Exhaustion. But a good exhaustion. Although, my wet clothes didn’t dry out in the van overnight, so everything in the van, including me, smells like wet dog. I crashed and didn’t get out of bed until 3 PM. A nice brunch, and I’m ready to go fishing at 5:30 PM. Rain is coming down, fairly hard, so Summit Lake is the best bet.
I’ve read about pink salmon hitting flies, as long as the flies are pink. I hooked 33 fish yesterday and released by hand, 22 of them. I was trying to swing the fly through their mouth, but I kept hooking them in the belly and dorsal fins. I felt horrible, but couldn’t stop my one chance at a pod of salmon, alone. I fiddled with the weight and started “catching” them in or near the mouth, so I was much happier. And then, back to hooking bellies and dorsal fins. I horsed them in and released them asap!
I talked with one of the people in the local fly shop, and asked about foul hooking Pink Salmon, and what to do about it. She stated that they are found in such numbers, that foul hooking them is almost inevitable. That made me feel better, but next time I fish a pod of pink salmon, I’ll use pink flies to hopefully get some to bite the hook.
So, my best bet is to drive 30 minutes, inflate my boat, put on my gear, and spend an hour or two on Summit Lake, fishing from 8 PM to ?? But, do I want to put wet clothes on, covered by a rain jacket, in the rain. Not really. This looks like a day to crash early, set the alarm for 8:30 AM, and hit the Russian River in the morning.
Tight Lines!