Text/Photo: Johan Egerhäll
It´s a calm and cloudy night. I see a fish break the surface and catch a mayfly. It´s dry-fly time. I’m looking at my 5-weight rod, which I brought for the grayling. Thinking: Hello action!!!
Seconds later my streaking caddie is laying there, high on the surface just waiting for a trout to come and take it. I wait a minute, two, five minutes and I’m starting to think about other things, then suddenly I hear a big slurp followed by a huge splash. Instinct reacts and makes the strike. The rod bends beautifully for a few seconds then the thin 0,16mm leader brakes. ARRGGHH…! I couldn’t find any more surface feeding fish that evening but I knew that I needed revenge.
The following morning I packed my backpack and left camp for a trip to a small lake in the woods called “May Lake”. I reached the shore on the other side of Wolf Lake where the trail to May begins. As I sat foot on dry land I suddenly remembered that someone told me there are bear in these woods. And there I was, all alone in the middle of it. I remember walking through the woods shouting out random words like a crazy person to let the bears know that I was coming. I finally reached May Lake and as I was gliding out on the water I was hoping to find some surface feeding fish. I approached a calm, beautiful little bay and from a distance I could see the trout gently breaking the surface. The only problem was that the fish shared the bay with a group of gigantic angry beavers that smacked their tails and dived as I was entering the bay. And BAM! In an instance all surface feeding stopped…
In despair I started to throw some streamers out there hoping that there would still be a fish or two left in the bay. But nothing! Suddenly I hear a huge splash from a beaver behind me and as I turn around I see a big trout feeding between the angry animal and me. Seconds later my streaking caddie lands gently on the surface and almost instantly the trout broke the surface and took it. Yes!
The fight was intense on my 5-weight but after a while I could finally land my first lake trout on a dry.
On the way home that evening there was a happy,crazy Swede walking through the woods shouting out random words that popped up in the mind.
Over and out. Johan
