Wyoming Day 3 -- Fishin in the Rain, Just Fishin in the Rain

[rbaileydav]

Day 3 -- Fishing in the rain ….. Just Fishing in the Rain
When I awoke the next morning and opened my tent fly …….. desperately needing to open my other fly for some relief……… I was greeted by the magic of low lying clouds draped over the shoulders of our valley with the peaks still rising above the silky flow of white.

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My business completed I lay back down clicked one last shot and fell back asleep

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(if you want to know what vertigo is like at the time I thought that shot was perfectly level)

By the time I got up the second time the sun had burned through and it promised to be a pretty day.

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But by the time I had dressed, gotten rigged up and hiked to the mouth of the valley it was starting to rain again……… but I had a lacey 3 wt in hand, rigged with an ausable wulff and a dropper since the hoppers hadn’t been moving when I crossed the valley floor, there was fish to catch and I didn’t have a care in the world … so bring on the rain……… and bring on the fish. The next few hours were a delight of wet but beautiful scenery and gorgeous fish. Even in a hard rain the dry fly fishing was as a friend once described it ”absolutely silly” it was so good. When I found good looking water I saw rises and I caught fish……. lots of them. It rained hard enough that the camera stayed fogged up, but after 13 months under water I didn’t worry about it being waterproof and tough. You guys always complain about not enough fish pics so here is one fish for every scenery shot. I never did decide what was prettier the scenery or the fish……and realized that I couldn’t adequately describe either so here are the pictures and … well you tell me.

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[rbaileydav]

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And finally a pic that is both scenery and fish shot …….. we all get lucky sometimes

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From there the magic of the day just got better as the storm moved through the valley, the day ended up clearing and sunny as you can see in the next grouping of shots. In addition it felt like my head was clearing a little and my wading was getting much stronger and my stumbling appeared to mellow to that of a “sailor just off the ship” instead of a “drunken sailor just off the ship”

[rbaileydav]

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I arrived back at the camp as giddy and happy as school girl after her first kiss. Monte was already spread out under the warmth of the sun dozing so I lit a cigar and mixed a bourbon and stream water and sat down with him. We shared that wonderful companionship born of many years as friends where you can say a few well chosen words and frame that with contented silence and have had a truly meaningful conversation together in 20 words or less.

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We sat there until the shadows began to lengthen in our little valley and out stomachs began to growl. My friend decided that he wanted one fish for dinner and after seeing and catching as many as I did today I felt no qualms what so ever about agreeing to help him get one for dinner. The light was fading quickly but I had no concerns about our ability to produce, so on went the ausable wulff with out even the benefit of a dropper. I spent my time taking pictures while he cast………

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[rbaileydav]

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I heard Monte whoop with delight and knew that he had managed to find his dinner. Talk about your “fresh fish of the day”

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30 minutes later a fire was going, I was boiling water for freeze dried lasagna and sipping my second bourbon and stream water of the day and Monte was grilling his fish. An hour later we were sleepily sitting by a dying fire with full stomachs, full fishing desires and full hearts……I cant imagine how I could be any more content with the world than sitting by a warm fire in beautiful country after a fantastic day catching rising fish and another full day to go………… ain’t life grand……….. and vertigo may suck but it beats the **** out of the other things that can happen to a man………. Life is indeed grand

We soon enough drifted to our tents and fell fast asleep with only a warm glow of anticipation for the next full day of fishing and camping.

But Wait ….. there is more …………. Day 4 and 5 in one last installment

[Scott Spencer]

These posts are a great story with wonderful photos!! Thank you so much for sharing it all with us.

[lauxier]

this is great stuff it reads good and the pics are better--september 1982 was the first time i exited a commercial jet to behold the teton mountains and a sky so blue it hurt the eyes to look at it-from that micro-second i was changed,the beauty of that place purged me of the acccrued stressand business sarcasm that infects the self-employed.i fished the gros ventre,cottonwood creek,pacific creek and the Snake River.I caught some fish,stayed at the infamous antler inn,nights,and fished days,for 10 days,i looked up the Shane movie locations,and fished more,drank beer at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar,drank beer at the old jaguar lounge,long since closed,a dark,plain jane sort of place,eastwood and harrison ford were regulars when in town,that served buffalo burgers and fresh cut french fries to kill for-it was the best of times-made the drive to yellowstone-fished the firehole and gibbons-it was rainy.fishing was good.i've returned to jackson hole,yellowstone,glacier,montana etc. many times-your post makes me want to go again.