Last Saturday my fishing buddy and good friend Shane turned the ripe old age of 24. My manager was kind enough to give me most of that day and the next off of work, so we loaded up and hit the road for a birthday fishing trip. Instead of fighting the crowds on the Gallatin we headed back up to Toston to look for carp.
Since they had been thick a couple of weeks ago, one would assume that the carp would still be there. Nothing much had changed in terms of weather, water, etc. We even bought several $4 flies at a local shop that the guy said would catch carp. Everything seemed like it was lining up for a fine afternoon of fishing.
Before I go on, I should say that Shane and I have had a remarkably good year of fishing. In the past, we had a hell of a streak of bad luck. Either just one of us or neither of us would get into fish on any given trip. It was only last year that that pattern seemed to be breaking up.
Well some things never change.
We drove out there, spent a good four hours on the water, and didn’t catch shit. We didn’t even see that many fish. Those we did see were spooky as hell and not that hungry. Not even the birthday boy could get close.
The day ended on a good note though. We ended up at the new whisky bar in downtown Bozeman. Sipping a $12 glass of scotch with your good friend on his birthday, watching all the pretty girls go by, is a pretty damn good way to end a bad day’s fishing.
