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Author Topic: Mooslookmaguntic?  (Read 5753 times)

seamaiden

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Mooslookmaguntic?
« on: Apr 20, 2007, 06:59 PM »
Not sure how to spell that beautiful lake, but my best time fly fishing ever.

At least 14 years ago-went with Dad, ex-husband, and two of my dad's friends who are also avid flyfisherman. I never caught more trout than on that trip-never ate more trout. It was stormy and lightning-one of my dad's friends was having a bit of a panic attack, as we were in an aluminum canoe on the open lake with constant lightning. But we were (well I was) catching fish like crazy-yes, it was a high point in my life-I out-fished my experienced dad and his equally experienced friends, one of whom was terrified of being on the water, while I maintained calm...Nothing like the feeling of being Lady of the Lake-catching beautiful trout on a fly...

Happy fishing experiences to all, and thank you for your stories.

seamaiden

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Re: Mooslookmaguntic?
« Reply #1 on: Apr 20, 2007, 07:03 PM »
oops...
Once again I failed in the fishfinder mode of communication-this was meant to go in journals-ok-I'll try to get some training before I write any further! Sorry! And thanks for your patience! (Buddah)

maineduckhunter

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  • Alaskan King Salmon
Re: Mooslookmaguntic?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2007, 06:32 AM »
I think I might have been a little freeked out too....being in an aluminum canoe.....but as long as I was catching fish I'd probably be alright for a while.......and you sure are right...Mooselook is a very beautiful lake.

BottomDweller

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Re: Mooslookmaguntic?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2007, 09:20 AM »
metal on the water and lightning do not mix, but i understand staying if the fish are biting, nonsensical as that may be though...

  early last year i only owned a little 11 ft aluminum jon-boat with a 6.5 hp johnson motor on the back of it, and launched for a morning of fishing with two friends crammed in the front.  we caught a fair amount of fish, had a good time admiring the beautiful scenery, but then andy and katie had to leave because they had to work in the afternoon.  normally i would have left with them because it is pretty hard to lift the boat out of the water myself as i did not have a hull-cradle trailer i could drive it onto, just a flat-top snowmobile trailer to tow the DreamCatcher on.
  that was when i noticed a drift boat with a couple other good buddies inside closer to the take-out, and drove up to them and asked them if they could help me with my boat when they left so i could stay and fish.  they agreed, so i dropped the couple off on shore with their things, and bade them adieu.
  i motored over to the west side of the lake where we had been having some good luck recently, anchored and began jigging.  i must have picked the perfect spot, or maybe the fish's appetite just turned to high-gear because of what looked like a faint approaching storm cloud over the mountains on the east side of the lake, but whatever it was had the lake-trout attacking my jig every time i got it down to the bottom within a minute or two.
  i was having the time of my life, not paying attention to anything but the fish after fish i was catching, when the wind started to blow noticibly, and it seemed to be emanating from the quickly growing thunderhead coming faster over the tetons, headed in our direction.  i chose to ignore it, as i felt that it was just a matter of time before the big fish came along, the wallhanger.  besides, the waves were still managable; not quite coming over the sides of the boat yet.  i pushed the envelope till the storm breached a crescendo and the waves began breaking over sides of the little hull.  the bow tie-down was firmly attached to the anchor rope, and every time a large wave would come along the bow would get pulled down and through the middle of the wave, pouring water onto me and filling the inside of the boat.  i looked over at pat and jessie in the drift boat while bailing some of the water, and they had apparently had the same idea at about the same time: it was time to go.
  i began pulling the anchor line in, breaking through the waves and into the wind until i was directly above it, but it still wouldn't give.  the wind had blown so hard that i had dragged away from my original anchoring point until the anchor lodged itself firmly under a rock or sunken tree - it would not budge.  i struggled against the snag, but to no avail.  as i pulled, the bow of the DreamCatcher would sink even lower and more and more water would come pouring over the sides.  finally i decided it was either me or the anchor: i cut the line.
  by this time the oncoming waves were building with the wind, and growing as they traversed the lake from east to the west side, where i was trying to get my motor started.  i would estimate the waves' height from trough to peak at six feet.  i was able to get the motor started just in time to get away from being blown into the jagged boulders on shore, and began running diagonally into the wind on a rough heading towards the take-out.  it was all i could do just to keep gaining a small amount of ground, and several times the wind would blow me around like a top, making me lose about twenty yards in a single moment.  other times i would angle the boat a little too far into the wave and launch headlong off the top, crashing so violently into the next wave that i feared the little boat would break up on the next wave.  i was very seriously considering looking for a viable place on shore to angle the boat towards to ditch it, but stuck with the fight.
  my friends in the driftboat were not faring much better, as they had no motor at all, and were forced to take turns rowing like madmen for one or two minutes a piece, alternating rowing and then resting.  but their boat was much bigger than mine and was far better equipped to withstand the chaotic conditions.
  the drift boat made it to the take-out first, so i circled anxiously waiting for an opening on the ramp to squeeze into.  i made it back safe, but barely, and had taken on a large amount of water.  in retrospect, the fishing was good, but not worth risking life, limb, and gear.  i now know the dangers of my home waters, and have learned to fear their tempers; we are nothing in the face of Mother Nature, regardless of the extent of our tools and accoutrements.

                                                                                      ~
--~~as long as it's just a slow leak... i'm not worried~~--

--~~softwater pirates afloat on wyoming's high seas~~--

 



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