Hi Guys!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Sorry this (report?) is late but photobucket has been acting real stupid for me lately. It seems to be working ok for now so, maybe, I can get this one finished.

My buddy, Ryan called me and asked if I would spend the weekend camping out at the Blue River to help him celebrate his birthday. I was already packing before we got off the phone. I had just recently bought a used camper shell for my truck and was dying to get out and try sleeping in it. The park was crowded to say the least and we almost couldn't find a campsite. Saturday was a beautiful day but the forecast was calling for much cooler temps and a chance of rain so I figured some people might be heading out later in the afternoon. We fished the falls down river from the crossing, mostly killing time and catching up. We didn't catch anything but we got lucky with the camps sites and got a really good one off to ourselves. It was late afternoon by the time we got camp set up so we decided to just hang around camp, finish catching up and cook a nice big dinner with a roaring camp fire. We figured we would have the river mostly to ourselves with the darker weather the next day. Ryan's wife packed him some porkchops, marinating in a zip lock bag with some liquid concoction that turned out to taste like heaven. we cooked those in a cast iron skillet and I fried up some potatoes and mixed up a Cesar salad.







The next morning broke overcast, breezy and chilly. I slept just fine in the camper shell (may need to get a thicker pad though) but it didn't rain so I didn't get to test it for leaks. I put new weather stripping under it before this trip so it should be ok but it would have been nice to know for sure. Anyway, I cooked up some breakfast on my new Lodge griddle I had just bought and then we set out to catch dinner for that evening.






We fished up river of the park and the first good set of falls we came to had fish rising all over it. I could see what looked like small, grey mayflies on the water. These are hatchery fish and, I've always been told, not very smart and you "don't have to get real technical with them". I wanted to get some fish on the stringer for dinner pretty quickly so I tied on a small olive wooly bugger. Couldn't get a strike. I switch to a bead head hairs ear nymph under a strike indicator. Nothing. I pulled out my dry fly box and tried an olive parachute emerger. Had fish swirling all around it but no takers. I tried Griffiths gnats, a couple of different midges and a Blue winged olive dry in three different sizes. Had one fish slash at the smallest pattern but I didn't hook him. That was the only strike I got. Figuring we were going to be eating a Scotty's burger for dinner I decided to head farther in and try a pool I usually have luck at. I didn't see any rising or moving fish at all. I tied the nymph back on and immediately started whacking them.












I put five on the stringer for dinner then caught a few more for good measure. I'm not real sure what was happening down stream but these fish were acting right and I wasn't having any trouble getting a strike.



By then it was getting late and my hands were getting cold so I found Ryan and we headed back to camp.
After I got the fish cleaned and soaking in milk, while Ryan got the fire going, I gave him a birthday present, a bottle of Woodford Reserve, and we proceeded to uncork and warm up by the fire with. He broke out a couple of Cubans a buddy of his had brought back from a recent trip and we almost didn't get supper cooked. Once we did thought, it turned out to be fried trout, garlic mashed potatoes, red beans and the left over Cesar salad.



We spent the rest of the evening poking the fire, telling stories of our sperate adventures since our last trip together and listening to the coyotes sing. Once the fire died out I crawled into my sleeping bag in my new (to me) camper shell and drifted off to sleep with a smile on my face.

Great post Capt., thanks for sharing!

So envious of the camping part, nice fish too. Thanks for the report.

Sounds like a great time.

That's a good birthday. Nice report Mac.

Nice post and some Thanks for sharing.




Side Note: What no Cigars! Oh yea read further down about the Cubans! Nicely done!

Linecaster - When I was younger camping, for me, was just a cheap way to be close to the fish. I didn't really care all that much about "camp". I would leave before sun up and return well after dark. I wouldn't cook in camp, just make sandwiches or something quick. But, as I get older, I really enjoy camp. I love cooking and just hanging around, poking the fire, watching birds and the watching the light and shadows move thru as the time goes by. Sometimes I have a hard time breaking away to actually go fishing, which is why I'm there in the first place.

Turf Dawg - I was hoping you were going to show up...

Banker - I thought I took a picture with my cell phone of the cigars with the bottle of whiskey, posed like a commercial of coarse, but when I got home it wasn't in my camera roll. Guess I didn't hit the button right. And I hadn't even started drinking yet.

Capt. Mac, that's a great write up and story! Sounds like a great time my friend. We need to get up there again very soon!

Yes sir Fishy, we need to hit it soon.

Man... that campfire and eggs in the skillet make me want to just drop everything and head to the creek. Then you tossed in that photo of the bamboo fly rod.... You really know how to hurt a guy! I haven't been to the Blue River in probably ten years! WAY too long!!

Awesome post! Sure made me envious!

JR

Thank you JR!
I don't get up there as often as I would like but I always have a great time when I do.

That sounds like a fantastic camp and fish trip. Is that bamboo fly rod I see in that pic?

Hard to beat a Riverside lunch with a view. Beautiful fish and great pictures as always Capt. Glad y�all had a good trip.

YAKnIT - Yes sir. Its a 7 1/2 foot four weight from Headwaters Bamboo Rod Co. Very fun little rod.
Robert - Thanks buddy. Hope we can get together again soon.