Green Eye'd Catt

What a great afternoon to be on the water. Bumped into Phil and had a great time talking his ear off. Thanks for tolerating my nonstop blabber! Phil had been on the water since 7 and I interrupted his tranquility shortly after 2. I noticed him approaching from a distance, he was heading up stream and I was working a pool he would soon intercept. As he got closer we exchanged small talk at a near shout, just loud enough for our voices to carry over the thin braid of rushing water that stretched in front of us. After the customary "hows the fishing?", we got right down to business. Heading directly to a particular run that has been good to us in the past week, We rotated through it's seams and current breaks, all while bantering back and forth about patterns, steelhead nymph rigs and the willow sprouts on the far bank, that seem to reach out and grab at our flies with every gust of wind. Advancing through the run, it was easy to get lost in the flow. Water quietly lapped against exposed rocks and appeared to match in 3/4th time with our drift/step rhythm. After some time passed between hookups, I began to lapse in and out of a focused, fish catching, tunnel vision. My concentration was waning but it was difficult to pull away. Finally, I sat back on the bank, resting the pool and my eyes. In the moment I took to look around, I saw steelhead porpoise in the tail out, osprey soaring overhead and a scarlet sun as it dropped below the trees. In my opinion, there is no more beautiful time to be an outdoorsman in WNY.