(SitNews) Klawock, Alaska - There were two people where I wanted to fish, so I kept walking. I found a spot that looked good enough so I waded out and proceeded to catch nothing. I checked my depth to make sure my gear bag didn’t dip into the water since it’s not waterproof and I’m paranoid after losing an expensive camera to submersion earlier this year. It was dry, but had every zipper open. Lazy.

I didn’t like the spot, so I took off into the woods and started back to my truck. I’d never been on this trail before, because there wasn’t a trail. Thankfully the forest canopy was thick enough to keep the bush growth at bay. Still the going around roots, and small rock cliffs was tough.

I made it back to the truck, threw my junk in the bed and drove a few miles down the road. There was a little gravel edge which wasn’t quite big enough to be a full-fledged fishing pull out. I’d never seen anyone parked there, but wanted to check anyway. The best fishing spots obviously aren’t marked with asphalt parking lots and neon lights.

I was directly south of the river, so I checked the compass on my phone and headed straight north through high grass, thick brush then a dense, muddy patch of skunk cabbage with the occasional tree.

The river was nothing at all special. The water was wide, thin and even. From what I could tell there wasn’t even a good set of undulations where fish could hold and stack up. It was a transitional stretch salmon moved through when the water was up.

It was pretty, but I didn’t even bother to cast. I could have scrapped out some little fish I am sure, because fish are where they are and just because I didn’t think they were there in big numbers, didn’t mean they weren’t there.

I pulled my water from my bag and didn’t see a fly box. I looked around in the ferns. Nothing.

I retraced my steps as best I could, but didn’t find any grey box amid the green. The mind left. Hours of tying, even some buying was lost. I’d have to tie a ton of flies before Tuesday when my buddies from California get here. Do I have enough material? What was that special one I bought? Could I replacate it? Wait, wait wait.

Just calm down and relax here.

There was no way I’d find the same trail out, but I hadn’t crawled or been hung up at all, so there’s no way it would have just jumped out, right? I had to have lost it somewhere else. It had to be in the back of the truck. Of course, upon looking, it wasn’t.

It occurred to me to just leave it, but I had to at least check the previous spot because we’re talking a ton of patterns, some of which too complex for me to tie.
Self-ridicule was the soundtrack of my drive back to where I hopefully lost the box.

Okay, I was too lazy to work the zippers, which is stupid, but still how did I not notice the box falling out? All I had to do was pay attention, which seems reasonable enough since I was awake.

I parked and took a trail that led me to where I blazed one. Two dudes in a forest service truck watched me head into the woods carrying nothing. Suspect.
I ran down the easy part of the trail then reached the climbing areas. At the first one, which was the last one I encountered before reaching the nice easy trail, the box was sitting on a root gently in clear view.

It didn’t seem upset which was nice, especially since I had abandoned it in the Alaskan wilderness. That can be pretty scary.

I triumphantly returned to my truck, put the box in the bag, and zipped it.

Lesson learned, for now.

Jeff Lund ©2014

Jeff Lund is a Teacher, Freelance Writer, & River fishing guide (Tranquil Charters) living in Klawock, Alaska
Contact Jeff at Email – aklund21@gmail.com

http://www.jlundoutdoors.com

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