December 1, 2013

Flow: 98

Water Temp: 45

I’ve been down with a very nasty bug over the holiday weekend spending short tours on our incredible tailwater. The last time I got ill I bought an over the counter med and sweated it out overnight. I found the half-full package from the cupboard to find it expired in 2011. Getting out every day didn’t help my condition much and I’m not feeling much like Superman over the last few days.

A while back I asked a few teams from the last Frostbite Fish-Off to share their experience. As fishing conditions are similar to our last report I’d like to share Jamie’s story before I pass out again. He has been one of our earliest and repeat guests and a great supporter of our TU chapter. You can read all his adventures at https://www.facebook.com/jamiesfishingjournal .

Tight lines,

Ben

I remember hearing about the Frostbite Fish-Off just before the 2012 event. It was either too late for registration or I was too chicken to sign up so I didn’t get to fish but I did show up the day of the tournament and walked a few beats. The first thing I noticed is that I got to park at Valco Bridge. Always wanted to do that! The next thing I noticed was Fly Fishing Team USA unloading some camera gear. This was going to be cool. The tournament looked great. Unfortunately walking along beautiful trout water without a fly rod in your hands is not natural. In fact it’s just wrong. No way was I going to miss 2013.

Ben Lewis and I joined “forces” and created Team Chuck and Duck. Neither one of us had fished in a tournament before so we didn’t really know what to expect. Ben and I had drawn two good beats the night before (a fun event in itself) that we had both fished before so we were feeling pretty confident the morning of the tourney. As we walked to our first beat with a dozen tangled rods however, I began to question my confidence in two dudes with way too many rods who could only come up with “Chuck and Duck”.

When it was all said and done fish were caught, old friends were caught up with, new friends were met, and Ben and I had an absolute blast. We endured paparazzi, mobs of crazed female spectators, fish that ignored us the entire morning save our last THREE MINUTES of morning fishing, speeches by Lou, and a last hour of the day, buzzer beating, jaw dropping, ROD BREAKING fish hook up! Fun was to be had each step of the way. No way are we going to miss 2014.

Jamie Roth