Trip Report: Awe Shit

Today I had a pretty bad awe shit moment. I arrived on stream at 920am ready to slay some easily spooked trout. With a San Juan Worm on my line and a great stain in this headwaters stream I was ready for a great day of fishing. As I approached the stream I planned to wet wade, despite the cold weather. For some reason I changed my mind at the last minute. This meant I'd have to jump across the stream, swollen and soaked from recent rains. I took a few steps forward and launched myself above the stream. Unfortunately I didn't launch myself quite all the way over the stream. My foot jammed awkwardly into rock on the other side of the stream and my foot and ankle gave. I felt my plans for work and upcoming vacation slip away. I felt a sharp tearing sensation over the top of my right foot and around the outside of my foot. I hit the ground like a ton of bricks. After rolling around for a minute or so I started thinking with more clarity. I crawled to the stream and soaked my foot while it throbbed. My shoe quickly tightened around my swollen foot despite the numbing water. While my foot soaked I slowly crawled my way upstream toward a decent looking pool with a perfect stain. 

Worms crawled around on shore which made the San Juan Worm boss. I landed fish on almost each of the first 20 casts. After than they continued to come in at a decent rate.

 While I was somewhat surprised at how well the great fishing detracted from the pain. After landing around a dozen and a half I had to tie on a new San Juan Worm. Then back to it!

The three weight held it's own with fish like this one. After around around an hour of fishing it was time to call it a day. I struggled to my feet and immediately hit the ground after placing the smallest amount of weight on my right foot. So shit, this wasn't going to be so easy! I rose to one foot and decided to hop to a decent sized log that looked about the right height for a crutch. Perfect. I hobbled over to the stream with this water logged crutch, forded the river with the aid of said crutch, then struggled the 30 yards back to the car. The drive home sucked. I had to drive with my left leg which feels pretty weird. 

After a quick run to the Acute Care Clinic in Rochester I learned that it's not broken. It's definitely sprained and there may be some damage to the tendons or ligaments. Damn.