Ready for the river. Very ready.

25 September 2009
By which I don't mean that I am prepared. My knots still need work, my roll cast isn't up to par. I mean I am ready. It's been a long week, a long 5 months since May and my little Sespe excursion in June yielded exactly zero fish. I didn't even SEE a fish. It was very hot and very dry and the water was so low they were all hiding away in the deep pools. My experimental (and very bad) casts landed me precisely squat.
But I've been casting at the little golf course pond near our house, trying desperately to straighten out my roll cast and establish a nice rhythm. Picking up rocks, looking for bugs. Practicing knots in the evenings and whenever it's too hot to go out. Drooling over the pictures in This Is Fly magazine.
My waders arrived yesterday, my brand-new LL Bean waders, all shiny and fresh. They actually fit, and I'm rather surprised about that. Unfortunately, if I was a 300-lb, 6-foot tall, buxom ginormo-woman, I would have had no problems finding waders. I could have ordered anything from $100 cheapos to $600 super waders. I would have had dozens to choose from. Being a rather uh, tiny 5 foot flat and just 120 even after a 5-course meal, I had some issues.
Fortunately, I found some that fit and now I'm ready. It's been 103 degrees on the average this week. Even at 10pm, it is 80 degrees outside. This week's high in June Lake was about 75. I'm definitely ready for that.
This time of year, the fish are the same color as the leaves and the sky is so blue it hurts. I'm trying to convince Joe we should move up to June and buy a rental property. I'm really trying. This SoCal heat just makes me nauseous.
I'm ready for ice cold streams and fog on the water and breakfast burritos and fresh grilled trout. Just two days...