Friday, August 17, 2012

Summer Night

Night is coming sooner now. I know that the summer solstice is the beginning of the end but through late June and July as the weather warms you don't notice the minutes being shaved daily. There's still hope for better weather and vacations and time with family. And there are hatches to be fished.

Now the warmth no longer nurtures hope. It's just hot and you want it to go away. The quickening evening provides some solace from the days travails and relief from the scorch but it leaves precious little time for casting bushy attractors beneath leaf burdened trees.

Last evening the meetings ended late and the only stream I thought fishable was a twenty minute drive. And then there was a misplaced cellphone that needed finding and an aborted search for a camera and then stringing up a rod streamside. All tasks that conspired to deliver me at deep twilight to the banks of a reliable Brook Trout stream.

And it was as reliable as I remembered. Hoppers attracted attention but Stimulators hooked fish. They were where you expected them to be in sixty-four degree water; fast water and quick seams.

The brute of the night was twelve inches. Thick. White edged fins caught the low light. Dark in the body. Found at the confluence of two seams that merge below an L shaped plunge.

The Brookies in this stream are dark. The green swirls on their backs yield to deep, dark flanks where the halo'd spots are well hidden. I felt cheated when I first caught these fish. The blue and red markings are difficult to discern and that's one of the features I like most about the Brookie. But they're unique and knowing that you know of it kind of makes up for the disappointment.

Deep under towering pines I realized that I was now fishing to sounds of a rise. I hadn't seen my fly in fifteen minutes. I was holding on desperately for another tug on the line though truth be told the fishing was already satisfying and unhooking fish in the dark is an anxiety building task I'd rather not perform.

The August night's voices were already loud. I hadn't noticed them start and wondered if they just picked up at full volume or rose gradually so I didn't notice them at first. Warbling tree frogs and their amphibian cousins were distinctive but the buzzing and chirping bugs all mixed together into the white noise that makes sleeping with an open window soothing at this time of year.

A headlamp helped me find the path south and I joined the beasts that scampered beneath the leaf litter moving to home. Moving to safety. Moving in the darkness and leaving the burden of the light behind.


23 comments:

  1. Beautiful Steve. Summer is winding down, but that only means that the brook trout fishing will get better. I'm still looking for my first foot long brookie this year.

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    1. Thx, Jason. They big boys will come out pre-spawn. You'll find it!

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  2. so very true, the closing of the circle, season nears its inevitable end, but opens colorful doors we can't wait to knock upon~
    Tight Lines!
    Koz

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    1. Yeah, looking forward to the change of foliage and the cooler weather.

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  3. Nice. You can read the frustration melting away along with the evening light. Glad you got out.

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    1. Running water and bent rods have a way of doing that. Beer also helps.

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  4. "...knowing that you know of it kind of makes up for the disappointment."

    Very nice. Beautiful flow to this one.

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    1. Thanks, Erin. It's nice when inspiration and craft come together.

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  5. Replies
    1. For that, we need beer and moving water.

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    2. btw, I got some intel on a Carpy spot. I'm trying to resist fishing it but a whole bunch of folks (you, Brayshaw, Erin, Jay, Chris, Kirk, Marc, Bruce, and a cast of others) have been wearing me down. I may have to string up the eight weight and give it a go. Maybe some evening next week.

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    3. Carp in the evening?

      Jonny, set this guy straight.

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    4. Sadly, my employer is not a carp angler. Perhaps I should schedule a long lunch?

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    5. For the carp you will require nae wind and an undisturbed surface through which to see the inviting lips. The still of morning is best.

      That said, we should go scout of an eve.

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    6. I will contact you when my calendar clears.

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  6. Summer washing away in a trout stream. Sounds like a fine way to spend away summers retreat.

    great piece once again.

    Cheers

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    1. Thx, Sanders. Yeah, it had been two weeks since I'd been on the water. Definitely needed some therapy.

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  7. Nice Steve, "white edge fins caught the low light"
    Love it.

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  8. Wonderful writing. There is nothing finer than night sounds, one of the reasons I love camping so much.

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  9. Hi Steve, well written post. Kind of drew me too your side on the stream during the darkness. Great therapy is where you find it!

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    1. I love the therapy of moving water and dancing lines. The best. Thanks for stopping by, Mel.

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