I learned some things from trout recently. Like how economic and social conditions can influence behavior. How uppity fish arent much fun to be around and Wallowa County is a good place to be, both for fishing and living.

I was warned that fishing Montanas Beaverhead River would be different from what Im used to. The fish see bushels of flies thrown by herds of fishermen, so theyve learned to tell the difference between a potential meal and when theyre about to be dragged around on the end of a line. Theyre educated. Shrewd. Some call fish such as these sophisticated. And I would go along with that. I noticed that, just like sophisticated people, these fish and I dont have much in common and attempts to change that are mostly a frustrating waste of time on both sides. 

To interest these creatures in eating, you had to tie onto your line the tiniest delicacies and drift them along in a dainty fashion. Like offering bite-size appetizers of caviar and pâté arranged on little platters, instead of my usual fishing approach, which is similar to plopping down some burgers at a potluck and being pretty sure somebody will eat one.   

While learning that I prefer fishing for the more blue-collar trout on uncrowded Wallowa County streams, I also discovered that apparently Im a ninja, who can pluck fish from the river with just my bare hands.  

To be fair, the fish I pulled from the river without using my fly rod was an old rainbow who had spawned out, had a rather gruesome condition where his skin was sloughing off around his head, and wasnt exactly in his prime. Not something you would mount and hang over your fireplace, unless you wanted to frighten people. This codger was holding in the shallows just five feet from where I was standing and fishing for healthier specimens. I started to wade by him and he didnt seem spooked, so I remembered watching a video where a guy demonstrated that if you can reach underneath a fish and give them a belly rub, they calm right down and you can just pull them out of the water. So I did. And it worked. 

I called out to my fishing cohort Dave Kesey so he could admire my feat, but he was downstream so I turned my catch loose. When Dave came back and seemed skeptical about me being a ninja, I went back, found the same fish and did it again. Instead of being impressed, Dave was pretty sure I was getting some terrible skin disease from handling that thing, as he called it.   

I was pretty sure Dave was just jealous, and spent the rest of my time on the Beaverhead doing ninja things, sneaking around in the river breathing through a reed, jumping out of the water to karate kick cigars out of the mouths of startled rich guys. Swatted mosquitoes back at camp with nunchucks I made from two pieces of firewood and a bootlace. Caught caddis flies with chopsticks. Things like that. 

My backflips still need a little work and I havent had a chance to try the bare hand technique again with our rivers still running high, but soon enough the fishing should improve and I look forward to pursuing our fish that dont see hordes of people, lots of pressure and have a world-weary attitude. Which is how I think of Wallowa County in general. And if thats unsophisticated, thats just fine.