"I'm Still Standing"...River X 2012

For three days, from dawn to dusk...we fished the desert canyon of River X.  It was a time with old friends and new friends.  A time to fish to rising brown trout.  A time away from the outside world...and all electronic devices to that world.  It was about all of that and a lot more.  PMD's, Mahoganies, BWO's, and Midges!

(The X is not RD sign grafitti...just picture fun)

This special place will remain River X...at least on this blog site!

This is a place like no other.  A place that is mysterious and as unusal as it's inhabitants under the water.

The Story Begins... Day 1

Heading North... I brought my friend Jeri with me to experience this great river for the first time.  Time flies on the road when you have someone to talk with.  And before you knew it...we were there.  Eyes wide open, Jeri could see first hand that this was going to be quite the fishing weekend.  I knew which hole I wanted to fish first...but, I remembered another spot that was pretty successful on my last trip with Rebecca Garlock.  She was the one who got me hooked back in 2010.  And every year now, it's a sabbatical.  Sometimes twice during the year...  

My first catch of the day wasn't too shabby... I was happy with this guy!

A nice 16-17 inch brown trout. Maybe on the short side of the avg. size of trout in this river...

On a midge, of course! (I have caught most of my River X fish on midges)

Throwing a dry dropper, Jeri got quickly into the game... Enjoying every minute of it!

 

 

JERI..."My first fish of the trip. Unfortunately he flew away with my flies as soon as I turned him over. My first words....."OH MY GOSH!!!!!", EMILY!!!!!!"

Yes, Jeri was now a River X Believer.

And the Pigeon Hole was now ours...for a few hours anyway.

We met up with Rebecca later on and a few friends.  From left to right...Rebecca, Rachel and Aileen.  I absolutely believe that they can outfish any "Charlie's Angel"... In addition to the gals, we had "Mr. Outdoors" (The Outdooress's hubby) and Chad (friend of Rachel's)   So, the gang was all there...  It was kind of nice to have so many women out there for a change!  And I had nothing to fear with Rachel's bear spray and...  Let's just say the rattlers and coyotes (yes, we did see one) stayed away... So, we could focus on what we came for...BIG FISH!!  The first day would end, with everyone netting their big, healthy brown trout and enjoying the camaraderie of each other...

Aileen is the creator of MKflies and she had a beautiful fly box showing off her talent.  And these flies sure do catch fish!  Rachel is the teacher of the improved clinch knot in an easier way (yay!).  She was so helpful on this trip.  And she had quite a few bends in the rod...  Rebecca is the co-founder of the Outdoor Blogger Network and writes on her own Outdooress blog.  Rebecca convinced me to write a blog and to take my fly fishing to another level.  Ummm...I just don't know what that is exactly!  Lol.  Seriously, she really has been a true friend and a great fly fishing road buddy.  I have learned so much from her on the water. 

My smallest catch of the day.  = )

We would get off the river a little on the late side.  Tired, but excited for the next day.

We now knew which areas we wanted to hit first thing in the morning .

 Day 2

Got to the water early and started pounding away... 

Well, Jeri did at least... I was still getting my gear together at the car.  Hurry up, RD!!  I was just putting on the last of my equipment when I hear Jeri below scream, "I got a fish!

Well...she sure did!  Her first cast of the morning.  And on her friends creation, "Kase's Humpy".
How fun is that?

She is a self-taught fly gal who has flied for just a year... I think that we can now safely say that she has moved up to Intermediate status!   Jeri is having so much fun.

Midges were abundant... often in clusters.

 The canyon walls were majestic as always.

And the fish of River X were amazing and beckoned us to come back for another day.

As night fell, I realized that I was living the dream...of many others.  How fortunate was I.

So, we left and headed back to our digs and to get whatever dinner we could find...we were famished!  Now, in this desolate land of big fish and plentiful bugs... there are small towns.   And by the time we got on the road back to town... everything was pretty much closed.  Except for one eatery...

The Mexican Grocery Store.   aka:  Tex Mex Express

Thank heavens for "OPEN" signs in windows.

And actually, the food was pretty darn good.

Don't ever let bars on restaurant windows keep you away...haha.

We especially liked the "Sponge Bob Square Pants" pinata... = )

And you didn't think that I was adventurous...or maybe you did.

As we talked about the first two days, we decided one thing.  That we didn't really want to fish the "Midge Run" again.  Everyone else liked this run, but we had tried it for two days and had little luck.  Emily's Run (Red Cliffs Hole) needed to be visited.  Gorgeous pocket water.  Another visit to Jeri's Place (1st cast Hawg Browns)  For sure!  And so, we charted out the course of the next day to try these and a few new places... What we didn't know was that Day 3 would have a few surprises...and by the end of Day 3, we would be lured back up to Rachel's favorite "Midge Run" and I would find out what river monsters lurked in the waters beneath...

To be continued...