It hasn’t been a full year since Granny caught her last fish but dang close. You might recall on May 16, 2019 Granny had a fantastic day fishing in Baja. That night, she fell off the top of a 7 foot high fence and landed directly on her right shoulder. Long story short, she wrecked her shoulder and had major surgery. Five screws/pins, whatever they call them, and eight months of physical therapy later, today Granny made her first cast on the Kootenai River.
We’re on our third day up here in Libby, MT fishing with our friend Dave Blackburn, owner of Kootenai Angler. Its been a blast with some great fishing mixed with relaxing and lots of fine eating. Today the weather was dreamy and this morning we relished in it with coffee on the deck then a bike ride up to the Kootenai Dam. After it was a drive to Kootenai Falls.
Kootenai Falls are no less than impressive. This is where The River Wild was filmed and a part of The Reverend. The Kootenai roars through the canyon and has plenty of 20-30 foot high waterfalls followed by long rapids then a deep pool. No doubt I enjoy seeing the falls and rapids but it’s the deep pools that get most my interest. Dave and I brought along our heaviest flies and fished a few pools hoping for a rainbow bigger than yesterdays. Although we caught a few small ones there was no such luck on the big boys.
After a couple hours of heavy exercise scrambling around the canyon in waders, it was time to float the Kootenai. Dave launched us in his boat from the ramp in downtown Libby and we floated for about five miles. Its a beautiful float with schools of rainbows sipping March Brown Mayflies and more deep pools to dredge with a streamer. All the time trains chug on by from Seattle to Chicago that take you back in time.
We caught a heap more Columbia River Redband Rainbows. They all seemed small after yesterday’s chunky catch. But while most were 12” there were a couple 16-17 inchers. I also picked up another incidental bull trout. Remember, you are not allowed to fish for bull trout so it’s a quick pic then release him.
Hands down however, todays highlight for us was not the numerous rainbows Dave and I caught. Nor was is it the bull trout, or the trains or even the bighorn sheep sleeping on the banks of the river. The best thing that could’ve happened happened. Granny had the courage to test her shoulder and toss a heavy streamer on my 6-weight.
It’s possible she could’ve done so sooner but it’s a scary thing after all she’s been through fixing it. What if she hurt it again? That would be a disaster. After she watched me and Dave catch a few she simply said, “Hand me that Winston”. We stuck her up front and she went to work. And only a few minutes in she hooked up.
Not only did Granny make her first casts today of 2020, she caught one of these Kootenai rainbows. It’s the monkey off her back. After she released it she made a few more casts then decided not to push it. It’s a start to being back on track and she’ll see how it feels tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow – we’ve decided to spend one more day up here with Dave and his wife Tammy. This place is paradise. We ended today with a few thick steaks and some asparagus on the grill. Doing our best to turn tough times to good times.
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