March 13, 2025

I have a few days off from school for an abbreviated spring break. The weather couldn't get much better for March, so I spent a good chunk of time getting after it on a favorite stream. It was 9:30 and 35 degrees when I arrived, but a walk in to the good water got me warmed up. I fished a scud lead fly all day with a variety of trail flies, other than a midge. 

Fishermen, especially fly fishermen, often embelish their numbers and size, but today got off to a fast start, so I decided to be a counter, something I rarely do; however considering how fast the catching was, I decided to count them all.

The numbers piled up quickly, and I had fish 50 caught and released by 11:30. The recent rains and snow melt still had the stream off colored, perfect for tandem nymping. Every place I stopped and threw a fly had hungry, willing fish holding. It was one of those days where to you take it all in and kick some ass, because there will be days down the road that will kick back.

I was over 70 fish by 1:00 and trudged to one last pool section with a feeding riffle that is damn near automatic. This was the one and only fish I caught and the last one of the day.

February 2, 2025

The stars finally aligned for me to get out and get my first trip of 2025 in. I wouldn't classify the morning session as overly warm - 34 degrees to start, but there was minimal wind, so it was bearable. 

I fished two nymphs, some Dinsmore, and no indicator the entire day. There was not surface activity or midges in the air, but the trout still wanted a midge trailer, routinely.

I fished one section for a few hours and pulled ups takes to hit one more stream on my way home. Ran into another angler early on - we chatted briefly. He wanted to go upstream, so I headed downstream. Onstream communication like this is so important. Ensuring that we don't high hole or tread on each other is an important part of the day if you run into other anglers, so exchanging pleasantries and figuring a plan that works for the both of you is in each other's best interest.

The downstream section was meh, so I opted for a jig head streamer considering I was on poorly constructed woodey debris, and I mean that: poorly constructed.

I had a good first day - over 20 trout caught and released with a few brook trout thrown in for good measure.