Ahead of the Storm

Having been run off my local river lately by lunatics floating in tubes without fishing poles, it was time to head out to the Colorado river for the weekend with a couple of friends.
Rain was in the forecast for both days but not being on the water for what seemed like an eternity there was no way it was going to postpone this trip. Made the drive to the river and carefully backed down the side of the bridge to the launch spot and was greeted with the voices of friends who I haven't seen in awhile. After a short shuttle we pushed off from the bank into the moving water and the weekend had now begun.

The water was up and muddy from the recent rains. There was a lot of debris and the banks were choked with grass as well as the grass being pushed along by the current, making it extremely difficult to work the fly rod with any consistancy. With the current pushing us along, we pounded every inch of the water with a few takers here and there.

The heat was halted by the occasional dip into the river to cool off and relax. I took the new Big Tuna out for it's maiden voyage. This is the second time i've fished and camped from one and it is an impressive fishing platform. I was able to stand and fish with ease as well as move around in it.

As we fished, the clouds started building up with a menacing look so we made our way down to the island at a little faster pace. Along the way I was able to pull in this 6lb largemouth which was the largest that I would catch this trip.

Upon reaching the island and setting up camp, it was then that I realized that the rain fly for my tent was still hanging in the shed from the last trip. Good thing I brought an emergency tarp. While it only covered 3/4 of the tent it would come in handy during the night.

After gathering wood and starting the fire, it was time to hop in the river to relax and cool down after a long day on the water.

The night got a little eerie after dinner. The clouds in the sky were electrical with the most amazing light storm that i've ever been in. It looked as though we were in the eye of a storm the whole time. I was awoken around 3am by rain hitting my feet, it was short lived and the tarp had done it's job.
We hit the water around 8:30 in the morning to a rising muddy river. The fishing was not that great so we took out earlier than normal. We got off the river in time, it rose 11 feet on Monday due to a nice storm the night before. Can't wait to get back out there.