Tuesday Fishing Report: Too Nice?

I made it to the river today. It was a nice day for mid-November, maybe too nice. Not "steelhead weather," but warmish--mid fifties--and sunny.
I liked it. Maybe the fish didn't. They made themselves scarce.

The river is still up, but fishable--barely. One can wade, but the areas open to wading are limited by deep water and a strong current. My favorite stations, the ones which allow the best casting lanes and angles to the best runs, are now inaccessible.

So I made do. I did my best to search the run under the bridge, but I had to use an extremely long line, and even then could only reach halfway down its length. I hiked upstream to the bend above the bridge but the depth of the water didn't let me get far enough from the bank for a backcast. A stiff wind blowing in my face further limited my options.

So I hiked back downstream past the bridge to the gravel bar the salmon like for their redds. Usually that's ankle-deep wading but today it was over my knees. It provides ease of casting by allowing me to get out into the river, and the drop off and holes on the downstream side have given up fish before. But today nobody was home.
Except this doe. I've seen them wade across the river here. But not this time.

I used a sinking tip and threw a couple of different stonefly nymphs, a couple of different marabous, and even a nuke egg. I know they're in there, but they didn't want any of those.

Still, it was good to be there. I hadn't fished since October 30, my last day at the lake. Now I've switched the reel to the heavier rod, switched the fly boxes in the vest, overcome two weeks worth of inertia, and stretched my wading muscles again. I'm ready.

It can't stay too nice forever.