Flashes of Gold
By: Tommy Sitz, Staff Writer
The morning fog is starting to lift as the sun slowly rises in the sky and creeps its way over the jungle canopy. Water flows over the rocks in the river, causing noisy rapids that mask any other small noises. A man stands on the raised riverbank holding a fly rod as he gazes at the crystal clear water. He studies the water, noting every small movement or change in the current. As he stands there, he sees a sudden flash of gold in the water. He follows the movement of the specimen in the river, which he can now only see the dark back of. He leans over to make himself a smaller outline and slowly makes his way left on the bank, creeping closer to the object in the water. He gets close enough and starts waving the rod, trying not to catch his fly in the thick jungle canopy behind him. The pile of feathers plops in the water on his final cast forward. They land on the surface of the water above the fish's back, and it suddenly goes zooming down the river, not to be seen again.
“Dang it,” the man mumbles to himself as he sits down on the bank.
“Another blown attempt.” The man walks down the bank to the river and crosses just above the rocky rapids. Once on the other side, he deliberately makes his way up the river, scanning the water as he goes. The next promising part of the river flows 200 yards above the man. He makes it to the section, being careful not to slip on the wet rocks that cover the side of the river. He stops and starts scanning the river again, looking for another golden flash in the water. Suddenly, an eruption breaks the surface of the once calm water. A fish. The biggest fish the man has seen so far. Not just any fish, but a monstrous beast that owns this stretch of the river. It came up to eat something that was innocently making its way across the water.
After the splash, the man focuses and sees every movement of the fish in the mid-depth water. He starts the wave of the rod as he lets go of the fly in his hand. Bright green line slowly comes out of the rod tip, and with every motion, the line goes farther and farther out. The man softly lays down his feathered hook ten feet above the fish. It sinks slightly below the surface and wiggles with the movement of the river. The current takes the fly right to the fish, and the fish looks up. The man strips his line. In a sudden, violent flash of gold, a giant fish’s tail breaks the surface of the water, attacking the fly. The man strips his line in an attempt to set the hook, but as he does, the line is ripped out of his hands, giving him a cut in the crease of his index finger. The fish accelerates down the river, ripping line out of the reel of the man's rod. He fights the beast, struggling to keep control of the situation. The reel is now in its backing with the fish fifty yards downstream and still moving. The man runs down the river's edge, trying to keep up with the giant. He reels in line as he moves, trying to keep the fish from getting too far. The man keeps running downstream, chasing the monster. Every time he starts to get close, the fish bursts away and takes off down the river. Now exhausted from running down the goliath, the man starts to get close. The fish is sitting there, in the middle of the river, also exhausted from the grueling fight. The man keeps reeling and walking closer to the fish. It makes an attempt to take off, but not successfully. It goes ten feet and then stops, out of energy. The man is now twenty yards from the mammoth and slowly gaining. With the rod in his left hand, he grabs his net out of his pack. He is now ten yards away and in the water. He slowly pulls the head of the fish out of the water and pulls it towards his net. The gargantuan gives up, slowly trying to move away, but too exhausted to do anything. The man puts his net in the water and scoops up the fish.
“Yes!” the man yells in the excitement of landing the fish. The fish he has been looking for for the last week is now in his hands. He walks to shore and grabs the fish out of the net. He raises it above his head and does not say a word because of the amazement he is in. He has landed the golden dorado of his dreams and cannot believe it.