10/23/05 The Last Fishing Trip (for this year!)

Friday night around 8 PM a guy I work with called and said he and a couple of his friends were going to go fishing on the Susitna River the next day, and asked if I’d like to come along. Well, Yeah!

8 AM the next morning we headed out in the dark (sunrise is around 9 now). It was overcast with occasional showers and temps in the 30’s. This was going to be a cold one.

We strung up our rods, and were fishing shortly after 9. My third cast netted me a nice 18” rainbow. One of the guys (also named Wally, who used to guide on the Susitna) pulled in a nice 23-24 incher.

We got a few more smaller ‘bows and a smattering of grayling, and two of the guys went further downstream. Pretty soon they were shouting at us to come down.

We got there, and started pulling in some really nice fish. All the other guys were getting these huge 20-24 inch ‘bows, while all I managed was one around 14”. My turn finally came, though, and I latched on to a nice one.

Even using a 9 foot, 7 weight rod, it took minutes to land him. He made a couple of very impressive runs that set me reel to screaming. When I finally landed him, he turned out to be a 21 incher, about 5 pounds worth.

I had to leave shortly after, as my hands were turning blue and I had lost all feeling in my feet an hour before. The water was the coldest I’ve ever waded in, and I didn’t want to stumble on numb feet and fall in.

All in all, though, a very nice fish to end the season on!