Home or High Water

I made a trip out to GMR back in August and of course on one of the few occasions where I hadn’t even considered water level being an issue, I could see as I crossed the 5th Street bridge that finding a deep enough spot to wash gravel wouldn’t be a problem; the water was 2-3 feet higher than normal. There was an immediate sinking feeling in my gut and as I pulled into the parking lot my expectations for the day shrunk exponentially. I trudged up to one of my regular spots and probed my way through the stream trying to find a shallow spot but there were none. The water was knee high bank to bank and it was moving fast. I attempted to fill my screen in one of the shallower areas in the middle of the stream but it was near impossible to keep my screen from getting washed downstream while I shoveled; I tried tying it to my leg, wedging it between my legs and even standing on it with feet on opposite corners but it was futile. Along with the challenge of securing my screen, trying to get a shovel load of gravel laden sand off of the bottom and into the screen without 75% of it eroding off was to the point of being depressing. I had serious thoughts of calling it a day but I don’t like to give up so easily when my stream time is so sparse. On my previous trip to GMR I had pulled out two decent mako teeth in gravel that was relatively shallow. The spot was about 6 -8 feet from the bank and there was a root where I could tie my screen off as I filled it. I made my way over to the area and on the second screen load I scored a really nice tiger shark tooth. I worked the spot for the next two and a half hours and end up having one of my better GMR outings. Finds of the day included a 2” great white, a 2 3/16” mako and several unusual scutes(?).

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