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.

 

Jim

AND 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