Happy February

Friends here it is the first of February, tomorrow is groundhog day, by mid month baseball teams will be reporting to spring training, and perhaps by the end of the month we'll be able to cast a fly upon ice free waters.

Some things going on at home, the favorite grand dog Mr. Parker is staying with us for a few days. In that time he will get the royal spoil treatment from us, some of which is sleeping in late, pancakes and eggs for breakfast, many trips to the park, afternoon naps, and burgers for supper. He is a joy and brings us lots of pleasure.

Jeanette clearing snow from Tuesdays snow storm. We are about to belted by a storm tomorrow that will drop another 10 or so inches. In between it has been brutally cold. I have had many hours at the vise turning out some of my favorite fishing flies, as well as a few featherwing streamers. I also tried a new recipe for venison. I corned a few pieces and will try it today for the first time. I have had it in the brine for 7 days and when I placed it in the pot this morning it looked great. Having been simmering for about 3 hours now I can tell you it smells awesome. Soon some carrots, potatoes, and cabbage will be added and it will be enjoyed by the family later today.

Pickett Pin's. I have my box full of them. Most in size 14 but a few in 12 and 10's.

When March arrives in 28 days I hope to find my small streams looking like this. A brook trout rising at the tail of the pool would be a plus.

In keeping with the simplicity of this blog I present to you Linguine with fresh tomatoes spinach and green chiles.

The Farmington

Last year late August as well as most of September were pretty dry. The small streams took a beating with the low water. I was fortunate to have a wonderful alternative to fishing the small streams, and that alternative was the Farmington River. This tail water had beautiful flows of cool water all through the hot dry spell. The Farmington is probably best known for it's big browns and hefty rainbows. The river can be somewhat problematic to the angler who is trying to take one of those big fish. But this angler had some very good days fishing the small areas of this river. The wild trout population is doing fine and all through the months of September and October I was blessed with many fine wild browns and brookies.

The trout were taken on a variety of flies everything from dries to streamers. The better times of the day were between 10am and 2pm. Below are some photos of the wonderful wild bounty in this fine river.

"Sundog"

With all the cold snowy weather as of late one can get some relief by tying flies. I have been tying featherwing streamers for the last several days and would like to share one with you. I got the inspiration for the streamer from a photo I saw while viewing Run-a-Round Ranch blog. Theresa had several photos of a "sundog" posted. From that photo I selected some materials that would give the impression of a "sundog". I hope you enjoy.

"Sundog"

A Cold Winters Day

My last outing took place a week ago Wednesday. I really did want to go but knew the better thing to do would be to stay home. The temps the night before had dipped to around 10 and the daylight did not move them much higher. So I fixed a thermos full of tea and put the wool on and headed for the stream. As I walked to the stream I could feel the cold biting through. The ragg wool gloves were not much of a buffer to the wind. I persisted and walked on, fishing every possible trout holding pool available. There were no takers, still I walked and climbed and cast when I could. By now it had been several hours and the realization set in that this was not going to be a fish catching day. Today was a small stream reflecting day.

I reached the farthest point of the stream. Here I stopped and cracked open the thermos of tea. The steam coming from the cup told me I was about to feel my insides return to normal. As I drank the hot beverage I took note of the place where I placed my rod. It was lying on a moss covered stone. Along side of the handle I saw a feather. Picking it up I admired its color and the almost perfect shape it was in. I tried to determine where it came from and thought what bird had left it.

After drinking several cups of tea and thinking about the feather I gathered it up and placed in my fly box. Walking back to the car I thought to myself. I fished this day and though I caught nothing I still had a fruitful day, a rewarding day and a time to reflect on what it is to fish a small stream on a very cold winters day.