Christmas Eve day left me a small window of opportunity to fish. I chose a small stream not to far from home so I was able to get as much time in the woods as well as line time in the water as possible. This stream had not been fished by me since September, but the recent rains as well as the snow melt had brought the water levels up and moved fish around. I was happy to see that the clarity of the water was outstanding. Usually after a snow melt the color is less than ideal but that was not the case today.
I chose to fish pinkie and that fly did not let me down. The first brook trout hit it with all the power he had. Several others had me going pretty good.
Several of these brook trout were in their spawning colors.
As I was fishing pinkie I noticed that many of the strikes were coming from some thin ares of the stream. The fish were taking the fly not on the drift but on the retrieve as the fly neared the surface. That gave me the thought to try a dry. I tied on a bomber and was greeted with a strike, a "real rise to the dry".
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| Brook trout on a "Bomber" Dec. 24th |
I had forgot to bring my Gink and could not dress the fly with floatant. Luckily the bomber floats well, but not forever. Looking into the fly box I found a caddis pattern that floats well and gave that a toss.
That caddis dry worked just as well as the bomber. In mid stream at the tail in 6 inches of clear water.
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| Brook trout on a caddis dry Dec. 24th |
Those few hours flew buy so quickly, the time to leave was upon me.
Christmas Eve day, 2013.
Alan...
ReplyDeleteyou always bring us joy and peace as we read your blog and view those fantastic photo's that you take...hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas.. beautiful fish...as always!!!!
flyfisher1000,
DeleteThanks.
I'm glad that I'm able to do this for you and others. Christmas was wonderful.
A golden opportunity, well-taken. We had snow and wind at the time, another classic holiday set-up.
ReplyDeleterivertoprambles,
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Walt
The opportunity was seized, and it turned out well. I love fishing in a light snow, but combine it with wind and I'll have another coffee and stay home.
Stunning Pics!!! Nice Christmas present to yourself!
ReplyDeleteTROUT1,
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Pete it was a fine gift indeed.
Awesome! Dry flies in late December. Thanks for another great year documenting your exploits on the stream. Best wishes in 2014.
ReplyDeletetim,
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The trout were willing that day. I'm truly happy to bring my ramblings and rants to you, glad you enjoy them.
looks like a great break for you.
ReplyDeleteTexWisGirl,
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Wonderful.
Way to go Alan!
ReplyDeleteApache Trout,
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Enjoyable for sure.
Way to go Alan, when I saw the post title I thought you were fishing royals again !
ReplyDeleteMark,
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I would have fished the Royal, but honestly forgot.
Those fish are still pretty colorful even with fall long gone. Love the pink san juan. I would use its other name but I don't want to start something.
ReplyDeleteKevin Frank.
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Kevin some of the streams were very low this fall, and I think spawning came later than most years.
I had a good fish that day as well, got my PB wild brown. 22in! It does seem the trout are keeping their fall attire for a long time this year.
ReplyDeleteRM Lytle,
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WOW, a 22 inch wild brown. That's awesome. Congrats,
On a dry in December, fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLQN,
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Long, I'll fish a dry almost every outing, you never know, especially with brookies.
Great place to be able to fish at this time of the year.
ReplyDeletessj,
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Very true my friend. I'm very fortunate.
That pinkie has been a producer for you this winter season Brk Trt..BTW..we got our power back on Christmas day..keeping our fingers crossed that we don't drop out again..
ReplyDeletepenbayman,
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It's a good winter fly Mike.
I read your blog and was happy for you. No heat and no lights this time of year can be deadly..
BT,
ReplyDeleteThere is a large swamp behind my house with a big beaver dam holding water. I spoke with people who lived here for 20 years and they said that about 15 years ago the beavers came in and dammed things up. I followed the stream for a while and it is slow and sandy for a while, but eventually it gains speed and when it enters a hemlock forest for a few hundred yards. I went there yesterday and drifted a SJW in every fishy looking pool, (only a few, then it runs into a reservior. Do you think that there could be trout in it if there is only a few hundred yards of forest before the lake and after the poor water quality after the beaver swamp? What fly would you use to prospect for in the dead of winter? Thanks-CLiff
cphaneuf,
DeleteThanks.
Cliff have you ever checked this section of stream in the warmer months? It could tell you if the waters are cool enough to hold trout. The stream enters a reservior means it has good quality and if the trout can move back and forth from stream to lake. If I were to fish the stream now I would use a "Pinkie" or a good bead head nymph like a pheasant tail or prince. A few hundred yards of good water with some structure can hold some wonderful surprises. I would give it a shot or several. Let us know.
Alan
ReplyDeleteAbsolute beautiful stream you were fishing and it looked like it was fairly easy to make a decent cast all along its banks. I just wonder what these brook trout think the pinkie is or what it relates to. I hope I will be able to make it out next week; we spent Christmas with our daughter and her family and just got back today. We were close to some awesome streams in northern Tennessee, but there was just not enough time to make a trip work for us. Thanks for sharing
Bill Trussell,
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I don't know what they think the pinkie is but they do strike it hard. I hope your Christmas was delightful. Tenn. has some prime brook trout fishing, and I'm sure you would love it. I hope you do get the chance to fish.