Beware of Ninjas

The weather forecast showed a beautiful week for fly fishing. After checking the USGA Water Data the night before, I decided to drive up yesterday to one of our large rivers in New Mexico. The flow rate showed the river running a little low and nice, so I packed my hip waders and set out for a nice relaxing day on the river.

Seems there were quite a few other anglers with the same idea when I arrived. However, I found a nice secluded spot with a deep run flowing by a boulder that looked great for trout to be holding. I was fishing a dry fly for about ten minutes when something caught my eye. A couple of guys stepped into the water on the opposite bank and started wading toward me. Naw, you're not going to hijack my trout run. Are you? Yep, they set up directly across from me and cast their lines into my run. At first I felt some anger toward these forty something guys...and then I began to chuckle quietly to myself. I perceived one of them to be a guide with his buddy by the way they cast and mended their lines. They were obviously expert fly fishers. But what made me laugh was all of the Simms gear they were wearing. They were in brown camouflage from head to toe. The camo hats with sun block shield down over their ears and necks. A camo buff and their jackets and chest waders were all camo too. I mean, we had a bright blue sky and they think a fish can't see them because of their brown camo!!! I left and let them have the run and was chuckling all the way back to my truck about how they looked (please forgive me, God). I went down stream further and found another place to fish without any JERKS around me...sorry, but they knew better! They were going to get their trout and didn't care who got in the way (my definition of a jerk).

I try to have a view that life is too short to let guys like this ruin my day. After a few more hours of fishing in peace, I packed up and started my drive home. I have been fishing 18 years in New Mexico and have only run into a few guys like these two. Funny thing, it has always happened on our large rivers. I've never had a problem from fly fishers on my small streams and mountain creeks. Why is that? Maybe that's the reason I like small stream fishing so much? It's one of the reasons anyway. And then as I thought about it some more, it's always the double nymph with indicator fly fishers who are the jerks. I've never had a dry fly fisher walk into my trout run.

Yeah, I see fewer trips to the large streams in my future. The mountain creeks are so much fun and a better environment for me.

Wish I could go to a church and ask forgiveness with this rant I just plucked down...but the governor has restricted church services! Good news is a bedside prayer works too...