You know, that super secret spring creek east of the town where I live and west of where @Billy lives? Super secret, it must be because no one was there today.
My wife and I woke up to freezing fog this morning, slick sidewalks, slick driveway and slick sidestreets. The ice coating my truck sort of put a damper on my getting out and doing some fishing. All the lakes that I frequent are now either closed for the season or have this hard layer of water on top. Cabin fever: contagious? I have it, bad. After lunch, I looked out the window and my truck's windshield was still coated with ice. I hit the remote start on the key fob (I try to remember to have the heater set at max fan, defrost and the temp setting max) and a few minutes later no more ice. Muck boots on, fly rod strung, back pack in hand and out the door.
Road 19 and B .5 have compacted snow on them but the road down the hill to the upper ------- at this secret creek was bare, not so with the gravel road between the upper lot and the last lot - very slick.
My winter trick to keep my hands from getting too cold is to string my fly rod up at home, knot on a fly and slip the rigged rod into a sleeve. All I had to do after I got to the crick was put the two pieces together and go for a walk.
Echo Base 590, Lamson LP-2, Cortalnd 444 WF5F and............
The super secret spring creek is low and slow right now and much of the accessible shoreline has lots of floating weeds tight to the bank. I found a couple places where I could (if I hooked a fish) get the fish to the shoreline for a quick unhooking.
It was 25F when I arrived and 25F when I left. At 25F, guides ice up. Dipping my fly rod into the super secret spring creek, lifting it up and banging the reel seat frees guides from ice.
I fished for about an hour. Landed four trout that had been hooked before, still - catching a few fish helped with cabin fever.
My wife and I woke up to freezing fog this morning, slick sidewalks, slick driveway and slick sidestreets. The ice coating my truck sort of put a damper on my getting out and doing some fishing. All the lakes that I frequent are now either closed for the season or have this hard layer of water on top. Cabin fever: contagious? I have it, bad. After lunch, I looked out the window and my truck's windshield was still coated with ice. I hit the remote start on the key fob (I try to remember to have the heater set at max fan, defrost and the temp setting max) and a few minutes later no more ice. Muck boots on, fly rod strung, back pack in hand and out the door.
Road 19 and B .5 have compacted snow on them but the road down the hill to the upper ------- at this secret creek was bare, not so with the gravel road between the upper lot and the last lot - very slick.
My winter trick to keep my hands from getting too cold is to string my fly rod up at home, knot on a fly and slip the rigged rod into a sleeve. All I had to do after I got to the crick was put the two pieces together and go for a walk.
Echo Base 590, Lamson LP-2, Cortalnd 444 WF5F and............
The super secret spring creek is low and slow right now and much of the accessible shoreline has lots of floating weeds tight to the bank. I found a couple places where I could (if I hooked a fish) get the fish to the shoreline for a quick unhooking.
It was 25F when I arrived and 25F when I left. At 25F, guides ice up. Dipping my fly rod into the super secret spring creek, lifting it up and banging the reel seat frees guides from ice.
I fished for about an hour. Landed four trout that had been hooked before, still - catching a few fish helped with cabin fever.
