Mount Rushmore and My Lake Trout

There are two kinds of people in the world…those who have been to and seen Mount Rushmore, and those who haven’t; up until just recently, Vickie was the latter. We had finally arrived in Rapid City, South Dakota and taking the 30 minute drive up Highway 16 was high on our to-do list.

First, I have to back up a bit, about 300 miles to the east; if you have ever been on a vacation, 12 or so hours away from home…and have had your vehicle start to act up, then you know how I felt when I started to smell exhaust coming from our Yukon. The truck wasn’t running hot…the only thing I could tell was a slight lack of power. To save you the boring facts I’ll just tell you that our catalytic converter decided to go out somewhere along I-90. We made it to Rapid City, found a shop to do the work and after a mere $625 we were back in business.

While we were waiting on the truck to be completed…Vickie and I went for a walk as we were in the downtown area already. I have to say that downtown Rapid City is about as cool a place as I have ever seen. One each corner in the downtown area is a bronze statue of all 43 presidents (current Obama not included). Interestingly enough the president directly in front of the shop was our own Hoosier President Benjamin Harrison(#23). From corner to corner we walked, guessed and had a great time just looking at the various statues. The highlight for me came not only when there was a gun store on one corner…but when I found out that the fly shop was located directly behind the gun store!

You can probably guess that I quickly found my way into the fly shop, struck up a conversation with both of the young guys working there…and left with a few ideas of where to fish in the area. After Vickie and I were amazed by Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln (Mt. Rushmore), we turned right on 244 for a few miles, took another right on 385 and in less than 20 minutes crossed over Pactola Dam. My young friends told at the fly shop told me that if I had a float tube…the Stillwater Basin located at the bottom of the dam would be a perfect place for me. So, I took a right just past the northern edge of the dam and we dropped down about ¾ mile through some pretty rugged stuff…and there before me was one of the most beautiful sights I have seen. Water was rushing out of the bottom of the dam and the basin was just a collection point…then there were a pair of locks (that were full open due to recent rains) allowing water to once again form Rapid Creek.

To say that I was excited was an understatement. My alarm was set for 4:15am the following morning…as it felt like we were living in the “land of the mid-night sun”. By 4:50am I as backing my Creek Company ODC 420 into the very, very cold basin water. I had my 6 weight rod, Rio sink-tip line and one of my dependable smallmouth patterns on from back home. The view sitting in my little tube, looking up several hundred vertical feet at the dam…let’s just say that it was awe inspiring!

I quietly stripped off about 40 feet of line, un-hooked my shad colored fly and made a couple false casts before sending the line toward the base of the dam. Frankly I didn’t know if I was in the right place, had the right fly, or would even catch a thing? My 5^th cast answered all my questions as what felt like a lightning bolt on the other end of my fly line had me strip-setting…and folks it didn’t take long to know that I had hooked into something big; something was now the most intriguing part. What big fish was now hooked onto the other end of my rod? I even had a quick negative thought…”Could I have hooked into a carp or a sucker”? What seemed like forever was, in reality, probably about 3 minutes…there before me in the cool, clear water was a trout, a big trout and a trout that I hadn’t ever caught before!

I took my time, kept tension on the fish and quickly got the rest of the line onto my reel; I also took time to adjust the drag so that it would allow line to ‘ease’ out. I moved the rod lower onto my elbow so that I could better support the pull from the fish…and waited. Line would go out, I would once again reel it in, then out, then in…and for about the next 5 minutes I was at the mercy of the fish. I readied my large stream net and raised my rod tip high, then slipped the net under and in an instant there was a 27 inch Lake Trout resting on my lap. I must say that at that very moment I was one proud fly-fishing papa…and for me the next big step was going to be taking a picture, by myself…and not losing the beast.

As you can see from the photo above…I was able to snap a few pictures and then carefully release and watch as my Rushmore Trophy slowly meandered its way back towards the dam and the clear water that awaited it. It is, pure and simple…moments like this that keep me going, getting up early, walking the miles; all in the pursuit of Enjoying the Great Outdoors.