Expectations Vs. Reality

Expectations: The fish are visible in the water so obviously I will slay them.

Reality: Didn’t do as well as I thought!

I took buddy Luis out to Cache creek to try and get into some smallies this past Saturday.

 A little back story on why we chose cache creek. A few weeks ago, prior to some of the coldest weather I have ever felt in our part of Nor Cal, we stopped at a specific bridge that stands over Cache Creek. The water on this stretch of the creek is gin clear and during summer you can see a few large and small mouth bass hanging near some cat tails. I had yet to visit this creek during fall so much to my surprise when we visited, I saw about 40 fish just hanging out. As excited as I was, I didn’t have a fishing rod with me but I vowed to return another day. That day was this past Saturday and the expectations were high!

With the air at a chilly 38 degrees, we made our way out to try to get into some fish. Since we didn’t have much time we got right into some fishing! I had a regular rod and my fly rod. I had worms, lures and flies. I was ready to catch some fish! 

Beat the skunk with this little guy!

Based on a buddies tip, I started off with a spinner. I threw a few casts and nothing. Next thing up was a worm on a bobber. I cast it up stream and let the current take it. I saw my bobber suddenly stand still and then go under.  A minute later I beat the skunk with a little pikeminnow. Not the type of fish I was shooting for but a fish nonetheless. The rest of the day was uneventful. Everything we threw at them they ignored. The water was super clear and you could see the fish staying perfectly still in the water and instead of chasing what we were throwing at them, they sometimes swam away as if afraid. The reality was that for whatever reason the fish were not biting but I still had a good time.

I finished up the sunlight we had left with a short fly lesson with Luis. He has never touched a fly rod and is pretty new to fishing in general. It makes me wonder if he will appreciate the fact that I took the time to teach him about fly fishing or if he will eventually just forget about it? Oh well, I try my best to learn and teach but to each his own. 

Luis with my fly rod

Well that’s it for me right now. I will be out on the water this weekend with Sean taking my last shot at Salmon for the year.  I also have plans to fish with Mark, Russell, and my dad but that won’t be until after Christmas! Don’t worry though, I will keep writing! Thanks for reading, folks!!