Can't fish this weekend so I'm pulling out some archive footage. This is from back in January, the nights were in the single digits, the days were in the 20's, the flows were about 200cfs and water was crystal clear. I had to break through anchor ice to get to the water and I had to break ice of my guides to cast. In those conditions, fish are slow and lathargic. You literally have to bounce your nymph off their nose. Fish won't move far, the food is too small (and too low in calories) for them to spend much energy on any one morsel. They're also very selective and midges (#20-24) tend to dominate the menu. While dragging my stack over this particular run, on more than one occassion I had to pull midge larvae off my hook. Yes, the midges were so abundant they often ended up impaled on the hook. It was so cold, I didn't take a picture of the phenomenon, but should have.
Anyhow, these two fish came on back to back casts, though about 20 minutes lapsed between those casts. After releasing the first fish, I lost all feeling in my hands and had to run back to the truck to thaw out. I also had to stick my reel in front of a vent in my truck for de-icing because it froze up solid on me. Despite the cold water, the fish were feeding. They feed every single day, bet on it.
2 comments:
always nice to have proof of a good day on the water...awesome fishies!
cool video, I just found your blog and you got a new follower
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