The haunted Winston.............

Originally written by me and some friends 2002-04 for the Virtual Fly Shop, Flyfisherman Magazine Online. The Cracker Barrel has been published in book form with the limited first edition hard cover sold out and a paperback version will be available early 2011.

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fishnbanjo
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The haunted Winston.............

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Post by fishnbanjo »

Welcome to the new Fishnbanjo's Place and a new Crackerbarrel. I have a fresh Americano I just pulled from my Grimac Espresso machine made with Verona beans so let's do it.

While I fished as much as I could until the end of the season the
thought of fishing the Winston did not enter my mind, I suppose I was
beginning to think it
was jinxed or at the very least had bad Karma but while I did tell
Molly how unsuccessful I had been on the last 3 outings with it and
about breaking my net I
didn't come out and talk about my thoughts.

I had planned on a trip to Shenandoah Valley VA with several from
this board and others from another board, i.e. a mix of fly fishers
most who fish graphite,
some who fish glass and others boo. I brought a good portion of
Pandora's with me since it was like a mini gathering and I knew some
folks would like the
opportunity to cast some of the rods. I would make the decision on
which rods to fish once I got to see the water we were fishing which
was Suzie Q Farm on
Smith Creek and Smith Creek in an alternate location both are private
water.
I packed 5 rods in Rolf's car when we packed up for the day and
when I saw the water at Suzie Q Farm I chose the Dickerson 8615 since
the wind was up and I
would have plenty of room to work the rod. Had a wonderful day catching
Rainbows and Browns although my first fish was what Colston called a
Smith Creek Carp
(chub).

The next day we had the other location on Smith Creek for the
morning fishing and our choice of Suzie Q Farm or the other Smith Creek
location after lunch I
chose Suzie Q Farm.
I fished the Kushner on the other Smith location and managed a
slew of Browns in the 15-19" range and one particular pool had some
serious log jams to
contend with which the Kushner made short work of the fish. The weather
had not let up as the wind and rain were nearly as bad as the previous
day so after
lunch I decided against fishing the Winston and fish the Kushner again.

As I was getting to leave Rolf spotted the Kushner in my hand and
asked why I wasn't fishing the Winston, I told him, it was raining and
windy and I had
such good luck with the 8615 and the Kushner, both 8'6" 5 wt's, I
thought the 7'6" 4 wt Winston not the best choice. Rolf stared at me
and said "So when will you have the chance to fish it again?" "Not
until next April" I replied. The look he gave me said more than words
so
I broke down the Kushner and set up the Winston, come hell or high
water there were fish here and I was going to catch some with the
Winston.

We caught up with Fred, Colston and Coltsons cousin we called Old
Cuz (I think that's who he was) Fred and Colston decided to head up the
creek where some
Golden Trout had supposedly became trapped in the very heavy rains
earlier Rolf and I opted for the center and would work our way down and
Old Cuz down stream
and work his way back.

I worked my way to a run that I had some nice hits the day before
and landed a few fish and made my first cast which ended up in the most
horrific birds nest
of line, fly and leader I ever saw. After 25 minutes of cussing and
picking at fly, line and leader I was ready to make my second cast and
when I did I
duplicated the birds nest of my first cast which took 30 more minutes
of cussing and picking to untangle. Nearly an hour of fishing had been
lost to birds
nests and I was about to make my third cast..... I did and this was by
far the worst birds nest I had ever seen bar none.

After nearly 40 minutes of serious cussing and stomping about I
finally got the fly, line and leader back right took in a deep breath,
brought the Winston to
within 2" from my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs "Knock it
the F--- off!" and I cast again...............

Expecting the worst I was both shocked, and elated, when the fly
did exactly what it was supposed to do and it sank, this fly is one of
Fred's creations
and it's a fantastic one. I could feel it nudging the bottom as it
drifted down and then it hesitated and I struck only to find I was on
bottom and
probably a tree root. A little persuasion and it came free so I cast it
up to check the size 16 hook and found it in good fettle so I cast
again.

Once again it was a good cast and I could feel it nudging the
bottom as it worked its way down stream and when I got close to where
I'd hung up I pulled it
toward me a bit to try and avoid the same root and once again it
hesitated and I struck. I felt like I may have snagged the root again
so I gave a pull and
this time it pulled back and I was into a fish.

The fight I was feeling was robust and there was quite a bit of
weight, part of this I was sure was due to the short rod compared to
the Kushner and 8615 and
it wasn't until I saw the fish that I realized it was a nice one and at
least 2'. I didn't have my net with me since I left it in the Pilot
which
was parked in PA at Rolf's house so I worked the fish to a shallow
sandy area where I could beach it.

I beached the big Rainbow and noted it had a quarter size hole in
its head probably from a Great Blue Heron. I quickly unhooked the fish
and placed it next to
the Winston's butt section so I could have a reference on low long it
was, I stood up and admired it a moment and commenced to hoot and
holler and was just
releasing the fish when Colston and Fred came running up.

"That was quite a fish" said Fred, "Thanks" I replied, "Did you
measure it?" said Fred, I told him I had a mark on the Winston
and he taped it and told me 24 13/16" "Nice fish". We talked for a few
minutes, I told him about the hole in its head and that I finally had
the
skunk off my back with the Winston. Caught several more nice fish that
afternoon but none more memorable than the last one, a 13 1/2" fat
spawn colored
Brown, it was spectacular.

When I got home from the trip I wrote the story about the fish to
Molly and finally told here I thought her grandfather must have been
the worlds biggest
practical joker the way the Winston haunted me. Molly told me her
grandfather was always playing practical jokes and once when it was
certain he would lose a
$5 bet made at a hunting camp he'd faked a heart attack so he wouldn't
have to pay off the bet................... I must have made peace with
grandfather and the Winston as I had not experienced any further
difficulties since...

Well the Americano is gone so that's it until next time, your comments are welcome.

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