First fishing trip of the year...

[IcatchDinks]

The long hibernation is over, and I'm finally emerging from my winter nap. I've missed you all, but if I can't go fishing, watching other people fish gives me an itch I just can't scratch. So I've been pretty dormant during the winter. Plus, I had a kid in September and that put an early end to my season. But I did go on a recent fishing trip with a buddy, and I figured I'd regale those bored enough to read it, with my doleful, event-less tale. 

 

Spoilers: we caught nothing. 

 

We spent all day last Saturday (9 hours) wading the rivers looking for steelhead. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'd never been steelhead fishing before, and a buddy from work offered to take me last weekend. We left his place at six in the morning and got to the parking spot near the river at nine. 

 

It was bitter cold. About 20°F when we first got there. When I said the parking spot was "near the river" I was speaking subjectively. We crunched through snow and dead leaves for half a mile to get to the water. And then  we fished, and waded, and hiked, and peered through the water for fish, hoping every ripple, shadow, and submerged log was a steelhead. (I would have been happy with a smallmouth, myself.) We kept on like this till about noon-thirty. And then we had to walk two miles back to the parked truck. Which was a good thing, because I think my toes might have gotten frost bit if didn't do some marching to get the blood flowing again. My family has a history of poor circulation in the feet and it seems I've inherited the malady. The first half of the trip I was kinda miserable. 

 

The one thing I did enjoy: it was absolutely beautiful. The sunrise, the happy gurgle of the river, the birds in the woods around us. I got to watch some small winged insects hatching out of the snow. I'm not a regular fly fisherman, so I have no clue what they were, but it was pretty cool to see. 

 

After we got back to the truck we drove over to another river, ate lunch and got right back at it. By now the sun had melted most of the snow and temps had warmed up. It was a lovely time, but no fish. 

 

I gave up on steelhead and switched my rig for targeting bass. Didn't get so much as a nibble. We didn't see a single fish that day. 

 

All the locals told us the recent warm spell followed by a sudden cold snap had messed up their spawning pattern and no one was sure where the fish were. My buddy is going out again Saturday to try to find them. 

 

Me, I love nature hikes, but I think I'm sticking to bass. I fish for fun. Not for exercise. 

 

I'm glad it's spring, y'all. I can't wait to feel that tug on my lines again and start posting photos of my dinks in the Latest Catch Pics thread. Until then, I'll be following y'all's fishy exploits with interest and envy. 

 

Edit: distances are guesstimates. I have no idea how far we really walked. But it was a lot. 

 

[Blue Raider Bob]

18 hours ago, IcatchDinks said:

The long hibernation is over, and I'm finally emerging from my winter nap. I've missed you all, but if I can't go fishing, watching other people fish gives me an itch I just can't scratch. So I've been pretty dormant during the winter. Plus, I had a kid in September and that put an early end to my season. But I did go on a recent fishing trip with a buddy, and I figured I'd regale those bored enough to read it, with my doleful, event-less tale. 

 

Spoilers: we caught nothing. 

 

We spent all day last Saturday (9 hours) wading the rivers looking for steelhead. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'd never been steelhead fishing before, and a buddy from work offered to take me last weekend. We left his place at six in the morning and got to the parking spot near the river at nine. 

 

It was bitter cold. About 20°F when we first got there. When I said the parking spot was "near the river" I was speaking subjectively. We crunched through snow and dead leaves for half a mile to get to the water. And then  we fished, and waded, and hiked, and peered through the water for fish, hoping every ripple, shadow, and submerged log was a steelhead. (I would have been happy with a smallmouth, myself.) We kept on like this till about noon-thirty. And then we had to walk two miles back to the parked truck. Which was a good thing, because I think my toes might have gotten frost bit if didn't do some marching to get the blood flowing again. My family has a history of poor circulation in the feet and it seems I've inherited the malady. The first half of the trip I was kinda miserable. 

 

The one thing I did enjoy: it was absolutely beautiful. The sunrise, the happy gurgle of the river, the birds in the woods around us. I got to watch some small winged insects hatching out of the snow. I'm not a regular fly fisherman, so I have no clue what they were, but it was pretty cool to see. 

 

After we got back to the truck we drove over to another river, ate lunch and got right back at it. By now the sun had melted most of the snow and temps had warmed up. It was a lovely time, but no fish. 

 

I gave up on steelhead and switched my rig for targeting bass. Didn't get so much as a nibble. We didn't see a single fish that day. 

 

All the locals told us the recent warm spell followed by a sudden cold snap had messed up their spawning pattern and no one was sure where the fish were. My buddy is going out again Saturday to try to find them. 

 

Me, I love nature hikes, but I think I'm sticking to bass. I fish for fun. Not for exercise. 

 

I'm glad it's spring, y'all. I can't wait to feel that tug on my lines again and start posting photos of my dinks in the Latest Catch Pics thread. Until then, I'll be following y'all's fishy exploits with interest and envy. 

 

Edit: distances are guesstimates. I have no idea how far we really walked. But it was a lot. 

 

Way to go DAD!!!! Congratulations!! Bringing along a new BR member in a few years. 

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

I really enjoyed your trip report, Dad. You write well, but I especially enjoyed having my good buddy fishing again. 

[IcatchDinks]

9 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

You write well, but I especially enjoyed having my good buddy fishing again. 

 Thanks! It's good to be back. Great to see all our southern friends catches, too! I went out to my local waters today, but it's still a bit early for the fish to be active. It's lovely to be back out with a pole, even if the fish aren't biting. 

 

4 hours ago, Blue Raider Bob said:

Bringing along a new BR member in a few years. 

Heck yeah! I can't wait to show him everything I know (which, if I stick around here that long, will be substantially more than I currently know.) 

[Swamp Girl]

8 minutes ago, IcatchDinks said:

I went out to my local waters today, but it's still a bit early for the fish to be active. It's lovely to be back out with a pole, even if the fish aren't biting. 

 

I had the exact, same experience two days ago, when I was casting in the snow and so happy to be casting again, even though I caught nothing.