I decided to get off my ass today and go fishing.
I had re-read my last post and had a sudden attack of 'I must be getting old-itis'.
Sure the fishing around here is spotty at best but if timed right it surely beats sitting around on the couch like a vegetable. Time to toughen up.
Normally I am an early morning guy but lately I have been having a really tough time draggin my ass out of bed. I traditionally don't mind the winter months but these past few weeks have found me in a wee bit of a funk. Fishing is always a cure for what 'ales' me so at around 4 this afternoon I decided "screw this cold snap...I am going fishing".
By 4:30 I was standing in the guard shack of one of our local refineries procuring permission to fish on their property. This is a funny little procedure that always raises a few eyebrows from the attendants and I try to make it a point of walking in with my camo-neoprene waders on just to add to the effect. It is fun freaking people out and most trout fisherman are little left of centre at the best of times anyway. So there I was ,..signing the guest book at the petro chemical plant explaining to the guard that 'yes', I did indeed know that there was a snowstorm outside...and 'yes', I did indeed want to go fishing.
They probably laughed themselves silly when I left....or called the police...who knows?
The winter outflows can be a ton of fun if timed right. I have yet to be able to figure them out. For whatever reason they seem to load up all of a sudden and become barren just as quick. I can't seem to link any sort of weather pattern to this at all. I have found it productive during warm snaps as well as in deep freezes.
It is puzzling to a fisherman like myself who tries to find patterns in order to be able to best predict a successful outing. I can never really approach them with any sort of confidence. Nail them one day and the next you'd swear there were no fish in the river at all.
First drift and I am into one. The snow was blowing so hard I could barely see my float. The strike was strong and I felt it before the float even dipped. One cool thing about the hot water discharges is that the fish fight like its October. They find that optimum temperature where the warm water meets the cold and sit around all winter picking off baitfish that hang out at these discharges as well. I have even seen poor old salmon jumping into the outflows right at the wall in the fall trying to swim up into the tube.....very sad.
This first fish was a Brown and ..it was a good one. It came to the surface right away where it excecuted an lovely silver/butterscotch roll and waved 'bye bye' with its tail as the hook popped free.
This is probably the best thing that could've happen to me. I am now fully infected with the Brown trout fever! This is an annual thing with me but I wasn't sure if it was going to take hold this year. I lose a lot of these friggin fish. The main reason is that they are big and have strong current and open water to work with and I refuse to go with heavier tackle. I have decided to be stubborn and in spite of this I have had some success. One of the biggest Trout I have landed has been from these outflows. It was a brute of about 12 pounds that never was captured on film.(I know what you are thinking and shame on you!). That same year there was a 17 lb and a 13 lb Brown caught in the spring derby. Point is there is always a chance for a big fish....and what the hell am I doing sitting on my arse?
If nothing else I suppose I owe it to the fisherman who don't have these kinds of opportunities. So I believe I have shaken off the "doldrums" and I will crank it up a notch and take my lumps like a man.
I ended up 2 for 4.
One wee little Brown the size of my foot and one decent pellet-head Steelie.
I know I should look down my nose at the hatchery fish but at least they keep me from going stir crazy.
Back to work tomorrow....excellent chance I'll freeze to death.
