Monday, December 31, 2007

Sausage, Scotch, and the Years End


It's a weird world we live in filled with irony and mystery. Today was a reminder of just how ironic and mysterious life can be. I opted to close out the 2007 season with Norland. Having experienced first hand how congested the river was the day prior we decided to deviate from our usual approach and take it to another level. We arrived 1 hr and 15mins prelight to an empty access point. About 10 mins into gearing up 3 vehicles pulled in behind us. A cold chill ran down our spines as we feared the worst for our last home river outing. We quickly locked up and made the long dark trek back to the river. Today the approach was simple. Arrive at the holding water and park ourselves for the morning. We arrived to a long deep run to find it unpopulated. It was not long after that the crew from the access point came down the trail. They respected our presence and made their way to the run above us. It was a good thing as there were 6 of them gang fishing. :0( As they made their way across the river another shadowy figure emerged from the forest and slide down the bank towards us. As he came into focus I could see it was a recognizable character..."the Sausage Man". Another chill ran down our my spine as I was uncertain on how this would play out. The Sausage Man has quite a reputation on the river as being downright rude, onary, obnoxious and ignorant. We have yet to experience his performance to the fullest but were not prepared to on the season ender. As it played out he remembered me from our last encounter and had taking a liking to me. I introduced him to Gene and the grounds were set for a civil steelheading experience. We turned a few fish and had some laughs. The conversation turned to Scotch. I informed Sausage that I was not a scotch drinker but Norland was in training. Out came the Scotch and we all shared a snort. I must admit that it sure was smooth and quickly warmed the body. The conversation drifed in and out of topics which included Bob Izumi, The Meaford Midget, landowners, arming of boarder guards, Atlantics, Grand River Resi's and 18 year old Scotch for the next 2 hours as we struggled with the fish we did manage to turn. It was not until late in the morning that I successfully put one on the bank. Another very busy day on the river but nonetheless an enjoyable end to a fantastic season. The 2007 fall season came in like a lamb and ended like a Lion. The fish were nothing short of spectacular. I will miss our little river over the coming months but have many quality memories to get me through. Stay tuned for future State side adventures...

13 comments:

SD said...

Good grief lads !

Have i not educated you two "homo's" (a Norland term LOL) on the finer Scotch's out there yet ? ;-)

I managed to get out yesterday on a few Eastern Tribs sans camera, to quell my lack of effort this past Fall.

Happy 2008 you wankers.. Maybe that long talked of "The Blogger's Steelhead Foray" will happen this year

lambton said...

Gene,
Damn...Your Right...Wallace is the Meaford Midget!
I second your sentiments re: 2007 season. It was a blast and I'm glad we were able to share all the good times on the water across MI and ON. Take it easy on those BC Steelies...I'm sure they won't compare to the critters from The Shire ;0)

lambton said...

Steve,

I am afraid that the Sausage man and Norland just may be converting me to countryman Status. Imagine that! Also feel free to chime in with any Fine Scotch recommendations.

As for the "The Blogger's Steelhead Foray" we must indeed persue this for 2008. It would be a shame for another season to pass us by.

Happy New Years to you and yours Steve and all the best for 08

Trotsky said...

I could meet you guys on the Vedder river in a couple of weeks?!!
You could even use my car to save on Gas $$
Bwuhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahhahaha

Wallacio said...

Nice 'ho Brian...a great bonus to end the year.

It was great to share a few drifts with you this year. Norland - all the best to you and the growing family and good luck on the Vedder!

Peace from the Midget.

lambton said...

Gene,

Don't tempt me! I could easily take you up on that! I am just that ridiculous. I bet the steelheadmobile would take about 3 tanks to get there. ;0) LOL!!
Good luck out there, I hope you guys "stand on them" !

lambton said...

Thanks Dave, You know on the river we totally missed that ID. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the pics that I realized it was a COHO. LOL!!! That Scotch is the Shiz-nit!


Good luck on the Hard Water and drop me an email if you want to get out for a drift in early 08.

Trotsky said...

I am going with Garpike myself on that fish ID.
Hard water.....
Pretty hard to line fish that way.
Good luck to you as well Dave....that first diaper is a bitch.
;o)

Chinook7 said...

That Coho is a beauty, and surprisingly silver for this time of year, the only reason I could differentiate it from a steelhead was due to the small pores or perforations under the eye, I noticed the same on the few I caught this year and it was curious.

It really is a shame that the window of quality fishing was far shorter this year, but back in October I almost wagered a serious bet that we would not be able to fish it at all in 2007.

All the best,

Joe

lambton said...

Joe,
Funny you should mention the perforations under the eye. I did note that they were much more pronounced than the steelies I had photographed from this system. I also noted the nostril was much larger and pronounced than any of the steelhead I have encountered this season. The black gathered markings on the back are indictive but I have seen some steelies with similar configurations as well. What really got me scratching my head was infact how silver it was for this time of year. I have not had the priveledge of catching one on this system until now and having blown three fish prior that morning it was a blessing. LOL!

Also, this fish had a left pelvic fin clip and major maxilary/mandible damage on the other side which I'm guessing occured from hatching upbringing. Very hardy fish! Who stocks Coho's these days anyways?

I was always a firm believer that it would eventually come together. I stood my ground until the second week in November when I too started to fear the worst. I think I needed to believe it would happen but when faced with the fact that it might not I really wasn't quite sure how to cope with it. LOL!!!! The road trips are alot of fun but the travel does wear on you after a while. Especially the road trip back home. :0(

Trotsky said...

Patrick Ewing had very pronounced nostrils....just putting that out there...

PaulGHurtubise said...

That is a sweet coho, homo. I didn't know about the pores under the eyes, but I do know that the tail markings are completely different than on steelhead. Most of the spots on a coho's tail are at the top & the bottom half is often completely free of spots.

Let's not bemoan the short season too much; it's going to be spring-time weather next week!

p.-

lambton said...

Paul,
I'm glad we didn't make that ID on the river. With the Scotch and Norland's tendancies he would have most likely licked it to death. I can't handle that freaky $hit.

As for the season ending. Hmmmm If all the stars align, next weeks warming trend will result in a G-Bay trip for this Huron Cat.