Saturday, August 5, 2017

The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Da Feet

None of you know this, so it's a new revelation.

Some years ago my feet started going numb. Went through the whole neurology thing and the final decision was that 40% of the people that have "Peripheral Neuropathy" don't know why they have it or where they got it. It's kind of like having your feet shrink wrapped.
   
Years ago I worked for an oil company down in Sacramento. One of the stupid things we did was remove the markings on the drums with Acetone, bare handed. Didn't think a thing of it. One time while I was in the hospital I mentioned it to a nurse and she asked if I've ever worked with hazardous materials. I related the two sentences above and she said, that's it. That's why you have the Neuropathy.

Well as the years went by, it slowly crept up my legs to about mid-calf. Which brings me to the title of this post. Yes, the agony of da feet.

For our fishing yesterday I gave Yuki the option of bait dunking at Bear River Reservoir (they planted this week) or fly fishing on Silver Fork Creek. He opted for the latter. As is typical with creek fishing so is rock hopping. Very bad for feet with Peripheral Neuropathy. Even though I say my feet are numb, if I step on a rock barefooted, I go straight through the roof. So, a half mile of rock hopping is agony of da feet.

On top of that, I did not see a single fish, nor did Yuki, nor did the guys on the other side of the creek. It was a complete washout so enjoy the pictures of the creek.






Let me also say, that I'm in pain this morning. Come on, I'm going to be 71 next week. Give me a break.

We packed up and headed for Bear River Reservoir. The spot by the dam where we usually fish was not occupied, although there was a couple a little further away from the dam so we parked there.

Yuki set up two rods with Power Eggs and I set up two rods with the usual (rainbow Power Bait of course).

While I was able (you'll see why), I took a couple pictures.


Across, the dam on the right 
Oh look, Mark with a fish

Wow, another fish

Holy Cow Batman, they're coming in droves
Now this I have to comment on. That yellow rod holder is one of the tire chocks from my travel trailer that Yuki decided would be a good rod brace. He actually used two. My trailer is in the shop for warranty repairs so I had them under the back seat. Worked pretty well for him. I made sure they got back home with me.

Tire chock rod holder

Oh look, another fish

Let me see if I can put the rod down before another bite.
No, I didn't catch all the fish. Yuki caught two. He kept one and threw the other back. Too small.

I caught nine. 

Into the ice chest for smoking.
We ended up (The Thrill of Victory) with two limits of about 10" stockers that Yuki took for smoking.

So there you have it. The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Da Feet. 

Guest post tomorrow. 

Stay tuned.  

4 comments:

  1. Those of us with neuropathy feel your pain Mark. There are days when I prefer not to wear shoes and opt for sandals because they put less pressure on the feet. Silver Fork looks beautiful. No fish there?

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  2. Silver Fork Creek is gorgeous... Sorry no fish, and even sorrier about da feet. Looks like things have a way of evening out though, looks like you slayed them at the reservoir!

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  3. Mark
    No fun getting old for sure, there has to be some trout hiding somewhere in that beautiful creek. The best advice I can give you for the da feet is keep landing those trout!!!

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  4. That creek looks like a beautiful place! Really awesome to see you getting in to fish! Bill has the best advise for you with da feet problem :)

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