The Winter Soldier

Aggressive Eater

   I woke up this morning and felt like someone beat the shit out me. The river I fished yesterday can do that to you because it's brutal to wade. I went into the kitchen, filled my coffee mug, kissed the wife goodbye as she headed for work and stared outside at the heavy snow squall coming down. Overnight Old Man Winter dumped 3 fresh inches of snow on the ground. A brief check at the radar indicated it wasn't stopping anytime soon.

   I wasn't in the mood to sit down and tie flies. So I decided to pack up the truck with my artillery and do some fishing. The snow was puking out there, but the weather wasn't all that bad. There was no wind to speak of and the air temperatures was a balmy 20 degrees. The drive in was slow because the roads were covered, but I eventually got to my parking spot.

   Nothing beats walking through the woods when there is a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. The march in was peaceful and quite, the only sounds I could hear were my boots crunching in the snow. After breaking trail in 4 inches of the fresh stuff for 20 minutes, I was warmed up and ready for battle...time to fish.

Wild Brown

   I was excited to Tight-Line and get better drifts today. The first spot I stopped at was an indicator hole though, yesterday it produced 4-5 fish and today ZILCH! Dang the day wasn't starting off so good. I moved into the pocket water and focused my attention on the banks. I managed to get a few fish this way, very similar to yesterday, maybe a few more fish. The action picked up around mid-day, I was definitely getting into a few more fish. Unlike yesterday, I could tell my drifts were better quality, and the fish agreed. The soft spots behind structure that produced so well in the spring/summer still held fish, just not in the numbers I am used too. The slower water feels like it has more fish then normal, maybe the trout are moving into winter lies.

   I think it was a pretty good outing for a winter trip, numbers were good enough to forget about the cold. A few times my hands got numb, but only when they got wet. They got wet because I was catching fish, nothing to complain about there.

Best Fish Of The Day 

   I landed a decent amount of fish in the 11-13 inch range, and a few were 15 inches. The best of the day was this studly 18 incher. Around 4:15pm I marched on down the path to my truck, feeling battered and bruised, but ready for another day in the trenches soon........

Till The Next Time......