I (Ken Welter) posted a trip on Sunday, 4/19, for Wednesday, 4/22. The forecast looked perfect, sunny and mid-70s. By Tuesday evening, though, I hadn’t gotten any responses, so I reluctantly posted a cancellation.

Not long after, I got a text from Larry Mangel. He’d never seen the original post. So just like that, the trip was back on.

Larry, who lives nearby, picked me up at 6 a.m. Wednesday. We arrived, grabbed our tags, suited up, and hit the water. The morning was a bit cooler than expected, but we were both ready with extra layers.

Right away, we noticed the river was cloudy and murky—possibly from the ongoing construction. At the cut bank near the Blue Hole, they’ve added what looks like limestone rock along the river’s edge and up the steep slope. It’s a pretty drastic change, and honestly, it looks a bit unnatural. I think this may have contributed to the water conditions.

We both got into fish early. Larry had success with a blowtorch, and I was using an egg pattern. By afternoon, things warmed up nicely, and the weather turned just about perfect. The fish kept cooperating, which made for a great day overall.

We wrapped things up with a stop at American Taco on the way home. It was Larry’s first visit, and he gave it an enthusiastic stamp of approval.