River Report: Fishing

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That's the main thing; I was fishing today.

Our weather has been on the warmish side, hanging in the mid-30's for over a week, and things have been thawing out after our early bout with cold and ice. We still got a beautiful snowfall Saturday night.

The world was swathed in snow Sunday morning, but the eaves were still dripping and the thaw continued.

Last night it rained all night, sometimes heavily. It was supposed to continue today, but instead the sun came out. It was an astounding 48 degrees this afternoon by our thermometer. I had already made plans to fish today, but now it was mandatory.

The river has been ice free for a few days now, and today it looked positively Springy.

There's still snow and shelf ice along the banks, but other than a quick descent of this steep path to the river it didn't give me any trouble.

I expected the river to be up, but, inexplicably, it was down a bit from my last outing. Perhaps the rise is still on the way. But today the bridge run was wide open and inviting.

I made three passes through the run, with three different flies, staying deep, and doing my best to swing slowly and majestically. I didn't move anything.

But I was fishing.

The world around me may have been thawing, but after two hours in the water my extremities were going the other direction. So I waded to shore and picked my way carefully over the ice and out of the river.

These are the weather windows we look for around here, and should this one continue for a few days, or when the next one comes, I hope to range a bit farther afield.

Now that the new truck has been broken in, has had me drive it in waders, and even now has my gear stowed inside, it's ready for a road trip.

There's a river not too far from here, and back in September a guy I know said he caught four Steelhead in one morning there.
I've been thinking a lot lately about fishing--and about that river.