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Muddy Water and Low water  --Vol.2--
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Mary Anne and I do not have a talk between us about which line or fly to use. Each one's choice often brings interesting results.

The salmon and I passed each other

Fossen finally opened. In the forth week of June in 1996 the water fell at last. Salmon that stayed downstream started heading upstream all together. Although the river was not in flood unlike the previous year, Mary Anne and I could go fishing for real catch only from the forth week just like the previous year. Anyway, I felt happy to walk into the water and cast the fly as many times as I wanted. But, alas, I found no fish. Where are those fish that we thought passed Fossen? Although I began to fish in the same condition as the previous year, a lot of things were still mysterious to me.

Two days passed in vain in spite of my expectation. Fortunately there were quite a few anglers in the river, so we could fish anywhere we liked. But there were no fish or even their shadow to be seen.

On the third morning we fished the pool farther upstream. After fishing down to the end of the tail of that long pool, I returned to its head and cast the fly again. The river containing a large amount of snow melting water flowed widely on the bank. The water temperature was 6 degrees C. A faint haze was hanging over the river.
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Mary Anne and I fish down respectively, keeping some distance from each other. The first-goer does not necessarily take an advantage.

Why are no fish to be seen? Is it because the water temperature was so low that they only came upstream quite slowly? Or did they come upstream with such high speed that they had gone far upstream? A lot of unsolved questions occurred to me.

After I fished 10m downstream from the beginning of the head of the pool, I reached the slow-flowing spot between the heart of the stream and the bank. Salmon coming upstream must take a rest here before they swim up the fast current behind me. It is very convincing that there are salmon around here.

I thought so, watching the water surface. Suddenly a giant fish jumped high with its upper part of the body on the surface like tuna or dolphin. It jumped quite near to me. With my heart pounding with excitement, I retrieved the line and immediately cast the fly. Orange Flame was my choice because it had caught two salmon in this pool successively in the previous year. Orange Flame, a brilliant performer, is drifting in front of that giant salmon! That idea made my heart beating so violently with expectation. But I could not feel any pull from the rod tip. I cast the fly again like mad but nothing happened. A few minutes later I gave up with a deep breath. A giant fish was not my illusion. I remembered even its face very clearly.
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I think that women are better at hooking because they are not hot-tempered.

Salmon did not jump. They must have headed upstream quietly underwater like a submarine. They only appeared at the beginning of the head of the pool to say goodbye to the pool. Therefore, it was too late to cast the fly there. But now that I saw the salmon 10m down the head of the pool it had passed me while I had been fishing down for the first trial. Had I lost a good timing? Or did it have no interest in my Orange Flame?Mary Anne behind me
I gave a sign to Mary Anne, who took a rest in the hut on the bank, saying that there was a salmon, a large one and that it passed me, to my regret. Then I motioned her to come and fish behind me.

Mary Anne behind me

I gave a sign to Mary Anne, who took a rest in the hut on the bank, saying that there was a salmon, a large one and that it passed me, to my regret. Then I motioned her to come and fish behind me.
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The salmon which Mary Anne caught when she was fishing behind me. It must have passed me a few minutes before!

That salmon was definitely heading upstream. It was not to be seen like a submarine. It passed me and was still swimming upstream, neglecting my fly. In order to stop that salmon, it must be the best way to put out another dragnet for it.

When I fished 50m down, she walked into the head of the pool and began to cast her line. After turning around to make sure that, I restarted my fishing. When I fished another 20m down I felt a scream among the murmuring of the stream and looked back. Soon I found her rod bending in a large arc without motion and her fist raised in the air. I could not believe my eyes. It can't be true that she has hooked!

Rewinding my line immediately, I walked upstream to her. I still thought in some part of my mind that her hooking was not true. But when I came near to her with my heart pounding, the loud rattling sound of her reel as well as the arc-like bending rod declared me that her hooking was a real thing.
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Mary Anne's Salmon, 113cm, 30lbs. A salmon II reel looked as if it were a trout reel. Male salmon in June are large and beautiful.

Leaning my rod against a tree nearby, I stood by her to help. It was a strong fish. It had already run 50m but still drew out her line inch by inch. The rattling sound of her reel did not stop. Advising her not to do too much, I looked around. There was a slow-flowing spot a little downstream. It was sure that her fish would stop there just like one that I had fought here before.

As I had imagined, the fish ran another 20m down and stopped in the heart of the stream. After several fierce fighting between the salmon and her, she finally succeeded in pulling it to her by strong pumping. When it came up near to the bank I could see its giant head with crooked jaws. There was the same brave face of male salmon that I had seen a little while before.

I watched its face and noticed that Gaula Parson, her favourite fly, was nowhere to be seen. Probably the salmon swallowed the whole fly. Feeling relieved, I walked around to the back of the salmon carefully and pushed it up to the bank with my hand on the base of the tail fin. It was the largest Atlantic salmon I had ever held in my arm. It was 113cm long and weighed 30lbs.
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Mary Anne could not lift her salmon higher with one hand.

When we came back to the hotel with the salmon, every one got excited because it was the biggest of the year so far and also because she caught it when other anglers had got no fish. Above all, what amused them most was that she fished down behind me and caught the fish that had passed me.Three Salmon Again at my Third Year in Norway.

Only one salmon of Mary Anne changed long-lasting dull mood. In the last three days in our stay I caught three fresh fish, just like the previous two years. Although I had believed my progress in preparation, experience and knowledge, I got only the same results as the previous years, at least, judging from the catch. However, I learned that large salmon swam up without being noticed like a submarine even in the bad condition of low water temperature and high water in June. I also learned that salmon easily passed us even when we waited for them, taking all possible measures.
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If I am cool enough to think about the situation, those two things will be thought quite natural. On the contrary, it is an unlikely story that salmon come upstream with their body on the surface or they bite all flies drifted just in front of them. I understand well but that means we have got to keep a severe policy that we should not give up even if there was no sign of fish, in other words, that we should keep casting the line, only expecting the slightest hope.

Muddy Water

There was another happening in June 1996. I have never forgot that. After Mary Anne caught that big salmon, it started raining from late evening and rained hard near dawn. Fortunately, it turned into light rain and we drove to the river with happy expectations. Nevertheless, we were shocked to take a glance of the river from the road. Muddy water filled the whole banks. The water was not so high as flood but I have never seen such dirty and ugly colour of the river. Driving along the river, we found only one angler. He walked into the rising water only a little for fear of slipping. He cast his short line desperately, which told me that he was not an experienced angler. Surely my guess was not wrong. Anglers who fish in that situation either know nothing or are crazy. That high water made me believe so.
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A middle sized salmon. It held 2 inch Rosemary tightly in its mouth.

We drove upstream to see the river condition. Water was still high but became clearer as we came upstream. I thought the fishing condition would be improved soon. We decided to take a rest and drove back toward the hotel. When we passed that only one angler, I found something strange. Manfred Raguse was standing behind him on the bank and a white thing lay at his feet. Noticing that we watched him from the opposite bank, Raguse waved his hand and held up that white thing high in the air. We could see it clearly from 100m away. It was a nice sized salmon! I learned later it weighed 32lbs.
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In the light rain the first salmon finally came to me.

My nightmare again. Somehow feeling regret, I watched it with dumb surprise. Fishing high water and muddy water are, if anything, my strong points. Through fishing experience from my childhood I had learned well what part of the river fish stayed in after a local downpour or a typhoon passed by and how I could fish them. Actually, a few years before I had got a record catch in the muddy River Spey in Scotland. I should have tried here in the River Gaula again.

But it was too late. The river started falling around here. Surely I lost the chance to fish that extraordinary high water.

That angler continued to cast his line in the same spot for another three days in the medium water. But it was unlikely that he would catch his luck again as long as the river did not rise.

After that I began to set myself prepared for fishing salmon in the muddy River Gaula, too.

-- To be continued --
2001/11/04  KEN SAWADA
Tranlated into English by Miyoko Ohtake