The long, cold winter

Continues. Ugh. Not one to go down without a fight I have taken three trips to the river over the past few weeks. Given the conditions none of the trips began with high hopes but the ever present fisherman optimism always takes over while gearing up at the car. So what if you have to put your rain jacket on to stay dry...bad conditions often lead to big fish. So what if the sky is so dark you can actually see better without your polarized glasses...all you need is a tail breaking the surface and you are golden. So what if the water is in the trees and the color of your morning coffee...high water just pushes the fish close to shore. Unfortunately, more often than not bad conditions = crappy fishing, and that has held true this year. I saw one carp, 60 ft from shore floating on the surface of a tiny pond. I chucked a fly out there and somehow managed to snag the poor bugger and scored my first scale of the year. Other than that, I haven't even seen any signs of carp. While expected (it is only the beginning of April) I have to admit I am pretty disappointed. Most flyfishermen will tell you that catching fish is an extra; that the sum of the experience is more important than any one individual piece (pretty sure I have made that comment a time or two) but it sure as hell is easier to say that when one is catching some fish.




On the bright side, at this point I will be taking more pictures like the one above sooner rather than later.