Fish Naked - A Definition

Well...I guess it is time to get you all up to date on what "Fish Naked" really means. This really is for J.R.'s benefit, however, I am sure many of your havn't got a clue either.

The term "fish naked" refers to fishing with only a bare hook! No bait, feathers or other incumberances. I have caught fish this way but only in extream circumstances.

This will sound like a TRUE fish story but it truly is true.

My buddies, John and Loren, and I found our selves in Hyattville, Wyoming one fine September morning. We stopped at Fat Jacks Saloon and Diner to find directions on where to go fishing. We meet the proprieter, Fat Jack, and commenced on what turned out to be one of the finest adventures I have ever had. I will tell it in length one day.

Fat Jack stole a vehicle, battery and who knows what else from one of his friend in town. He took us fishing high up in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. We took a two-hour drive in a 4-wheel drive SUV (with a stolen battery) up a dirt road.

We went about 15 miles up this horrible, rutted and rained out road and stopped at a horse camp. It seemed strange that we circled the camp more than once before we entered but I didn't figure out what we were about to do until after we arrived back at the Saloon that evening. We later found out that the horses were not Jacks at all. Guess that made us "rustlers."

It was snowing and the wind was blowing something awful. We road on horse back for about 2 hours winding our way even further up the canyon. When we arrived at our destination there was this small stream with completely covered by ice all the way across. We broke through the ice with a log and our feet. The stream was chalk full of 6-8" Brookie Trout.

Between the three of us, we must have caught 60-70 fish. We just through them up on the snow bank to retrieve on the way back down stream. We picked through the fish on the way back and even after 30 minutes the ones we tossed back still were alive and swam away. Their metabolism had slowed down almost to a stand still I guess.

Well, back the the fishing naked...

These brook trout were so hungry and litterly went after any fly we tried, whether it was a nymph or dry, that John challanged me to catch one using just a hook. Well, I gave it a try and wouldn't you know it, I caught a fish. Then he had to try it and it worked for him also.

What da ya think, J.R.?

There is lots more to this story and one day I will finish telling it. It includes some gambling, dice, a guy named "Slim," a few farmers, Fat Jack, three city slickers and Mr. Jim.