"Close Enough"....

I have written about a friend who I have had many wonderful times fishing with. His name was Pete and he had a love affair for fishing for brookies and small streams. A particular stream that we enjoyed over the years that we referred to as "The Family Secret" was again visited by me earlier this week. As I walked to the stream I noticed this piece of art that was tucked into a hollow in a tree. Seeing this I stopped and gave some thought as to it's meaning and who might have put it there. My conclusion may differ from yours but I think we are close.

The stream was gorgeous. Sunlight was upon it and it's brookies were going to be very cautious...fish the shadows was what Pete would have said.

There is a special section of the Family Secret that Pete liked. A small sign was placed there last fall and a few of us visited here on New Years Day. I fished the Run on this outing hoping to fool one of the brook trout that swim here. I'll tell you I tried my best to bring one to hand but it was not to be.

Just a bit downstream from Pete's Run" I managed to catch this fine jewel....close enough Pete, what do you think.

Just out and about....

Poking around last weekend visiting a couple of streams that in the past have been good to me. They also are kind in a certain way that helps the parts of my body that no longer work as well as they did. The sun was out and so was the wildlife. A few very skittish whitetails were observed dining on the new vegetation. The stream holds both wild brook and brown trout. The browns tend to dominate but every so often a nice brookie will come to hand.

Do you ever get that feeling someone's watching you..look at this guy checking the goings on.

Bottle necks within the stream always are a good place to spend a little time. Trout can be found most anywhere. A lot of water to fish thoroughly.

This silvery brown was found in mid riffle. The fly was taken aggressively.

Peppered fried pork skins, a great snack.

The biggest of the day. He was also very silvery, with brilliant red spots, as well as being very strong.

The "Fly"

Sitting at my desk yesterday morning, the sun working it's way into the room. A hot cup of Colombian coffee served black next to me. On the desk was a memo pad that I use to write notes on about my fishing adventures. On the memo pad lay a fly that I had been looking at the night before. The fly a rather simple creation for the most part. The fly originally tied as an Atlantic salmon fly was converted through the use of a smaller hook and was very successful as a trout fly. As I gazed at the fly thoughts of it's previous outings were brought back, and thoughts of it's future outings rushed in. With half of my coffee consumed clearer thinking took over. What was I going to accomplish with the fly. Fishing a famed Atlantic salmon river, well that's not going to happen. Perhaps fishing a stream that holds large brown trout, now that's a good possibility. Well whatever the future of my undertakings with the fly I'm certain that it will be wonderful.

By the way the fly is "Salars Nemesis"...created by Sylvester Nemes....

Spring Blue Lining....

Over the past week I have visited several small streams. These are the mountain blue lines that are now pushing quite a bit of water. In some of the pools are areas where it's sort of calm and that is where I found some willing brook trout. This time of year the countryside is changing. There is color most everywhere . The prominent color being green with the mix of yellow and purple. When you combine all the sights and sounds surrounding these woodland blue lines there is but one word that comes to mind, and that word is "magic"....

The boisterous sound of water in the plunge leads to a more tranquil flow of the pool. It is here that the brookies hold.

Spring brook trout.

Another inviting place to try ones luck.

A perfect specimen of a small stream brook trout. It's shape tells me she is well provided for. And just look at those markings on her back "wow"...

This guy tried to free himself using the available cover along with a stick.

Just clear your head, listen to the water crashing over the boulders...now that your mind is clear allow you eyes to focus on what's below.