reevesr1

Brett, Awesome! Thanks for taking the time out of the fishing to take the videos and the time to edit. I couldn't do it!!

Well, I guess I have to get a Facebook account as I can't see it otherwise. I bet I'm looking stupid in it somewhere, so I might as well watch. Kevin, Sure wish you could have made it!

Starting to seem like it, but in the long run, no. I lived have lived on the Texas or Louisiana coasts for 30 of my 47 years. I have evacuated for storms once in that time, for Carla in 1963 (I think) and I was 3 yrs old, so don't remember it much. Now storms have hit the coast in that time, I just wasn't living where they hit. Strikes have been more often recently because we are on a major up cycle in number of storms. For reference, my parents have a house literally on the water, and have had it for 10 yrs now (maybe more). Never a spec of hurrincane damage in that time.

Wiggy?? What am I missing?

Grampa's been dead for awhile now, so I doubt he cares much. And the high mountain redfish had proved elusive through the years until Troutlover came armed with big streamers and maggots!

I guess I should watch the news more often... Looks like Tropical Storm Humberto, which could be Hurricane Humberto soon, is going to hit pretty close to my home town of Galveston tonite. Talked to my mom the other day (Monday?) and she didn't say anything about it. Wind not too bad, not a big tide surge, but 10" of rain typically gets your attention. Houston will be a big flooded mess. Man I don't miss those things! Edit: From Tropical depression to almost hurricane strength since 11 am this morning. Wow!

When I was a kid, anytime I got hurt, my dad would say something like "I've had worse cuts on my eye" or a "boy, that's gotta hurt, glad it's not me" or something such. What follows is a story of payback for all the years of hearing that sort of stuff. The payback actually came from my brother, but I feel like I was there in spirit: My dad started shrimping in 1975. My brother (Ron) and I worked with him on the boat and after a couple of years and when I was 16 I began to run the boat myself in the afternoons. Did not take me long to figure out that this sort of life was not for me. Ron liked it however and worked with my dad either deckhanding or running the boat himself until he was into his 20s. One of the constants of shrimping in South Texas is crabs. They certainly are not as large as what you see on TV out of Alaska, but they have very sharp, very powerful claws. But if you are careful, you generally don't get bit. But when you do, it HURTS!! To get them off, we usually got a big pair of pliers (channel locks) and broke off the claw. One day, Ron is deckhanding for my dad. He dumps a big pile of shrimp on the table to cull out the little fish. He reaches down and out of the pile comes a claw and it bites him on the thumb. He calls for dad, in distress, to get the channel locks and get the crab off. Dad moseys out of the cabin, looks at Ron and says "man, that's gotta hurt." Ron asks again for the channel locks, in a bit more distress and with a bit of anger directed at dad. Dad moseys back into the cabin, finds the channel locks, moseys back out and with slow deliberation, breaks off the claw. My brother vows revenge. Not very long later, the tables turn. Exactly the same scenario as above, but Ron is in the cabin and dad is culling when out of the pile comes a giant claw that hits dad with one point on the thumbnail and another on the opposite side of the thumb. Ron hears the scream, sees dad reach down to grab the crab from behind. But he was a bit slow and the other claw grabs the other thumb on the knuckle. Yikes! Dad pulls up, and out of the pile comes a huge blue crab with a claw attached to both of dad's thumbs. Ron said he could already see the blood oozing out of the thumbnail. Dad asks in an agonized voice "go get the channel locks and get this thing off of me." Ron's reply "Man, that's gotta hurt. Sure glad it's not me!" to which dad threatens his life! So Ron moseys back into the cabin, finds the channel locks, moseys back out and with slow deliberation, breaks off one of the claws. And runs!! Revenge can be sweet, but no reason to be stupid about it and let your pissed off dad catch you!!

Hey Brett, I would say don't worry about the bs, but I know you aren't! To all who think they know where we were, actually, I took them to a secret location in South Texas. Those are all actually red fish. Photoshop is a wonderful thing!

OK my bad, but it was funny!

Wish you had grabbed mine. You could have dove towards that big rock and wrestled him into submission!

Well, I'm not really supposed to talk about that. Let's just say he was using streamers, but there always seemed to be some organic white substance hanging off the hook. And I sometimes thought I saw glimpses of a treble hook tied on as a stinger, but I'm sure I was mistaken.

Whiner. And condescension will get you nowhere. By the way, did you find my high heels? I think I left them by the big logjam pool....

Troutlover and I ran into a couple of guys at the end of our day 1, scouting for the next days trip. They seemed very friendly. We also ran into a couple of fishermen on day 1 who were friendly as well as one guy on Sunday. So not all were buttheads. Oh- At about 4 pm on day 1, Brett and Tyler decide they are done for the day since they had already fished for two days, and Brett had been going for 4 straight counting the Bow. But Jared and I decide we would like to go after some cutts. So Brett and Tyler say to take the second right off the forestry road and drive right down to the river. But they say don't take the first right because it is too steep. Unfortunately for Jared and I, people from the Crowsnest Pass area can't seem to count. They were only off by one. The 2nd right was the STEEP one. In a Minivan. After fishing, on the way back up, I start spinning out on the steep, bumpy road. So I back up, stop, and pick out a path up. Jared walks up and clears rocks out of my path. Pin it, 6 cylinders of screaming Chrysler power roar to life and bounce my way up the hill (hope my wife never reads this as it's her van!) stop and pick up Jared. We look at each other with "Holy Crap" looks on our faces and drive to the next spot!

JayVee, I assumed he was on burst mode. But he wasn't, it was a one-off shot. Pretty lucky.

Here is my problem: When I am moving up or down the river, I spend to much time gawking at my surroundings or rushing to get to the next spot, so I go down a bit because I never watch where I am going. The main issue in BC was wet wading boots and slick rocks (but not every rock was slick. Just enough to get you when you're not paying attention). Only one time did I get hurt: Just after I did the running of the bull, I was sitting on the bank having a snack. I decided to go get my vest and tie on another bully fly. I stood up, slipped on a rock and knocked the living crap out of my shin. I mean HARD, and I've got the scab to prove it. I thought I was going to cry, then I thought I was going to puke. Like any barked shin, it went away in a couple of minutes, but it was a couple of minutes of exquisite pain. It still really hurts to touch!

I'll sit on both sides of the fence on this one. Alhuger's post has merit. I actually went back to University after being away for 8 yrs, and when I went back, I was totally committed to it. Finished on time, got good grades, knew what I wanted to do. So Brent, I guess if you are the type that really knows his own mind and believe that you will go back to school, then do what you think feels right. It will probably work out either way. Just come back with some good stories, whatever you decide.

Rick's report: Day 1: Fall lots, bust shin, bust 8 wt, forget other rod in car (but thought I had brought it to river, so spent one hour looking for rod that was in car), hooked really big bull near dorsal fin with Troutlovers 8 wt, fight like hell, chase downstream, Troutlover goes into river to unwrap my line around a rock, he falls twice and busts knees, we almost get fish but he hits long rapid section, hit backing for the second time, troutlover takes the rod from my hand and breaks off fish (and I will never, ever let him forget it), catch 3 cutties, go back to camp, almost fall asleep into fire. Day 2: Long hike in, still no bulls, catch 3 cutties, 1 white, and one jumping sucker (and I am counting the big cuttie that got away at my feet), don't fall as much (maybe just once), get teased by Tyler, LONG uphill hike out, get 15 phone messages from work as soon as my phone works, cuss loudly at phone, stop at secret creek on way home with Troutlover, catch 2 browns and a couple of whities each in about 45 minutes of fishing before dark, missed one big fish! I'm saving the details for when I have time. Thanks to Brett, Tyler and Jared for making the trip very memorable. Wish we had caught more, but honestly, if you ask for more fun than we had you are asking for too much. A great time in a truly awesome location.

I second the Avatar props. Very sweet.

I like that one! True story: A buddy of mine was fishing in Texas (same guy who came up with the vermiculite/condom practical joke). While wading, he sees a Pelican swimming towards him. It gets right up to him and stops. He notices the wing looks weird, so he looks closer and sees mono wrapped around the wing. The Pelican allows him to take the line off the wing then flies away, circles over his head and shits right on him! OK, so the *hit part isn't true, but it sure would have been funny! Anyway, he said he sure wished he had brought his camera that day as it was an incredible experience. He couldn't believe how the Pelican let himself be handled.

I remember when my friends were finishing university and I had been in the Navy for 3 years. They all could not wait to get out of school and start work. I told them to stay in school as long as they can as the shine wears off of work pretty quickly. I highly recommend you go ahead and finish, then travel. As many here said, use it as a reward. It also give you a chance to clear your head and figure out what it is you want to do with the next part of your life. Wish I could do it all again!!

Hydropsyche, I laughed when I read this! My first thought was "can you make Brett taller?" and that thankfully I had a hat on! But after thinking a bit, it isn't a bad idea. To me, the primary function of this board is to share experiences and instruct others. This picture shows exactly that. Two experienced guys teaching a neophyte.

Ah, who says both photo's are in the same place?? And I said where we were. Policeman's, remember?? If you have any doubts, just look for a big jumping trout. He's not hard to see!

Max is guiding all weekend! And I know you and Brian don't really know where we were..... Anyway, don't all of you have enough pet fish???

Here is the picture of the trout jumping. Pretty amazing with a digital camera! And I couldn't resist this one. Apparently it takes two people to show me how to fish. That's MTB showing me where I should have casted and Max observing me being instructed!

Fly combo for tomorrow: Hopper/skid bitch/weighted stimulator as a nymph. I call it the Who Give's A *hit Rig!! Good night Now!!!!