G_____n Creek

The stream's name shall remain untold;
For reasons that will soon unfold;

Twenty two miles from the nearest road;
Six miles by boat if you know the code;

Salmon fishing with guide Bill Penn;
Bill says "Bring your trout gear when you come again";

Chance of a lifetime for a lad of fourteen;
To fish sea-run cutthroat trout in the deep evergreen;

Into the lagoon, hidden, lush and regal;
In a snag over the creek, my first Bald Eagle;

On his way to check for big game;
Bill says "Upstream two miles, then stake your claim;

Beautiful water with holes lavish;
I went fifty yards and started to fish;

The lure I cast about;
Rewarded at once with flash of silvery trout;

I tried once, twice, three times more;
The hole seemed an empty store;

Not to be upstaged by a trout;
My box of lures came out;

Gold, red, white, silver, some looking mean;
Nothing worked till I tried an old green;

It worked quite well, I'd have to say;
Paint chewed off by the end of the day;

Other memories are less clear, I feel;
But I do remember a heavy creel;

Back to the boat at the end of the day;
Old Bill Penn was heard to say;

"I was just wishing";
"You guys had gone farther to the really good fishing"