Tom Remembers Why He Bought a Drift Boat...

After Rob's guided trip on the Yakima with his son-in-law Brad, Brad decided he'd like to go more often and volunteered to get the flat tire fixed on Tom's drift boat trailer (it has been flat for years). With the tire fixed, we decided to make a Merrill boys trip to fish Friday evening and Saturday morning. We can call it Rob's birthday celebration.

We met at Red's to pick up a few flies and arrange for spotting the vehicle at the takeout and were on the river a little after 5 pm. Tom and I immediately questioned the wisdom of letting someone with double vision row first when a short time after the launch Rob took us straight over a good sized boulder just under the surface. However, that was the only mishap and we soon were catching fish and all was forgiven (next time we'll let him row the last turn when it is so dark you can't see the boulders anyway).

It was typical Yakima fishing, tossing big bugs (Chubby Chernobyls) close to the grass banks with a stone dropper about 12 inches below. Fairly consistent action throughout the evening, with numerous 10 to 14 inch rainbows and a few in the 18 to 20 inch range. Rotating the rowing duties, we all managed to find at least one of the big guys before getting off the river at about it's-so-dark-I-hope-we-don't-miss-the-ramp o'clock.

After a short night at a motel in Ellensburg, we were on the water again a little after 5 am, and found similar action as the evening before throughout the morning float. Little guys to keep it interesting while waiting for the big one. You never know how they're going to hit. Rick's 19.5-inch rainbow on Friday hit with an explosive splash, which was good because he was fishing blind with the fly directly in the reflected glare of the evening sun. He set the hook by sound. Rob, on the other hand, had an 18-inch rainbow that took the fly with nothing more than a little dimple as it drifted right next to some overhanging brush. Rick, who was rowing, watched the fly quietly disappear without a splash and was surprised when Rob said he had a nice one. The take looked like one of the little ones we'd been catching.

We all caught nice fish, but Rob owned the morning, catching at least three that were over 18 inches. A great little trip to bring the brothers together. Maybe now with the flat tire on the boat trailer fixed we might get together like this a little more often...