[woolly bugger]

#7 51 and mostly sunny

DSFK
I was looking at the water and saw the otters playing (feeding) downstream, I watched them for a while, there were no fish rising.

I went with a streamer and saw two follows but didn’t make a connection.

Doug came down and watched from the bank and then we moved on down. He fixed his lunch after breaking off. I hit the run, lost one, caught one… streamer skunk off.


Dough rerigged with soft hackles and I moved on down further, got some bumps and made a couple more connections.


Dough wacked them swinging the flies. It was almost time to leave but I tried the dry fly thing but couldn’t get the fussy sippers to take, it convinced that they were taking midges.

[421sd]

That Prine Strombo show is superb. I’ve listened/watched that several times the past couple of years.

[woolly bugger]

#8
50s mostly sunny

With a winter storm approaching, I thought I would squeeze a trip in before things shut down.

I was hoping for some dry fly action, but the wind was wicked, and I didn't see any risers anyway.


Streamer time! I worked the pool where I had a couple of follows yesterday. That was yesterday, today the fish weren't interested.
I checked out a spot where I had seen a good fish take a bwo off the surface yesterday. He was hungry.



The rest of the day was uneventful, with only the usual grabs and bumps.

[woolly bugger]

#9 41+ overcast to partly sunny

The snowstorm, Izzy, dumped enough snow and ice to keep me home for a couple of days and Thurs was booked so I took off and joined Dougfish on the stream.

It was a little crunchy going in, and my boots accumulated a fair amount of snow on the felt going in.


I was rigged with aa streamer from the other day so I went with that--- no dice.




Switched over to a soft hackle rig.



That did the trick.






Dougfish stopped by on the way out.



I stayed for another hour hoping something would start up, but there wasn't much of a hatch all day.

I picked up one more fish and had a couple of grabs, but it wasn't really happening, so I split.






I had asked Dough for a beer, but he was out, with only a couple back at the truck, I told him to leave one for me.

He didn't disappoint.

[woolly bugger]

#10
Gas $3.07 28 degrees sunny

We got an inch or two of dry snow in the triad last night, the forecast for today indicated temperatures would be in the mid 30s by the afternoon with a sunny sky. The roads were clear and there wasn’t any precipitation to the north.
The only tracks in the parking lot were from Doug and I the other day. I geared up in the sunshine and it felt warm, but once I hiked in to the shaded run the warmth was gone.



I swung soft hackles without any luck, even changed up flies, still nothing. I worked the entire run from top to bottom, near and far, not even a grab. I didn’t see any bugs on the water nor any fish rising, not even one. I felt the ice forming on the line as I stripped it in, and the guides were freezing up too.



I was about to declare a skunk day but decided to hike on down to the next big run.


Finally, a fish on! And just like that it got off. The day was getting long but I fished on hoping to bring at least one to the net.

One fish and a nice solitary walk in the woods.

[woolly bugger]

#11 40s partly cloudy

Monday

I went fishing again, tried to go on Sunday, but mom (96) was having some trouble and I stuck around to make sure she was going to be ok. Bobby's car was in the lot, I've only seen him fishing the upper reach. I went low.


There wasn't any activity in the air or on the water, it looked cold and deserted. I swung soft hackles and worked the run. Doug came in and heckled me before moving on down. I had left my beverages in the Honda and was dry as dirt, so I snuck down to look for Doug's stash, but he was carrying them in his vest.

He reluctantly came over and offered up a beer. I selected the Kolsch.


Back to fishing, I had given up on swinging flies and went deep and dirty with a rubber legs to salvage the day.


I was headed on down to another spot when Dough came along, and I said F@uck it and we hiked out.


I left him and Bobby in the lot and drove off into the sunset.

[woolly bugger]

#12 50s Gas $3.07

I should know better, but I can't stay away and there was a break in the winter temps. I'm not sure how much that helped, as the wind had picked up and was blowing down off the snow-covered western ridge bringing a chill down to the river. Once again there was only the slightest indication of feeding trout. A sparce few black stoneflies skittered across the water and a few trout were working midges in the film. I grew frustrated and took a beer break before moving down to check out another run.





I covered a fair amount of water, swinging flies, tossing streamers, and deep nymphing and only connected a couple of times with below average fish. I took a lot of photos and enjoyed the solitude of the river and some tasty beer.





I stayed later than usual, well past sunset. Hiking out I heard owls hooting and the songbirds were chattering in the brush as the edge of the field as deer sprang for cover as I approached.


'till next time...

[woolly bugger]

#13

Gas $3.14 Partly Cloudy and 36 degrees.


Here's a look at the river, moments of zen.

It was frigid last night with some of the lowest temperatures this year going into the teens. With the promise of above freezing temps in the afternoon I headed out to the river while listening to The Devil in the White City,  https://amzn.to/3KY3Jdi the story of the Chicago World's Fair and what many have called the first modern serial killer, H.H. Holmes.

Should I throw streamers, watch a bobber, or euro my way through the runs and riffles, that was the question.



Looked like someone had been in the day before...



It was warm enough so that there wasn't any ice on the guides.



I went with the euro, and hit the runs and pools hard, but had to make a trip back to the car because I forgot my wading staff. I almost went to another spot but returned to finish fishing this section.







I covered most of the productive spots and the sun was dipping below the ridge, and I felt the temperature drop. Ice was forming on my wading staff and that was a sign for me to end the day.

[woolly bugger]

#14 39 degrees and mostly sunny

Doesn't anybody work anymore?

Trout bros down low, spinning guys in the middle and everybody up top, including a Tesla in my usual spot!

I almost quit and even rode up to the damn dam, but there were many people fishing up the river road too.

I ended up taking the low hanging fruit and ended up with a half dozen to hand.

14 days in January isn't bad considering the snow and cold.







The bad part was that I left a bunch, way too many, flies in the river.

with obligations and rain in the forecast for February, I'll be spending time at the bench

[woolly bugger]

#15
Gas $3.15 Mostly sunny 36 degrees at best.
Rain, cold, obligations, kept me off the water for the first week of February, and when I got a chance to get away, I drove off but realized I had forgotten my boots I was a little over a half hour out. I drove back, retrieved the boot and checked the drive time to the river. I was convinced that I could get at least a couple of hours of fishing in, so I drove up to an easy access point, it looked empty, there was a car parked up the road a way, and I assumed that they would be well above me.
I walked on in, when I got to the water there was a fisherman sitting on the bank, below the pool I had planned to fish. He said he hadn’t caught any and was rigging up “to try something different”. I wished him luck and turned to fish the head of the pool. Just as I was ready to cast, I noticed two other fishermen in the run above the pool. Damn. I should have just turned around, but it was so late in the day, I figured I would hit the pool with the streamer and then leave. I felt bad about low holeing these guys. I caught nothing. Karma. The three of them left and I rigged up the euro and gave that a shot. I lost some flies. I drank a beer and left.


#16
Sunny, 36 degrees going in, 29 coming out.
It was cold last night, in the low 20s. I was in no hurry to get out, it wasn’t going to get above freezing until 1 o’clock. I was late leaving, I got caught up watching the Olympics. I arrived to an empty lot around 2. Two locomotives were sitting on the track and the acrid diesel exhaust wafted across the field. Something has been gnawing on the raccoon.


There was a flock of turkeys at the end of the field, they took to the woods as I approached.
The river still had a slight stain from the rain and the flow was up about 50 cfs. I stood at the first big run for a while deciding what to fish. I went with a streamer.

This fish tail-walked all the way to the net.
I worked my way downstream and caught a couple more on the streamer, before switching over to the euro to fish up the last run.


I stopped fishing a little after 5 and was on the road home by 6.

I may go again tomorrow.

[woolly bugger]

#17 Wednesday temps in the 50s Gas $3.19
Back to the river.
Van in the lot… usually several anglers in this one.

The raccoon moved 6 feet to the right. It’s warmer now, so being thawed out things will happen quicker.

Spring is around the corner.

Took the spey pole. Swung a fly, a micro intruder. Had some hits and caught a fish or two. Lesson learned is that it is better to spey cast without a vest. Jis saying. The wind was wicked at times, and I tossed some streamers on the 5 wt too.

No bugs, no risers. That is all…

[woolly bugger]

#18
60s in Feb, but windy, and you know how that funnels down the river.
Raccoon back to the left…

I worked the spey pole again, making some progress, but still not real consistent and need to work on some casting options for dealing with the wind.
Ospreys out flying again.

Upping my beer game.

Blue bird skies.

Caught a couple on the swing.

Solitude.




Cheers…