I decided to fish the Stave today at first light. After parking my car in the dark, I slowly made my way to the river by walking about 15 minutes. Went I got to my chosen spot, there was only 1 fly fisher fishing next to me. As the day became brighter and brighter, more people came and pretty soon the old Stave River gong show is in full swing. At first a couple of float fishers squeezed in next to me. We timed our casts and it wasn't too bad. Later on 3 bottom bouncers decided to fish beside me. Two of them kept tangling each other up with me between them. So I asked they bottom bounce next to each other instead. Interestingly, the 3rd bottom bouncer who came by himself on my right wasn't tangling too much. He was hooking more fish than anybody else and almost all in the mouth. The other bottom bouncers were foul hooking them quite a bit, but they did legally land one. Looking around, I'd say probably half the fish hooked were foul hooked. I hooked about 6 but found it hard to land them. Those sharp teeth keep cutting the line or they were foul hooked and the fish just takes off. Eventually, I hooked a 16 buck chum in the mouth and beached him. Just went I was ready to celebrate the first fish landed of the day, the rod snaps and breaks off. Oh well, thank goodness it was cheap rod.
Although it's not peak season yet and not everybody is catching, it is possible to catch something if you put the time in. On my way home, I noticed a white truck tipped over on its side. The shoulder is narrow and has a ditch near by, but the driver went for it anyways. He did have a green new driver stick on the back. Poor guy is going to need a tow truck and possibly some body work done.