What a Year! 2011 trout Season

Male Brown Trout

The 2011 trout season is in the books and for me it was filled with many  events that will make for great campfire tales for years to come.Wading through chest high snow to get to the stream, I started the season with a grand 20 inch male brown trout on my third cast and proceeded to land at least another 30 trout that day.  It was a great day on the river, tucked away in the pines, the wind howled on that day and the fish were really biting .The celebration would be  short lived ,for on my  way home my foot was heavy which landed me a nice speeding ticket.  It kind of brought me into the cellar for the day  but I was still excited and looked  forward to  my next trip to the stream . The very next outing in the same area I wound up driving into a four foot ditch that was marked as a road to the parking area .We ended up needing a wrecker to winch us out and adding  insult to injury ,we never caught a fish all day. Revisiting my  recent trout fishing memories,  I was very alert obeying all traffic signs on the way home and thank goodness because officer friendly was waiting at the same intersection for me .I smiled and waved with all my fingers extended as I passed.

Opening weekend went fine with many trout  caught and it was fairly uneventful. The boys and I camped and we were greeted with sunshine and mild temps the entire weekend. Between us, we must have caught over 200 trout over a three day span and my son landed his first fish on a fly rod at the ripe age of twelve .Both my sons have become very savvy trout anglers and I always look forward sharing a piece of the stream  with them .
 That brings us to Fathers day  weekend. Fathers day weekend started low key but by Saturday night, after 5 inches of rain , we ended up in the middle of a flash flood in Vernon county . It was a near panic situation for me and two boys as we abandoned the tent and sleepng bags as the river rose to a trechorus level in a matter of minutes. We ended up sleeping the night in a parking lot in Virouqa, Wi and traveled home the next day .

Flash flood

As  I sit here and recount my tale of trout I realize that it was a fairly wild year for me .No broken bones or horrific accidents but enough added stress to put a few more gray hairs atop my head.  I'll consider myself lucky but I will do it again and again until every last hair on my head is silver .  So how do you put a exclamation point on a year as such?One last trip and  a quad super slam of course! A rainbow,brown, brook and a tiger trout all in the same day,Saturday September 24.

 It has been a year of great highs and lows but as I put my gear away tonight I can't help but think what stream I will hit first come February.