I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, considering myself a serious angler, but I hadn’t fished since August. There are times in everyone’s life when fishing isn’t the most essential thing in their lives, as ridiculous as that sounds, every good fisherman I know will have times in their lives when they can’t fish. It could be careers, family, and chores that need to be caught up on around the house, and who knows what else can seep into our lives. Whatever it is, it happens. I was co-hosting a couple of photography workshops on the first of October that I had to prepare for, on top of a heavy workload of horses to shoe. Commitments I had to follow through on.

What does one do when he gets the itch to cast a fly rod and get the smell of trout on his hands? You call up one of your buddies you haven’t fished with in a while and plan a day to hit the water! I called Bill, he has a flexible schedule and loves to fish as much as I do. Plus, he makes me laugh whenever we are together!

We fished a reservoir not far from our house, known for big trout. We never saw any of them. But it’s fun to know they are there if it turns out to be your day. The reservoir has a variety of trout in it, too. Catching anything from Rainbows, Native Bonneville Cutthroats, Splake, Kokanee Salmon, Tiger Trout, and Wipers (a cross between female striped bass and a male white bass)

I had never caught a splake before, and I did catch one of those, so that was fun. Other than that, it was a pretty average day. It was above average warm for the end of November, and we were on the water casting fly rods. We finished the day off with beers and cheeseburgers at one of the local bars on the way home. I call that a good day!