An Apex Athlete Mirror

One way of saying it would be that "feeling crappy" had passed so to speak.  Dear God, what a relief!

A cloudy morning did not bode well for a day on the river; at least not for the kind of carp fishing I much prefer.  From a distance I like to stalk fish in shallow water, move into position, and cast to them.  (And of course set the hook when they take the fly.)  I was already in central WA so I went fishing anyway.  I arrived at the river at about 10:00.  Come on, I'm 63; I don't wade the river for 8 or 10 hours, 6 hours is plenty for me.  As the morning unfolded I was seeing fish, but often just as I spooked them; damn the devil clouds!  Wind was churning up the water; visibility was not good.

At about 1:00 the wind gods began to favor me.  First they allowed me to pass wind and be confident that it was wind alone.  As I said, what a relief.  Next they started disassembling the clouds.  Soon the the clouds looked like jig saw puzzle pieces just taken out of the box and scattered across the sky.  When the sun shined through the spaces I could see my friends the carp and I could cast to them.  Several 8-12 pound fish sucked Black Betty off the bottom of the river just a pretty as you please.  Dang that made me happy!

Going away, my favorite fish of the day was this apex athlete, mirror.  Just as I got ready to cast I could see the distinctive, large scales.  That made me want this fish even more.  I called out and thanked him when he took the fly.  That was so dang nice of him.  I thanked him for running into the backing and I thanked him for coming all the way back in to the net.  What a magnificent fish!

I love carp fishing and I am ready to go again.