd was jumping with the
band. After just a couple of songs, the auditorium went quiet and he strummed
the opening lick to Lola and the crowd roared even louder. As the crowd quieted,
Ray looked at his brother and said “ they are not ready for that one yet” and
then went on to play something else. Well a few songs later they played Lola
and it just seemed to put us all over the top.
I don’t remember how long the concert
actually lasted but I remember having a difficult time getting back to my car
because I was so exhausted from screaming, dancing and just jumping around. At
that time the Kinks became a close second in my book to Zep.
I was sitting around Wednesday evening and I
saw that Thursdays weather was looking to be rainy and then I looked at DWR website
and saw that the flows had been dropped. I was interested but not through the
roof excited because the higher flows sure have put a slow down on my favorite
way to fish, sight fishing. I got to the water at around noon and went straight
for the brown I have been stalking for the last few weeks. He was not there so
I then moved into the next spot. I could see fish and so I slithered in below
them and presented my flies. First cast of the day was a hookup and a quick
long distance release. Two casts that produced zilch and the third was money, a
hard take, a quick battle and one of my best bows in a while to the net, a
21incher. It felt a little as if Ray had gone ahead and played Lola as the
second song of the evening. A few more casts in that run and a 17incher to the
net. I moved back up river and got a glimpse of the brown but before I could
get in place he was gone. I moved into the next run and first drift was another
fish. I sat in that run for an hour and it seemed that every other cast
produced an All day and All Of The Night, Superman, Pressure Pressure,
Paranoia. When I began to get a little tired I moved down river and jumped into
another one of my favorite runs. Cast after cast it was Low Budget, Destroyer,
20th Century Man, and You really Got Me….
Well around three or so the fish finally began
to slow and I was worn out. I’m not sure how many fish I actually got to the
net, I will make excuses and blame my poor landing percentages on the faster
water but the hookups had to be in the thirty or forty range. Only saw a few
other anglers on the water but I really left the river yesterday with that same
feeling I had that night long ago when I left the Kinks concert…Ahhhhhhhhhh, I
love this river and can’t wait to get back.
We have no idea how long these flows will
last so if you get a chance to get out do it. The flows are still pushing
600cfs so be extremely careful while wading, don’t become a statistic. Fish
were on FOD, and a Ninja all day yesterday. Not sure why but when the BWO’s
were popping the hardest, the fish moved exclusively to the Ninja. Hope you all
have an incredible mother’s day and as always, Connell, Cat, Winston, The
Kinks, and The Drift Fly Shop thank you for reading…….
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