Labor Day Crazies…

Labor Day weekend found me lazy and not motivated. I planned to leave early in the morning and set my alarm for 3:15 but something must have happened because when my eyes opened, the bright Arizona sun was filtering through the blinds. I quickly rushed through my morning routine and quietly shut the front door around 6:30 to drive to the Rim. Knowing that my morning was more or less shot and that there would be gobs of holiday weekenders on every stretch of water, I decided to check out a few blue lines that I was pretty sure did not hold any fish. After putting some miles under my boots only to find out I was right, I headed to the one spot that I was sure no one would be. The fishing started slow with only a few fish willing to dart out and attack my fly, but by 2:30 I was seeing steady action. Keeping my fly close to the bank, I was able to induce strikes fairly regularly as well as lose many of my precious flies.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, the fishing really turned on with multiple fish feeding in every pool. The strikes turned from half-hearted sips to a last-meal feeding frenzy. The 10-12 inch browns really put up a fight and put a fantastic bend in the 3 weight. What had started as a slow afternoon turned into a fish filled evening with over 20 fish to hand. I said a quick “thank you” prayer for finding some quiet water and hungry fish on such ridiculously crazy weekend and decided not to push my luck with another day. For future labor day weekends, I will probably just hang out at home and tie some flies instead of attempting to find a spot to park anywhere in Northern Arizona.