July 3, 2017
A few weeks ago, I was making my way down river (from the Upper Camp) to fish one of the LaPoile River’s better-known pools. It was around 7 pm and the skies were blue. Just as I approached the first river crossing (at Old Camp Pool), the skies ‘opened up’ and, man, did it rain! And the skies were still blue. I guess its called a sun shower – a new experience for this old dog. Anyway, the strange weather produced a very nice rainbow (see photo). I thought maybe this is a good omen. So, I continued on my journey – another 20-minute walk to said pool, stopping only to photo a small group of curious Woodland Caribou. It was still pouring rain when I arrived and made my first few casts. As the showers let up, I was about half way through the pool and, bingo, this nice grilse (see photo) grabbed my Green Machine and we’re off to the races! A very exciting few minutes as he or she raced from one end of the pool to the other and back again; in and out of the water trying to toss that fly. Following the rules of catch and release, I brought the fish in fairly quickly (while trying to take some pictures – not easy!) and removed the fly without touching the fish. Not even a split second of hesitation – Mr. Salmo wasted zero time in returning to the depths of that pool! Probably wondering “What the hell just happened?”. So, I didn’t find a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow – but I did find a beautiful Silver Leaper! Scott Smith