Underneath The Ripples

Fishing in the Tuesday morning fishing club this last week, my partner left around noon. It looked like such a perfect morning for big browns, but alas nothing landed over 14 inches. I decided to take one last hike to the first big bend and pool corner at "paradise" on the Root River. There was a nice 30 yard stretch up to a big submerged rock with a little ripple on top, and a deep 45degree bend in the river with a deep pool past that. I kept thinking that I was gonna pull a nice brown out from around that rock if I could just present her the right pattern/depth and drift.

Well, I picked up a nice 14 inch brown on a #14 cream CDC emerger pattern. The cast was a long 40ft up stream past the rock and "pow". Then another 11 inch after that on a stonefly pattern.

The wind was blowing this whole time and I kept concentrating on the rock ahead and moving further into the middle of the river to get a better cast angle. Well I'm in up to my thighs (slow water) in small rock and sand and decided to change flys. So I looped up my line, cut a fly and as i was about to tie on a pheasant tail pattern the wind died down completely and I could see the bottom of the river ahead of me as clear as can be. I stared into the water with my polaroids and then stared again.
It was at that moment I realized that 10 feet in front of me and 5ft down in the water were 20 to 30 brown trout in the 12 to "20 inch range all together in a feeding lane. I just stood there for 5 min. and watched them feed. Of course I tied on a big weighted stonefly pattern to get down there in a hurry and tempt the larger trout only to catch the only rock in the bottom of the feeding lane on my first cast. God has a sense of humor. Of course I had to move forward and disgourge the fly from the rock and watch that lunchroom scatter for safer waters.

I say this this morning to remind myself that when there are winds blowing and waves on the water, it might appear as if there is nothing good insight, when in fact if we'd just slow down and wait, we might just find that God has something remarkable sitting right under our feet. It could be healing, new friends, ministry opportunities, job opportunities or possibly God just letting you know that in this world you will have troubles, but he can and will make good out of every situation and opportunity around you even if you can't see it, or even if someone else gets to catch the fish that day. :)