Mid January, Shelf Ice, and Streamers

Mid January and winter has just tightened its grip here in the northeast. The temps have been in the single numbers to mid teens daily for a few days. The streams remain open but shelf ice has formed and to attempt wading can be dangerous.
Saturday we drove to a stream that I fish often, in warmer times,that is. The road along the stream was all but abandoned. The sun was shining bright and gave some beautiful highlights to the stream. A crystal wonderland.




This is a streamer that seems to capture that wonderland.
Blue and white, like the colors of ice. A tail of hackles like thin icicles, and a body of white, like the snow that lines the waters edge.

The streamers name "Shelf Ice"


Stream darters are small fish that live in rivers and streams. These small fish make up part of the diet of trout that live in the streams. Brown trout are good examples of big fish eating little fish and often the largest trout in such streams are browns.
This darter is only one type found in streams, but it is the model for the next streamer.

The darter, almost looks like a small brown.


This streamer takes the colors of that darter. It is the hope that when the streamer is retrieved in a zigzag darting style a big brown will make a hit.

The streamers name, "Darter"