Exhilarating! That really the only way to adequately describe finding a hole in a cold, mountain fed river, that’s one inch deeper than your waders are tall. Exhilarating!!!

Lol...that'll do it.

Now to pull out what lives there!!

Don't worry, your plums should drop again sometime in June.

It wasn’t a critter hole. I was carrying a bag of rocks out to water deep enough to drown a beaver. Rocky bottom and shallow. I had to use a 25 foot drowning cable. Since I can’t throw a 50 pound bag of rocks that far, I walk the bag out as far as my boots allow and toss it a little ways further. Then tighten up the cable to the set. Tons of beaver sign but the river is down with the cooler weather. I was just about to launch the bag when I found a small hole between the rocks that was just deep enough to let in a few hundred gallons on icy, snow pack chilled river water.

I did find a few channels for 330s and got out a 330 float. Next check I’ll add some more along the river in likely spots. I’d rather use my boat but with my wife’s dementia, she has to go everywhere with me. Not safe to leave her at home alone. And her in a boat isn’t going to happen. So we trap out of the truck, accessing what we can. She is comfortable in the truck, has the dog for company and some snacks and magazines. It’s better than sitting around the house all day and she likes to see the country. It’s new every time for her.