There are those nights when you go out with every intention of fishing hard and dedicating yourself to the task at hand. Sometimes said nights turn out quite successfully. Other nights it devolves to throwing rocks and sticks in the river and at the “No Trespassing” sign nailed to a tree on the opposite bank.
Those nights are sometimes the most memorable. I’ve had a lot of really great nights on the river after work, but some of the ones that really stick out are the times we stopped fishing and just screwed around. I’ve long written about how much I enjoy throwing rocks in water, and there are times when you just have to stop, put the rod down, and chuck some rocks.
The Gallatin River is one of our preferred after work spots. It’s close, it fishes well, and it’s perfect for relaxing after a long day in the shop. Last week we heard the Salmonflies had popped up the canyon and we had to go check it out. Four of us ended up going and we should have known that with a group that size nothing productive was going to happen. We didn’t drive quite as far as we should have and the water was just high enough to preclude wading to some premium water. So within 20 minutes Shane and I were standing on the bank seeing who could hit the opposite shore with a stick. Twenty minutes after that and Ethan was sitting in the water in his waders throwing rocks at the sign as we threw bigger and bigger sticks downstream to try to attract the attention of Patrick, who was the only one still fishing at this point.
As anglers it is all too easy to get so wrapped up in the act of fishing that we forget to stop for a moment and just enjoy being out there. Forget about the fish, forget about the hatch, forget about turning over rocks to find exactly what is in the water. Just set the rod down, sit down on the bank and throw a few rocks.
Trust me, it’s good for you.
