It is not every day that a permanent "rookie" is born--a rookie being defined as someone who is engaging in an activity (in this case fishing in Alaska) for the very first time and commits such an egregious rookie error (as in this case) that, forever, that person is to be known as "The Rookie". Enter E-10 Group Three veteran Bruce "The Rookie" Mowat.
The scene was our frequent sequel to our annual Extravaganza--the "Alaskaganza" when, during the first week of September, 12 of us take over the entire Rainbow River Lodge [a five star float plane fly-in resort just outside Lake Iliamna, Alaska, a 1 1/2 hour charter flight due west of Anchorage] for some of the most satisfying and outrageously successful rainbow trout fishing in the world. Such was the case this past September when several of our Extravaganzers, including Group One's Brian "Moraine Shepard, Group Two's Fred "The Guitar" Johnson and Tom "Sockeye" Thornhill joined up with Group Threers Grady "The Stick" Garrett, Bruce "The Rookie Mowat" and E-10 rookie Steve "Colorado" Herron.
As we had in the past, we flew into Rainbow River Lodge on a Saturday and then fished the next successive six (count 'em!) days, each day flying out early in the morn via float plane in groups of four to one of many available fishing sites. As a prequel to what ensued that week, (no joke folks), knowing how revered our Twenty Inch Club is in Montana (where every twenty inch trout caught is registered on a specially anointable board), during these six days of Alaksaganza fishing this past September, the twelve of us, using seven weight 9' Winston BIIX fly rods, caught (and released) over two thousand (yes, 2,000) rainbow trout averaging over twenty four (yes, 24) inches in length. To say the trip was a successful one, is the understatement of this yet early decade.
Well, picture yourselves out on the very last day of fishing with the four of us, Sockeye, Colorado, The Rookie and yours truly, Sourdough Ron, at the mouth of Battle Creek--one of the many feeding streams cascading downward from glaciers into Lake Iliamna. The fishing that day was unusually (even for that area) hot--we were hooking up large rainbows after larger rainbows all day long, nymph fishing under an indicator with a salmon egg pattern (the rainbows were into Battle Creek following the then spawning Sockeye salmon--yes, the source of "Sockeye" name a year ago). Our Great Falls, Montana guide, Jerry (who accompanied us along with Kathy's favorite guide Dorian), was sentimental that day, for, after decades of guiding in Alaksa with and among grizzly bears [yes, we had those next to us all that day long], this was his very last day of guiding in Alaska--the next day he was flying out with us back to Montana, leaving, forever, Alaksa in his rear view mirror.
Near the end of that day, the fishing "switched on"...first Colorado hooked into a 24" rainbow beauty, then Sockeye was greeted by a 26" bow, and then yours truly hooked into the rainbow of his life, a thirty (yes, 30) inch rainbow only to be followed by The Rookie, on his own (because our two guides already had their hands/nets full of eighty inches of rainbow), hooked into a 24" fish of his own which then joined the other three beauties in the net, now making 104" of rainbow in a single net--a record for soon to be retired Jerry.
The pictures above show part of this scene: The first shows RCR's and Colorado's two fish in a single net; the second displays a thirty inch rainbow trophy (with The Rookie "hooked up" in the background")...and now comes the time for a legendary rookie error. At Jerry's request, he asks that we each hold our fish up for a photo op that will "bedeck his wall for ever" reminding him of "his greatest guiding day ever"; but, lo, The Rookie first asks that he get a single shot of just him and his fish (while the rest of us bide or time nursing our squirming fish). And, folks, you can now see what happened in the remaining two photos above: "The Rookie", while posing for his cameo shot, drops his fish into the water and, splash, it is off to the races and gone...leaving the rest of us to pose with just our three, 80 inches of rainbow, leaving guide Jerry with only a memory of the photo that might have been.
Being in true "rookie" form, however, The Rookie asked us to pose in the last of the shots above (the very last photo taken during Alaskaganza 2009) with his arms out, as "I will just PhotoShop in a fish for Jerry"--an event that has yet to happen, and one that never should.
Soooo, when you hear of or, if you are in Group Three, you run into The Rookie, tell him that one really has to go out of his way to earn the dubious title of The Rookie, as such being very much the deserved case above....ah, the indignity of it all!! ...and, for those of you who might be interested, we will next return to Rainbow River Lodge during the first week of September, 2011--reservations are currently being taken with yours truly for Alaskaganza 2011.
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate story of "The Rookie", as witnessed by your affiant during Alaskaganza 2009.
Rock Creek Ron (aka "Sourdough Ron")
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