Turkey hunting--my trophy
Posted: 28 Apr 2016 00:12
My friend, Brian and his wife invites my wife and I down to their cabin on on the Cumberland River below the dam in KY for a Spring and a Fall trip. In the fall, Brian and I hunt deer with primitive bows. This springs get together happened to fall during turkey season. Saturday morning's hunt had farmer Bob driving down his fence row on the next farm, intercepting Mr. Tom before he could cross the fence to me. I was not hunting the fence line and was 150 yards away. A rogue, neighbor's cow spooked Brian's tom turkey at 60 yards from his blind.
Brian announced after breakfast that he was going to try to fish the banks of the river and asked if I wanted to join him. Well, of course. Now these aren't your ordinary river banks, They are a steep 15 to 20 yards slide on your butt and hoping the 10 or 12 inch "beach" at the bottom stops you before you slide into the 58 degree river.
My first couple descents were exercises in frustration. I was 6 to 10 feet above the fast moving water and would hang on a root as I tried pull my white tailed, silver bladed spinner from the water to my rod. I was wondering why in heck am I trying to fish in these conditions. But I persevered.
I met up with Brian down stream. He had found a "beach" 12 inch wide and 20 foot long from which to fish. He moved down stream from where he was fishing to allowing me to slide on my butt to the river.
I cast about 30 degrees upstream to the edge of the current, allowing my spinner to do a large, lazy arch down stream. On my 3rd cast, I feel a bump. Just the bottom, I think. Next crank of the reel I feel a bump and twitch. I set the hook. The trout rolls to the surface 8 feet in front of Brian, who is shocked because he feels no fish on his line. Three seconds of confusion ensues before I realize I have a fish on and Brian realizes it's not his fish.
I play the trout over to the bank and Brian grabs it. In the process, one of it's gills is broken in attempts to land it. Otherwise, it would have been released. I have a rainbow and brown as big or bigger on my wall already.
KY Department of Fish and Wildlife classify any rainbow trout 20 inches or better as a trophy fish. This one was 22 1/2 at about 4 pound. Not bad for a turkey hunting weekend.
Oh, the turkey were smarter than us this weekend.
And the poached trout in white wine sure tasted good Monday evening.
Brian announced after breakfast that he was going to try to fish the banks of the river and asked if I wanted to join him. Well, of course. Now these aren't your ordinary river banks, They are a steep 15 to 20 yards slide on your butt and hoping the 10 or 12 inch "beach" at the bottom stops you before you slide into the 58 degree river.
My first couple descents were exercises in frustration. I was 6 to 10 feet above the fast moving water and would hang on a root as I tried pull my white tailed, silver bladed spinner from the water to my rod. I was wondering why in heck am I trying to fish in these conditions. But I persevered.
I met up with Brian down stream. He had found a "beach" 12 inch wide and 20 foot long from which to fish. He moved down stream from where he was fishing to allowing me to slide on my butt to the river.
I cast about 30 degrees upstream to the edge of the current, allowing my spinner to do a large, lazy arch down stream. On my 3rd cast, I feel a bump. Just the bottom, I think. Next crank of the reel I feel a bump and twitch. I set the hook. The trout rolls to the surface 8 feet in front of Brian, who is shocked because he feels no fish on his line. Three seconds of confusion ensues before I realize I have a fish on and Brian realizes it's not his fish.
I play the trout over to the bank and Brian grabs it. In the process, one of it's gills is broken in attempts to land it. Otherwise, it would have been released. I have a rainbow and brown as big or bigger on my wall already.
KY Department of Fish and Wildlife classify any rainbow trout 20 inches or better as a trophy fish. This one was 22 1/2 at about 4 pound. Not bad for a turkey hunting weekend.
Oh, the turkey were smarter than us this weekend.
And the poached trout in white wine sure tasted good Monday evening.
