Thursday, November 26, 2009

Fishing with Winnie...

Winnie and I went for a little overnight trip to my friend's farm to do a little fly fishing for trout.

Wednesday evening the weather was beautiful and crisp, and we just walked along the Rose River, spotting trout that I'd try to catch the next morning.

This was a new experience, bringing her along while I waded and fished. In the morning, I put her cowbell on so I could know at all times that she was nearby. But that wasn't an issue - as it turns out, she found fly fishing to be fascinating and watched intently from shore, following the fly's movement with each cast.

In fact, it was so interesting, at the first spot I fished, in about three feet of cold water (the air temperature was probably about 40 degrees first thing in the morning), I was surprised to feel a nose bump into my leg. Winnie was swimming in place alongside me in the current. I led her back to shore and made her stay, and luckily the sun came out and she warmed up quickly.

The fishing was slow, however, and eventually I started getting accusatory looks from Winnie. "Really? A Caddis? In November??"

But she patiently watched and waited and went for a couple more swims. It was good to see her so willing to get in that cold water!

Finally I got into a couple fish, and Winnie found the splashing and jumping of the trout very amusing!

"Making me hang out with a plastic heron for an hour? Is this part of your bird dog training??"

It was a really fun time with Winnie, as always. She's turned into a great little roadtrip partner.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

you have got some amazing pictures!
she seems to be posing for most of them-she must be settling into her celebrity status nicely.
Peg

Ed. said...

Thanks Peg! The "whoa" command has come in quite handy for photo posing!

Anonymous said...

Just thought i would comment as I enjoyed this post. I have a HV that I take to the river with me. When she was younger (about 6 months) I would wade out deep enough that she couldn't stand and I would fish (open faced reel) as she swam in place next to me. She would chase leaves and sticks that floated past, as well as any fish I threw back in. Worked out well, if I noticed she was getting tired I would send her to the shore to "take a break" and then she would soon be back in. I have a hard time keeping her out of the river, even in winter and even though she has no extra fur. Enjoyed the post, keep it up.