Exciting Camp Fishing
by admin, 05.01.10 at 11:58 pm :: Uncategorized :: permalink :: rss
Sparkplug, my dapple grey mare, pulled down on the reins and drank deeply from the cold water of Broad Creek. The other horses of the string followed suit and it was hard to get them moving again. The day was very warm and bright and the animals had traveled 14 miles across Yellowstone Park’s Mirror Plateau under full loads. I guess those horses really deserved a breather.
After crossing the Creek and following it for a hundred yards or so, our outfitter, Gene Wade of Cooke City, Montana, announced that we would set up camp next to the creek. Then he also suggested that we could start fishing right beside the camp. But after all the commotion of splashing and drinking by the horses, I figured that every trout for a mile upstream and down would have been spooked.
But Gene seemed able to read my mind. “Don’t worry about these trout,” he said. “They haven’t learned about horses and fishermen yet. I doubt if a handful of anglers have visited this whole stream this year.”
After pitching camp, Gene proved his point by riding across a pool and then turning back around to cast a dry fly into it. As soon as the fly touched the water, a 1 1/2 pound cutthroat trout rose to the surface and sucked in the fly. The battle that ensued, with Gene trying to control his mount and land the fish simultaneously, was one of the funniest antics that I have ever seen.
But that is only one of the beautiful things about pack trips. The fish in the back country just haven’t learned about fishermen yet. If Gene Wade can ride across a pool and then catch a fish he almost trampled – well, an average fisherman using reasonable caution can catch all the fish he wants. Of course not all back country trout are as naive as the Broad Creek cutthroats. But they’re a lot less educated than the fish near the average fisherman’s home.
The best way to reach these unsophisticated trout is by pack trip or trail ride. Pack trips are horseback expeditions into wilderness areas. Since the areas are unaccessible by road, all provisions must be packed in on horseback. The trips generally involve riding into a chosen area and making a base camp. Each day then, the fisherman rides out and fishes the surrounding lakes and streams. The advantage of pack trips is that by spending half a day or a day, the angler is able to fish waters which are out of reach for all other fishermen except possibly back-packers.
A pack trip into wilderness country can be one of the most rewarding trips an outdoorsman ever takes. But the excellent fishing is only part of the fun. The fishing itself is done amid some of America’s most spectacular scenery. The lakes and streams are generally situated in verdant meadows or on the edges of cathedral-like woods. Snow capped mountains offset the entire scene. After living eleven months of the year in the city, camp life in the mountains can be a perfect retreat and escape.
The pack trip is ideally suited for either family groups of fishing partners. During the summer the weather is usually mild enough for the women in the family to appreciate. The hardships are not so great that an active family cannot generally adapt to camp life. Furthermore, a wilderness pack trip provides the family with a great opportunity to be together. Pack trips can also provide fishing partners with an experience that they’ll be talking about for a long time afterwards.
In order to have a successful pack trip, the fisherman must take certain personal items along with him. Every fisherman and every pack trip requires slightly different clothing.
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