Thursday, June 17, 2010

I Know It Sounds Fishy, But I Bearly Saw You

I went fishing today.

It was the same place I went last time, but this time, it didn't snow.  Phillips Reservoir is a secluded reservoir that sits between a mountain and a cliff face and offers an incredible view of the Tooth of Time. It was a beautiful day--if a little windy--and the participants caught a lot of little rainbow trout.  Lovely little things, those fish.  When we toss them back in the water, they lay there for a few stunned moments before jumping back to their little fishy action as if they suddenly remembered they left the iron on.

After we had helped the participants tie wet and dry flies onto their leader lines, we let them go forth and fly fish while we enjoyed the sunshine and solitude.

"What is that?" Jenny from England said, pointing to the far end of the lake, where a little inlet stays busy keeping the reservoir full. A brown shadow stood where it had not been only moments before, but even at that distance, I knew what it was.

"That is a bear," I said confidently. 

"Is it?" a participant asked. 

And right on cue, the bear turned its head and they all saw the truth. It surveyed us from afar as our excited voices carried towards it across the surface of the water, then slowly sauntered away.

It probably thought we were stealing its fish.

2 comments:

ldsjaneite said...

I'm not sure how calm I would be if I thought a bear thought I was stealing his fish!

Cheri Kay said...

You saw a bear! That's awesome! I've only seen a bear "in the wild" once, and it was actually just in my neighborhood dozing in the tree across the street.