SPECIAL STORIES FROM CLUB MEMBERS
5/6/06
Hi Gord,
Ray and I got back from a quick trip to the " picnic grounds" at 10:00.
Ray picked me up at my place at 5:00 and we were on the river shortly after
6:00. We walked down the hill to where the concrete pump pad has fallen into
the river, then went right through the bush to the normal "first hole". A
couple of new cedar trees have slid down the undercut bank and fallen across
the river providing new shelter for trout. We could see at least 20 good fish
holding in this pool. I hooked into the first fish after about 10-15 casts.
The sky was overcast and there were a few sprinkles of rain. The fish were
not spooky but they were not attacking the mepps #3 until you got them a
little annoyed. It took 10-15 min to land a 24" 4.5 lb hen rainbow, she tried
to run downstream under the fallen cedar tree twice but failed to tangle the
line in the branches. Ray caught the next fish from the bend of the river
just up stream from the 1st pool, with a little coaching to move the fish out
of the fast water and into a calmer backwater, Ray landed the very energetic
20" rainbow. Ray said that was the first "good sized" fish he has landed. A
few min later I hooked into another larger than the first, I took my time and
kept constant pressure on the fish to keep it in the pool and not let it run
down under the trees. As I was bringing it to the shore my rod broke just
above the ferrule. the fish was already played out and had her snout on the
sand and didn't move, so I was able to pick it up and throw it up onto the
bank. I worked on the rod for a few min. while Ray started to work up river.
He hooked into another very aggressive fish but it through the hook with some
very impressive jumps. I gave up trying to repair the rod. I picked up our 3
fish and moved up river to meet Ray who was now at the next big hole. The big
tree that was across the bottom of the hole is now gone and there are no
obstructions at all. We could see 30-50 fish resting in this pool. After a
few minutes Ray managed to annoy one enough and hooked a nice rainbow that ran
and jumped all over the pool making 3-4 runs up stream to the top of the pool
then circling and running back. Ray kept constant pressure and was patient,
after about 15-20 minutes landed a very pretty 26" 6lb hen. It was now about
7:45 and we had all the fish we wanted. We decided to call it a morning as we
both has other things to do at home. After cleaning the fish I picked up Rays
rod and said I would fish for a few minutes for one more to give to the kind
folks at the farmhouse. I took about 5 minutes and I hooked into another good
fish and another 15 minutes to land 28" 6.5 lb. We cleaned this fish also
and headed up the hill. There was no answer at the house but we found the
lady of the house( forgotten her name) at the barn. We expressed our
gratitude for allowing us access through their property and gave her the
largest fish and had a nice chat for a few minutes. Hopefully with a few
similar gestures we will maintain our access for years to come.
JimAND THIS ........
5/11/06
Yesterday I took advantage of the good weather and booked a vacation
day. I only have a couple of week to get together with Andrew before he leaves
for three months. We decided to fish the ganny, what a great day together on
the stream.
We left the house about ten after five and arrived at the picnic grounds a
little after sunrise. We proceeded down to the river and went to the area that
Jim & I had fished on Saturday. The rainbows were still there but not
interested in any offerings. Cast after cast no results. I did get one to hit
but it broke off after a couple of jumps.
We proceeded to go up river casting the pools in the usual areas for trout bur
had very little luck. Actually after the hole just past the swimming hole we
did not see any pools of fish. I caught an 18" one that came out from a log
and then a little further up I caught a 24" 4.5 lb one. Andrew latched onto a
20" one and landed it successfully. We worked the river all the way up to the
steel beam that juts out into the river. We each caught two other small bows
about 16 " It was a beautiful day on the river with the odd black fly there
just to aggravate. We walked back toward the car and Andrew said why don't we
go see if the pooling fish might be hungry for lunch. I said sure why not it's
such a fine day and it was only 11:15.
We went back to the beginning and at the first pool they were no more
interested than they were in the morning. We proceeded to the next pool and it
looked like there were more fish in there that there was in the morning. It
was neat just to see them scatter about as we cast into them. I started
casting up into the flow of the stream and retrieve it with the current to see
if this would have any effect. Andrew said to me " we might just as well get
going" when all of a sudden I had a hit. It was a huge fish the largest that I
have ever had on. After 20 minutes I weight and measured a 30" 9 lb rainbow
with a 14" girth. What a thrill. I said to Andrew " are you sure that you
still want to leave?" He proceeded to follow the same protocol on casting up
into the current and with in 5 minutes he latched onto a real beauty also. He
played it well and landed a 26" 6 lb beautiful specimen. Both of these large
magnificent fish were returned to the river to continue their lives.
After this we decided that we better leave for home as we walked back past the
river, where you are quite elevated and have a good view of the stream. We
stood there and watched 5 large rainbows just scoot up and down the river in
the sunshine It was just such a marvelous sight to see. A Million dollar day
on the Ganny with out any question.
Ray