Launching the Water Master Grizzly on Illipah Reservoir, leaving the Trout Truck to bask in the shoreline grasses. It started as a very tranquil day. |
One of the healthier, more vividly adorned rainbows of the day. Note the ratty Prince Nymph in the corner of his mouth. He was maybe 12 inches, recently stocked this past spring. |
This rainbow fought well, and maybe exceeded 12 inches, but note how thin he was. The Nevada Department of Wildlife stocked 3,746 rainbow trout in May 26, and he was likely one of them. |
One fascination about Illipah, which I’ve never personally satisfied, is the nearby ghost town of Hamilton. Silver was discovered in Treasure Hill in 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War, which led to the creation of the town of Hamilton. In 1868 the silver rush resulted in over 10,000 people coming to the area. White Pine County was formed in 1869 with Hamilton as its seat. At that time there were almost 20,000 people living in Hamilton, and the town site grew to about two square miles. As was the case with most all of these mining boom towns, by 1870 the mining had come to a halt. A fire in 1873 signaled the coming end for Hamilton, and a subsequent fire in 1885 was the coup de grâce, and the county seat was then moved to Ely where it resides today. For a young family wanting to explore remote places in Nevada, Illipah and Hamilton fill the bill. Although the Illipah campsites are somewhat primitive, the BLM maintains the campground with picnic tables, fire pits, windscreens, vault toilets, and trash barrels. As the crow flies, Hamilton is about 7.5 miles southwest of Illipah.
Today’s fishing action was extremely brisk, although no brown trout were landed, and no trout was over thirteen inches. In the six hours I fished, including a 30 minute thunderstorm delay, I hooked 45 rainbow trout, landing 34 and experiencing 11 long-distance-releases. That averages to a hook-up every 8 minutes, and a trout brought to hand every 10.5 minutes. I was pretty busy out there.
The brown trout are the real attraction of Illipah for me. Landing the 17 inch brownie in 2004 on a small emerger nymph in the shallow shoreline was an awesome experience. I hope to replicate that again someday with a larger specimen.
Another handsome rainbow, caught on Denny Rickard's Callibaetis Nymph. There is a self-sustaining
population of brown trout in the reservoir, but I did not catch one on this trip.
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Mystery resides below the surface of the water... |
...such as rather large crayfish. |
A shore-caught trout of about 11 inches. I so enjoy fishing the 7½ footer. |
Despite the trout being considerably smaller than those in Dacey Reservoir last May, I really enjoyed this trip. Normally the weather at Illipah can be close to 90° by mid-summer, but today's cloudy skies and intermittent thunder showers kept the temperature right about 70°, roughly 40° less than it was in Las Vegas… who wouldn’t appreciate that? And while there were a handful of anglers on this Thursday, I really had my run of the reservoir; for all intents and purposes I was angling in solitude.
Speaking of solitude, the driving time was a relished respite from a busy couple of weeks. For most all of the driving I kept the cab quiet except for my conversation with the Lord. As much as I try to make quiet time to be fully in His presence, there seems to always be a distraction or an interruption. I truly savor these trips to simply talk with God, and more importantly, to be able to listen to Him. John 8:47 says “Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.” I don’t ever want to be in a place where the Word is not with me, or where Jesus says I don't belong to Him. I want to be like the young prophet Samuel who replied “Speak, your servant is listening” when he heard God call his name (1 Samuel 3:10). Many are familiar with Jeremiah 29:11 (“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”), but the Lord in verse 12 goes on to say “In those days when you pray, I will listen.” Of course, listening to the Word of God is only part of the battle; being obedient to his instruction is where the rubber meets the road. We must “give heed” to his word (Proverbs 16:20) and “put them into practice” (Matthew 7:24) because “those who hear the word of God and obey it” are blessed (James 1:25).
So, my prayer is that you can be still and hear the voice of the Lord in your life, and let it guide your ways into eternity.
FisherDad taking refuge in Trout Truck, waiting for the thunderstorm to subside. |
So, my prayer is that you can be still and hear the voice of the Lord in your life, and let it guide your ways into eternity.
1 comment:
Great read Mark. Nice to see how well retirement is treating you!
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