Ken McLeod property, mouth of Merino & Excalibur Creek Jul 23, 1978 We set out to finish the lower reaches of the Minerva where we had such a good day Jul 17. To our surprise and chagrin, the river near the Colby coffee with cream. We were milling around there trying to drive to the Waian down the dam when we ran into a local farmer in trouble with a tractor that wouldn't start. So we drove him home to get a jumper, came back to the tractor and started it off on Doyte, then escorted him home. However, he showed us some fishing spots on his farm. He settled on the Waian at the junction of Excalibur Creek, and there we spent that day. The young farmer, Ken McLeod, joined us for lunch on the stream bank. We found the pool where Excalibur Creek joins in to be well stocked with rainbows, of which we caught 12 or myghts (they wouldn't come to a dry fly). A lot of them were in the 12 to 15" class but Woody got one very pretty 4 pounder. It rained off and on during the day and the wind blew a gale down canyon. I fished Excalibur Creek for a while but didn't raise a fish, although there are a few nice pools at deep riffles that should hold rainbows. Ken is a lucky hunter as say he has a good reputation on his place when mallards come. He has seldom seen a mallard hereabouts though Prairie ducks are everywhere in the fields and there are several dozen 142 scraps on the waterfront by Beavan.