North Park - May 31 - June 2, 2024

 

Quick 48 hour trip up to North Park for some fishing and friends.

Got some beer, gas and cash on the way up. Stopped by North Park Anglers to some intel - shout out to Rob for hooking me up with some Pat's Rubber Legs and info on the rivers. 

Hit a local river in late afternoon - water was high and off color, but used a big chubby and a Pat's along the edges and got a few - including a brookie in that drainage is strange. 

Hit the stillwater for drinking and camping. 

First time I tried my camping setup this year - pulled the jet boil, propane bottle, small pots and lighter and cooked me up some Peak 2 meals - it was a great setup and quick and easy. 

Shout out to LaBatt Blue for fueling the weekend.

 First night in the SmittyBilt RTT - set up easy, was warm and sturdy. 

Up at 6am and on the water in the float tube - we were all into fish right away. 

The guys got some great fish - all in deep water. I forgot my plumbobber, so fished as deep as 15ft, hooked and landed a small one (18 inches and fat cuttbow), but lost a huge 24" rainbow due to me being a knucklehead and not using a plumbobber. 

Wind came up at 11 and blew us off. Fished another stillwater with no luck - then a rain and wind storm came rolling in. 

Hit a local river/slough that was beautiful water - off colored and high, but fishable. 

I couldn't buy a fish. 

Was done in the early evening and headed back to camp. 

Helped (with a beer in my hand) fix a broken strut spring on a camper - a fellow camper/angler (Gene) was an expert welder and drop 3.5 hours round trip to his house to get his welder and tools. Gene fixed it up new in under an hour - amazing work! 

A few other friends showed up and we shot the sh!t and drank some beers for a couple hours. 

In the roof top tent and in bed by 9pm. 

Around 11pm a rain/lightning/thunder storm came up and the wind blew probably 50mph in gusts. 

The roof top tent did great - although I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was going to flip it over on top of me and someone would have to write "died in tent taco accident" on my obituary. 

Up the next morning at 6am and was first on the water. 

I kicked my ass out across the lake.

I had a plumbobber with me this time, but honestly I had no clue how to use it. 

Dropped it down to 20ft and immediately hooked up on a big fish, he spun me around the anchor a couple times, but the damn bobber didn't slip down my line. I tried to maually release it, but I popped the fish. Damn it! 

Other pontoons and tubes started showing up - and the wind died to nothing. 

We all sat there from like 7-10am with no fish caught. At about 10:30 we had 2 guys catch fish - nothing else. 

I was off the water and on the way home at 11:15am.

Uneventful 3 hour drive home. 

Great weekend guys - thanks for setting it up and good seeing some old timers from the FF and RMF boards! 

Not a ton of fish, but a ton of fun!