A Friend From France: Day 3

“It's nice to finally meet you.” Gracy said, shaking hands with Eric Bacon for the first time since he had arrived at our home.

“Yes, it is nice to meet you too.” Eric said back. 

Gracy explained how she thought I had made Eric up as an excuse to go fly fishing for a few days in a row, and Eric chimed in with his own theory...

“You know, I thought Erik had made up having a wife.” Eric said, smiling at me. “I wasn’t sure if he was just saying he had a wife to try and look normal...”

“And then he will kidnap you when you least expect it?” Gracy said, to finish Eric’s sentence.

“Yes!” Eric said laughing, and they both looked over at me.

“I’m not sure if I like that both of your theories involve me being the crazy one.” I said.

“You are the crazy one.” Gracy added. 

“Crazy about fly fishing.” Eric said, adding a nice cushion to Gracy’s sentence.  

I lifted my tea mug up to salute what Eric had just said, and Eric returned the gesture. With our gear packed into Eric’s Jeep, Gracy and I piled in to head up to McCall. The three of us had an interesting conversation about the cultural differences between France and the U.S. in regards to social living and politics. The topic was so interesting that it made the trip up to the trailhead seem short, and before we knew it we were on the trail to the lake.

“This is so beautiful!” Eric said, pulling out his camera for a picture.

“You came here at a perfect time, because all of the trees and bushes are changing to their fall colors.” I said, stopping on the trail for Eric to snap a picture.  

“Sorry.” Eric said, as he turned a few degrees to snap another picture, then again to snap another.

“Don’t worry about it, we have all day.” I reassured.  We started walking again, but only made it another fifty feet before Eric stopped again to take more pictures.

“I am sorry, this is just so beautiful.” He said, snapping a few more shots.

“This is nice, but wait until we get to the lake… if we ever get there.” I said with a smile.

Gracy was following just behind us with our little dog, Kiwi, as we continued our hike.

“So, so sorry…” Eric said again, stopping and pulling out his camera to get a shot of the brilliant fall colors.

“All if my pictures from this trip have been fish pictures only, until today.” Eric said smiling. “It will be a nice change when my kids see the photos.”

“Gee, I don’t know what that’s like.” Gracy said, glancing at me as we started walking.

“Hey! I take nice pictures.” I said back.

“Of fish!” Gracy said.

“True…” I said with a smirk.

“I am the same.” Eric said, stopping again for a few more pictures.

“You go first.” I said to Eric who was just behind me.

“Me?”

“Yes, the lake is just up this hill and I want you to see it first.” I explained.

“Okay!” He said with a smile, and Gracy and I followed until the lake came into view.  Eric stopped walking, looked over at Gracy and I with a smile, and pulled his camera out of his pocket.

The one thing that can grab the attention of any dedicated angler is a rising fish, and when we saw the ripple of one next to the shore it didn’t take long for Eric and I to slap our rods together and start fishing.

Gracy and Kiwi continued over to the far end of the lake to sit on the big rock that offered a nice view, while Eric and I slapped our flies down around the border of the lake. My fly sat motionless on the surface of the lake, and after a few seconds I gave it a little twitch. The small commotion enticed a cruising fish. With the clear water, I watched as the fish switched directions to dart towards my fly. The bright bronze color of the fish became more noticeable as it rose closer to the surface, and its mouth opened to take to my fly.

“There’s one!” I said, lifting my rod tip to set the hook.

“Nice.” Eric said as he glanced over, but then went right back to fishing.

I brought out my camera to get an underwater shot of the fish after it had tired a bit, and I took several shot to ensure a good photo.

I was back to fishing as soon as my fish kicked away. Eric had gotten a hit but was unable to connect with the fish. I was having that same problem after that first fish. Every time a fish came up to eat, I felt the slight pressure of the fish before my fly sprang out of its mouth. We both felt that we had fished these spots enough to move on.

Eric had his camera out again, and was taking picture as we walked to the next spot to fish.

“This is so beautiful.” Eric said, gesturing to the lake.

“I’m glad you like it.” I said.

“Everything is perfect. I hope you know how good you have it here.” He said, taking in his surroundings.

“I have not been to many places away from home, but I know that this is where I belong.” I said back.

“That’s good.” Eric said, as we approached a spot to stop and fish.

“You take this rock, and I will go over there.” I said, pointing to a small spot to stand just a bit further away.

“Good luck.” Eric said, and we went back to fishing.

I pulled out my leader to start roll-casting out into the lake, when I saw a small rise near where Eric was fishing.  Eric quickly readjusted his cast, and sent his fly out where he had seen the rise. I watched in slight suspense because I really wanted Eric to hook into a fish here. Just then a fish rose, and Eric ripped his line up to set the hook.

“Yes!” I said, and ran over to get some video of Eric bringing in his fish.

“I love fishing the U.S.A.!” Eric said with excitement, and I quickly stuck my Go-Pro under the water to get some video of his fish.

“This is a very beautiful fish.” Eric said, as he tried to get a hold of it for a picture.

“There it is.” I said, after Eric got a hold of his fish and held it up for a picture.

Eric set his fish into the water, and it shot off so fast that it was almost startling.

“Fast as a snake!” Eric said to me, “And you know why.”

“Yes.” I said, remembering our run-in with the bull snake at the South Fork the previous day.

“Where did Gracy go?” Eric asked.

“She is over there on the big rock with Kiwi. She has our sandwiches if you are getting hungry.”

“We will fish over to her.” He recommended, and we started on our way.

Eric and I caught a few fish as we approached the big rock, and when we got there Gracy was happy to hand us our snack for the afternoon.

“1, 2, 3…” Eric said, pointing at the camcorder, Go-Pro, and still-shot camera I had on me for the day.

“Do you always take this many cameras with you?” He asked.

“No, I have these cameras so I can take video of you to remember your trip.” I said.

“He also makes videos for his dad.” Gracy added.

“Yeah, my dad loves watching videos of my brothers and I fly fishing.” I said, “Are you ready to start fly fishing again?”

“Yes, but I want a picture of us at this spot.” Eric said.

“Yes, of course.” I said, as Gracy took Eric’s camera and mine to snap a few picture of us.

It wasn’t long after we had casted our flies when Eric hooked into a fish. The process of bringing it in was more complicated than the fight with the fish itself. In order to land this fish Eric had to shimmy around a pine tree that blocked his way to the water’s edge. I showed up quickly to grab Eric’s fly rod as he handed it to me to get around the pine tree. I quickly handed it back, and Eric was able to bring in the fish.

“This is a perfect way to end my fly fishing trip.” Eric said, after we had fished our way back to the trail that would lead us to the car. 

“I'm glad you enjoyed coming out here.” I replied. 

“Yes, this is definitely something I would have never done myself.” Eric said, pulling out his camera to take one last shot of the lake. 

As we hiked back to the car, the sun had repositioned to light up the hillside far more brilliantly than on our hike in, and there was no way Eric could pass it by without a few more pictures.

“So much of my trip is pictures of fish.” Eric said, as we hiked out, “So far I have over 150 pictures of fish and rivers of my trip. Today, I took over 200 pictures, and my family will be happy to see something other than fish.” 
“I did the same thing when I went to my first alpine lake.” I said. 
“Oh, look at this!” Eric said, stopping on the trail. “The dead trees surrounded by the grasses, pine trees, and yellow colors is exactly what reminds me of the American North West.” 
Eric snapped a few pictures then stopped to breathe in the fresh air of Idaho’s backcountry. A smile grew on his face as he looked over my way... “Okay, I am ready.” 

Kiwi led the way as we continued to walk out, and it wasn't long before we had reached the cars to end the day. 

We all had a beverage of choice waiting for us back at the car, and it was a welcomed treat after a day in the backcountry. On the way home we plugged in Eric phone to listen to a playlist his son, Tom, had created for him. I was surprised to hear that Eric was an enormous fan of American metal music, and when the electric guitar started whaling over the speakers in the car, Eric's face lit up. 
“Yes! Now I feel at home.” He said as we met his smile with our own, and I turned up his music for the rest of the drive home.

I am very happy Eric took me up on the offer to stay at my house to finish off his fly fishing trip to the U.S.A. He spent four days with me, and it all flew by so fast. The new techniques I have learned from Eric will be adopted and used in my own ways from now on, with the idea that I will only become more diverse in my ability to target and catch difficult fish. Before catching his plane the next day, Eric offered me the opportunity to tie and sell Jacques's Magic Fly at Anglers. 
“To have his fly sold in an American fly shop would be a great tribute to Jacques. It would have made him very happy.” Eric told me, handing me a few to copy. I promised Eric that I would let anglers know about Jacques and his magic fly when they buy it, and how and when to use it. Eric was satisfied by this, and I will be sure to send him other people's success storied when using the magic fly. So until next year, I say au revoir to my friend Eric, and await for his return next year. 

A small fly fishing video I made for Eric fly fishing in the U.S.A.

P.S. The recent attack in Paris had me thinking about Eric, Christian, and their friends and families. I am happy to report that Eric and Christian were both out fly fishing and they, along with their families, are ok. I was relieved to hear my friends were ok, but my sympathies go out to so many others who were not so fortunate. #PrierpourParis

A Friend From France: Day 2

“I have to tell you...” Eric Bacon said, as we started our drive to the South Fork of the Boise. Eric was visiting the USA from France, and the other day, out of the twenty years he has been fishing here, was the first time he had ever encountered a prime trico hatch. 

“...After getting back so late from the river the other day, it was so hard to wake up at 5 a.m.  When my alarm went off it felt like I had gotten no sleep, and I wanted to press my snooze so bad, but then I remembered... the tricos are coming.” 

“Was it a good day for you yesterday?” I asked.  

Eric just smiled... “It was better than good, it was fantastic. Even better than when we went the day before!” 

“I am happy to hear you say that.” I said back clearly, because another reason for his visit the United States is to keep up on his English. Although most of the time Eric spends in the United States is alone on a river, so there is little English being practiced. 

“This is the spot.” I told Eric, as we drove along the river. Eric pulled over and we started to put our fly rods together. 

“Do you think we will see any rising fish?” Eric asked.

“100% sure!” I said. 

“I love your confidence.” Eric said, as we finished putting on our gear to walk to our spot.    

The heavy gusts of wind disturbed the water so badly that it was almost impossible to spot rising fish, but they were definitely rising. 

“They will be feeding on a midge or a blue-winged olive.” I said, as we caught glimpses of rising fish in between the bursts of riffled water. 

Seeing the fish was hard enough, but presenting a fly was even more difficult. I would get my barring down and make my cast only to have my fly blown too far downstream to catch the fish. Furthermore, when we did get a good presentation the fish were refusing the flies we were offering.  

I was running out of midge and blue-winged olive patterns to try as the sun rose over the eastern canyon wall, and I looked over at Eric who was also struggling. 

“Screw it!” I said, mad at the fish, and tied on a size 26 midge. The small midge was hard to get ahold of as I plucked it from my box. A size 26 midge is so small that I bet you could fit ten of them on a dime, and it was not a fly I wanted to fish with today because it was so hard to see.

“Refuse that!” I said, and casted my fly over to the rising fish. My line turned over nicely, but my fly disappeared as it hit the water. The only thing I could do now was guess where my fly landed and set the hook if I think a fish ate it. A fish did rise, but it was a little further downstream than where I thought my fly was. I shot my rod up to recast, and to my surprise a fish was attached to my line. 

“Eric, I got one!” I yelled, as my fish made its presence known. All the commotion my fish was making on the surface of the water had me concerned it would spook the other rising fish. I tilted my fly rod off to the side to bring my rod tip parallel to the water to keep it from thrashing on the surface. I scooted over towards Eric as I brought in my fish so he could see the fly I was using.

“Oh my goodness.” Eric said, as he strained to see the small fly, barely visible on my fingertip. 

“I do not have anything that small.” 

“Well, I can give you some.” I said back, while I released my fish.

“No, I cannot see something that small on the river.” Eric said, and pulled out his fly box in search of a small fly. 

“I will try this one.” He said after some digging, and tied it on. 

“Do you see the fish rising over there?” I asked, pointing to the spot where I just was. 

“Yes, but those are your fish.” Eric said. 

“No, it’s okay. I want you to catch one.” I said, and Eric smiled.

“When it comes to fly fishing, you do not need to tell me twice.” Eric’s smile got bigger as he calmly approached the fish and got more serious. I stayed back to observe his approach to the fish, and it wasn’t long before he had hooked into one.

“What fly did you use?” I asked as Eric brought in his fish. 

“It is a small Blue-Winged Olive fly that Christian tied.” Eric said, keeping his focus on the fight as he unclipped his net to land the fish. The fish was tiring, so Eric lifted his rod high and slipped his net under the struggling fish.  

“There you go!” I yelled, as Eric’s fish flopped into the net.

“This is a very pretty fish.” He said unhooking the fly from its mouth, and holding the fish in the water before it kicked away.  

The fish left Eric’s hands slowly, and we both watched as it swam out of sight.

“That is the best part.” Eric said after the fish was fully out of sight. He gathered his leader and redressed his fly to go back to fishing.

Fish were still rising, and the wind had died down a bit but was still present. In the center of the river a fish rose more aggressively than the rest, causing a slight splash. A fish feeding on a caddis usually causes this kind of feeding behavior, but it had only happened once so I didn’t switch my fly. Eric, on the other hand, did switch his fly and launched a nice cast out to where he had seen the aggressive rise.

“There!” I heard him yell, and looked over to see he was fighting a fish. By the time I had reached Eric, he already had his fish landed and was ready for a picture.

Eric dipped his fish back into the water, and it kicked away.

“That one took a caddis.” Eric said, so I opened my box of caddis flies to select one to tie on.

“I will try that over here.” I said, and walked back to the fish that I was working before Eric caught his fish. The fish were still feeding when I returned, and I pitched out my caddis fly and watched as a head came up and ate it.

“The Caddis fly!” I yelled for Eric to hear, and he gave me a positive thumbs up as I fought the fish. Though the fish was not very big, it was putting up a hell of a fight. The little fish was ripping out line faster than a snow-speeder taking down an imperial walker. The fish tired after a few runs, and I scooped it up in my net to unhook my fly.

After my fish swam off, I immediately went back to fishing. With the sudden success of my caddis, I figured the next fish would be hooked very soon… I was wrong. Sometimes this happens: you pick a fly, it works once, and then it never works again. I call it a one hit wonder, because it makes you wonder why it even worked the first time.

“I got one!” Eric yelled, taking my attention away from choosing a new fly.

“Looks like a nice one!” I yelled back.

“Yes, this one is bigger than the rest.” Eric said, as his fish thrashed on the surface.

“Oh my goodness, this is a very nice fish.” Eric said again, as the fish took off for a second run. I stayed quiet while Eric’s fly rod doubled over as he fought to control the fish.

“Again!” He said, after he had brought in the fish, and it bolted away for a third run.

“Were you able to see it?” I asked.

“Yes.” He answered back, but was distracted when the fish went for a fourth run. Lucky for Eric, the fourth run was the fish’s last. Eric’s arm was getting tired, but the fight was over. He brought his rod tip high to scoop up the fish, but I was able to get my camera underwater to capture a cool shot.

“Nice job!” I said, after Eric had scooped it up.

“Yes.” He said back, “This is a very nice fish.”

“Well, let’s get a nice picture of it!” I said with excitement, as Eric held up his prize.

Although we could still see some rising fish, we decided to go check out a new spot on the river. Eric had fastened his fly to his fly rod to start walking back to the car, when I hooked into a fish.

“This always happens right when I decided I want to leave a spot.” I said, fighting the fish.

“I know what you mean.” Eric said, as I netted my fish.

I quickly dumped the fish out of my net, and after a quick glance back to the rising fish to wonder if we should leave or not, we decided it was worth checking out new water.

We got back to the car and started heading upstream when we saw something crossing the road.

“A snake!” I said, as Eric drove by it.

“Let’s take a look.” He said, stopping quickly and pulling off the road.

“Is it dangerous?” Eric asked, as he walked up to the snake that was crossing the road.

“No, it’s a bull snake.” I said, turning on my Go-Pro to get some footage of the snake. Despite it not being as dangerous as a rattlesnake, we both kept a safe distance as to not aggravate the snake; that was until I stuck my Go-Pro in its face.

The bull snake pulled itself back from the Go-Pro, which I thought would make for a cool shot; and then I heard, WACK!

The bull snake had just struck my Go-Pro, and I jolted back like I had just gotten shocked... only more clumsy. Eric started laughing at the situation, as I looked to see if there were any marks on my Go-Pro. Seeing none, I went back to filming as the snake slithered off the road and into the bushes. 
Sadly, the snake incident was the most action we had while looking for a new place to fish, and after a while of fishing our new spot we went back to our original spot to finish off the evening. We knew immediately it was a good choice, because Eric ended up catching a nice fish after no more that ten minutes back.

“What fly did it take?” I asked Eric after he let his fish go. 

“The magic fly!” He said with a smile. 

“That’s fantastic! The magic fly strikes again!” I said. 

The closest thing I had to the magic fly was a small midge I tied on, but it wasn’t working as well. Further downstream, Eric was hooked into another nice fish, so I made my way down to get a picture.

“Ooooh, that’s a nice one.” I said, “Look at the spots on its lips.”   
“Yes, it is a very beautiful fish.” Eric said, before he slid the fish out of his net. I headed back upstream, and before I could make a cast Eric had on another fish. 
“The magic fly!” He yelled up to me, and I started to make my way back downstream to him. 
“No, no! Don’t worry about me, you fish.” He said fighting his fish.  I didn’t waste any time getting my fly out in front of some rising fish, and to my surprise one took. 

Eric was hooking into fish like he was a human gill net, as I continued struggling to get a refusal. I kept thinking that I needed a magic fly, and that I will never come out here without one ever again. Eric hooked into his last fish of the night, and decided to head back to the car to gear down. I had to catch one more fish before I headed in, so I stayed a little longer. There were a few more fish starting to rise, but nothing prepared me for what happened after the light left the canyon. To say fish where rising everywhere still wouldn’t be a good enough description as to how many fish were rising. It was as if an entire legend of trout piled into this long stretch of river, and all started feeding at once. There was no timing the fish and no selecting a single fish, because there were too many to keep one in sight. Fish were leaping completely out of the water to eat, with no fear of being picked off by a raptor overhead. This is what I live for, I thought as I was in complete awe at the sight of so many fish rising. I snapped out of my trance, and pitched my fly in the middle of the action. BLAM! A fish completely came out of the water to take my fly, and I set the hook fast. This fish was pissed at the world. It leapt out of the water again and again, then bolted downstream so fast that I had hardly had time to adjust my drag to keep it from getting away.

My line was nearly in my backing, and the fish was too far to see as it jumped out of the water. The distant sounds of splashing cracked through the breeze as I scrambled to follow the fish downstream. I was now reeling in fly line fast to land my fish, but it wasn’t giving up that easy. It pulled me further and further downstream, almost to the point where I was half way to the car before I could stand my ground. After an epic battle, I was able to net my fish in almost no light at all. I pulled out my camera to get a picture, but it was too dark: every shot I took came out too blurry to see anything, because the fish was still squirming to get away. I was able to get my fly out of its mouth, and the fish did not hesitate to escape when I dipped the net into the water. 

“Did you get one more?” Eric asked as I approached the car.
“Yes!” I said, and told him the details of the fight. The night temperature had dropped significantly, so we geared down fast to get back to Boise. 
“So, tomorrow we try something new?” Eric asked. 
“Yes, I will take you to an alpine lake near McCall... I know you will love it.” I said. 
“Will Gracy come with us?” He asked. 
“No, because we will go too early for her.” 
“I would like Gracy to come with us, so let’s leave later so she can join us.” 
“I am sure she will like that.” I said, “She will be happy to meet you. She hasn’t seen you ever since you arrived and is starting to think you do not exist. She tole me the other day, when you went to fish the Owyhee on the second day, that I had made you up as an excuse to go fishing for a few days straight.” 
Eric started laughing at this, and said, “Well tomorrow she will know for sure, and we will all go to the alpine lake together.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” I said, and we drove home safe and sound.