fishin' again.

Well, with this less than fruitful
winter we've been having, with
a mtn bike in desperate need of
freshy bits and no desire to layer
up for road warrioring in the crisp
February breeze, it was back to the
trout stream.


Besides, I had a new stick to break
in. Saturday was sunny and breezy,
not exactly ideal for fishing tiny blue
winged olives on the Letort, but what
else ya gonna do? Did see a few bugs
in the air, saw all of four rises all day
along with some small black stones
flitting about. So I played a hunch and
got lucky, prospecting the water with
a buggy looking black caddis imitation.
Managed to bring one to hand, not
exceptional regarding the size, but at
least I didn't get skunked with the new rod.


Sunday was similar, but without the
breeze and much more relaxed mindset.
Used the new stick again, a 7'6"/4wt by
Matt Schliske from Colorado and really fell
for the rod. It handled the breeze surprisingly
well on Saturday, and in the calmer Sunday air,
it did everything I asked.

The calmer air helped keep the bugs
on the water and I found a bit more
success out in the Letort meadows.
Brought a bunch to hand on dries,
and one nice healthy 15"er on a
bwo nymph.

It's been neat to fish this stream more
in the winter, seeing it in a season when
I usually don't. Quite the interesting place,
lots to soak in out there.

fishin'

With this wonderful ski season we're having,
had to scratch one of the other itches. Picked
up the new license, played a hunch with the
forecast and rigged up for a session of harassing
ze trouts of the Letort.

Weatherman was right, my beta was slightly off.
Twas low 40's and overcast, with some actual
snowflakes falling now and then and blue winged
olives started doing their thing around lunchtime.
Beta I had indicated an earlier start to the hatch,
glad I stuck around beyond the expected timeframe.

Snuck thru the rabbit hole and onto one of my
favorite beats and was immediately fishing over
a big old brown that was out on the prowl. That
old fish was pushing 20" and between the nerves
and 3 month break from the water, it didn't take
long to flub that chance and persuade that trout
to seek better cover.

Changed meadows, then the bugs finally started
popping and the trouts went on the feed. Opened
the hatch with a missed take, stung him, but the
rust was showing. My casting was off, presentations
were lacking, but finally duped a little 7"er and
brought him to hand. Found the groove and
hooked another before missing his neighbor.
Took a breath and tossed the little #20 olive to
a dimple out there in mid stream. A subtle take
and was finally into a fish with some weight. After
a lively tussle, I brought this nicely colored 12"er
to the net. Sweet.


Still had time before needing to get home, so moved
a few paces upstream, fishing to a riser in close with
no success. Noticed an occasional rise further
upstream and out in the channel a bit. Let it settle
then made a decent enough cast up into the vicinity.
There was another subtle slurp on that first drift
and suddenly found myself connected to a substantial
tug on the line. A brief battle with the 5wt cane and
I landed one of the finest Letort browns I've ever fooled
with a dry fly. This nice 15-16"er was a helluva way
to open the account for the new year, sure hope
it continues in this fashion...