Some of you may remember my “Fishing for OMJ” reports that once upon a time, I posted in that other universe. Well, ever since those winter excursions, whenever I fish in the winter and expect it to be useless, I always think of @Old Man and hope that I can catch a fish or at least write a report for him.
So this week, after a dentist appointment, I swung by some local lakes to check the ice. Only one had a small area without ice but alas, after bundling up to fish, I discovered that my car rod wasn’t there. Oh well, I wasn’t too disappointed (except for Jim) as I have never touched a fish in this ugly active gravel quarry pond anyway. But, I was willing to give it a try for Jim!
So, dejected and also somewhat relieved as the water quality is dubious, I headed home. The forecast for the next day was wonderful (for February): 35 and light W! I contemplated heading south where it was going to be in the mid-50’s, but there were three strikes against it: more people, more W, and a higher chance that this wouldn’t be a useless fishing report.
So, I sorted through some flies and pulled out about a dozen sz14’s, taped a bare hook to the lid of a small container lest there be any doubt that I knew the rules, and dreamed of big whities that night. Ok, not really.
I am in the middle of moving so I spent the morning packing. I finally packed enough boxes that I could claim that my back needed a break (which it did), and I headed out. However, it was one of those days when everything seemed to get in my way of actually fishing:
1. On the phone with my older sister who was driving, as I got in my rig and as she pulled into her driveway, she exclaimed “My house is on fire! I gotta go!”. My fishing destination was 1.5 hours the wrong direction from my sis (who is 3 hrs away) so I changed out of my fishing clothes and anxiously waited to hear the outcome. Luckily, a dog-walking neighbor saw the smoke and heard the fire alarm and had called 911. It turned out that sis left a pan on the stove when she went to the doctor and the neighbor caught it before the house went up in flames. Whew, lots of smoke but no real damage.
So, although my departure was delayed by an hour, I changed into my fishing duds again and headed to the river. The day was absolutely stunning and the drive alone was worth it! I felt my sore back healing by the mile, as well as my spirits, so I knew I made the right choice. Better late than never. Sometimes you just need to go stand in a river, breathe deeply and let it wash your soul clean.
Driving up my favorite river is difficult as I spend too much time looking at the runs and not enough looking at the road. Each run brings back memories of fish gone by and friends with whom I have shared the water. Approaching one of my most productive winter runs, I lamented that it was closed - and then my blood instantly boiled over. There were two anglers in the run, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, one guy with a giant landing net! So, this led to the next delay.
#2. I immediately pulled into the first turn out, still somewhat downstream of them, but I knew it was the nearest safe place to get off the road. I briefly contemplated the long trudge through deep snow to yell that the river was closed where they were fishing but the size of their landing near had seared a hole in my brain as it only meant one thing: they were targeting a closed protected species! So, I reached for my phone, found the local Enforcement Officer’s cell number and called him. It turns out that these two guys were indeed targeting a protected species - they were collecting broodstock, lol. The officer had gotten an email about it that morning but was still grateful that I’d called.
Back on the road, I started rethinking where I was going to fish based upon the scant time the sun would stay above the hills. At 35 degrees, it felt warm in the sun but I knew it would get cold really quickly as the sun descended. Approaching a different stellar but closed run, another sight delayed me yet again.
#3. Here about two feet off the bank was a Bald Eagle just sitting there in the water up to his neck. I could see him from a long way off and he was making no attempt to fly or swim out. I knew he probably had a fish but heck, he had to be cold. I drove by watching him, expecting to see him attempt to get out but nope, he just sat there. I drove on but soon wondered if he had exhausted himself trying to get the fish out or was tangled in some line. So, I turned around, not relishing the very long walk it would take to see if he indeed was tangled in fishing line or was hypothermic. Luckily, by the time I got back, an immature eagle was there and the frozen eagle was flapping up, talons extended, giving the youngster a warning. Whew, all was well. By the time I found a safe place to turn around, the eagle was back in the water neck deep, probably trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get that fish to shore!
After what seemed like hours and hours, because it was, I finally arrived at a run that I knew probably wouldn’t produce fish. And just to be sure that this really was a useless fishing report, I grabbed a Tenkara rod rigged with 5x, LOL! You see, I really did just wanted to stand in the waters of my favorite river before it closed again for months. It’s hard to explain but I needed it. I sure as hell didn’t want to target the closed species and didn’t much care if I hooked the open one. But I knew if I just waded out there without a rod, I might be carted away in a straight jacket, so I tied on a sz 14 fly and waded out.
It didn’t take long before the river worked its magic! My cares floated off downstream, sometimes swirling about in an eddy, sometimes moving quickly through a rapid, sometimes just flowing with the gentle current before continuing the journey to the Pacific. The sun felt great, I didn’t fall in, my Simms bootfoot waders kept my feet warm - and I didn’t hook anything to ruin my useless fishing report! All in all, it was an amazing afternoon!
So this week, after a dentist appointment, I swung by some local lakes to check the ice. Only one had a small area without ice but alas, after bundling up to fish, I discovered that my car rod wasn’t there. Oh well, I wasn’t too disappointed (except for Jim) as I have never touched a fish in this ugly active gravel quarry pond anyway. But, I was willing to give it a try for Jim!
So, dejected and also somewhat relieved as the water quality is dubious, I headed home. The forecast for the next day was wonderful (for February): 35 and light W! I contemplated heading south where it was going to be in the mid-50’s, but there were three strikes against it: more people, more W, and a higher chance that this wouldn’t be a useless fishing report.
So, I sorted through some flies and pulled out about a dozen sz14’s, taped a bare hook to the lid of a small container lest there be any doubt that I knew the rules, and dreamed of big whities that night. Ok, not really.I am in the middle of moving so I spent the morning packing. I finally packed enough boxes that I could claim that my back needed a break (which it did), and I headed out. However, it was one of those days when everything seemed to get in my way of actually fishing:
1. On the phone with my older sister who was driving, as I got in my rig and as she pulled into her driveway, she exclaimed “My house is on fire! I gotta go!”. My fishing destination was 1.5 hours the wrong direction from my sis (who is 3 hrs away) so I changed out of my fishing clothes and anxiously waited to hear the outcome. Luckily, a dog-walking neighbor saw the smoke and heard the fire alarm and had called 911. It turned out that sis left a pan on the stove when she went to the doctor and the neighbor caught it before the house went up in flames. Whew, lots of smoke but no real damage.
So, although my departure was delayed by an hour, I changed into my fishing duds again and headed to the river. The day was absolutely stunning and the drive alone was worth it! I felt my sore back healing by the mile, as well as my spirits, so I knew I made the right choice. Better late than never. Sometimes you just need to go stand in a river, breathe deeply and let it wash your soul clean.
Driving up my favorite river is difficult as I spend too much time looking at the runs and not enough looking at the road. Each run brings back memories of fish gone by and friends with whom I have shared the water. Approaching one of my most productive winter runs, I lamented that it was closed - and then my blood instantly boiled over. There were two anglers in the run, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, one guy with a giant landing net! So, this led to the next delay.
#2. I immediately pulled into the first turn out, still somewhat downstream of them, but I knew it was the nearest safe place to get off the road. I briefly contemplated the long trudge through deep snow to yell that the river was closed where they were fishing but the size of their landing near had seared a hole in my brain as it only meant one thing: they were targeting a closed protected species! So, I reached for my phone, found the local Enforcement Officer’s cell number and called him. It turns out that these two guys were indeed targeting a protected species - they were collecting broodstock, lol. The officer had gotten an email about it that morning but was still grateful that I’d called.
Back on the road, I started rethinking where I was going to fish based upon the scant time the sun would stay above the hills. At 35 degrees, it felt warm in the sun but I knew it would get cold really quickly as the sun descended. Approaching a different stellar but closed run, another sight delayed me yet again.
#3. Here about two feet off the bank was a Bald Eagle just sitting there in the water up to his neck. I could see him from a long way off and he was making no attempt to fly or swim out. I knew he probably had a fish but heck, he had to be cold. I drove by watching him, expecting to see him attempt to get out but nope, he just sat there. I drove on but soon wondered if he had exhausted himself trying to get the fish out or was tangled in some line. So, I turned around, not relishing the very long walk it would take to see if he indeed was tangled in fishing line or was hypothermic. Luckily, by the time I got back, an immature eagle was there and the frozen eagle was flapping up, talons extended, giving the youngster a warning. Whew, all was well. By the time I found a safe place to turn around, the eagle was back in the water neck deep, probably trying to figure out how the hell he was going to get that fish to shore!
After what seemed like hours and hours, because it was, I finally arrived at a run that I knew probably wouldn’t produce fish. And just to be sure that this really was a useless fishing report, I grabbed a Tenkara rod rigged with 5x, LOL! You see, I really did just wanted to stand in the waters of my favorite river before it closed again for months. It’s hard to explain but I needed it. I sure as hell didn’t want to target the closed species and didn’t much care if I hooked the open one. But I knew if I just waded out there without a rod, I might be carted away in a straight jacket, so I tied on a sz 14 fly and waded out.
It didn’t take long before the river worked its magic! My cares floated off downstream, sometimes swirling about in an eddy, sometimes moving quickly through a rapid, sometimes just flowing with the gentle current before continuing the journey to the Pacific. The sun felt great, I didn’t fall in, my Simms bootfoot waders kept my feet warm - and I didn’t hook anything to ruin my useless fishing report! All in all, it was an amazing afternoon!
