Frozen Eyelets and Numb Fingers! Gotta Love It!

Another sunny, but deceivingly cold day.  The trout still remain quite slow going.  The stream is subsiding day by day.  Lets hope that there is no rain in near future forecast.  I headed out today about 10:30 am and went out in search of some trout.  I tried the first two holes with a spin pole and a gold and orange Little Cleo.  NOthing.  Not even a bite.  I  would see a brown follow the lure back to the shore and then it would turn around and head back out.  I decided to B-line it back to the Subaru and make the switch to the St. Croix fly rod.  The fly rod is a great choice for early spring because it allows you to slow down you presentation.  The second hole in:

Can YOu guess where the trout are sitting??

When you head out trout fishing which set of tracks would you rather see?

 

I usually like to fish the spots where I see more of the prints on the left.  Although sometimes you can't help but hit up those sweet easy access holes.  

The part of the stream I was on today was mostly in the shade for most of the early morning, but when I came into the bright warm sun I soaked it up.  The temp couldn't have been much over 30 degrees.  It seems pretty chilly for this time of the year.  Usually by now I wouldn't have to deal with this:

Frozen Eyelets-Nothing Worse!

I once broke a brand new fly rod tip right off.  Instead of using my thumb to push the ice out, I decided it would be a good idea to tug on the fly line.  Snizzap.  Luckily it was warrantied and Bass Pro Shop sent me a new rod next day air.  Sweet Deal.  I use St.Croix now and they are great because if you break anything on the top section of the rod they will send you a new one for $30-$40.  That sure beats buying a whole new setup.

Since nothing seemed to be biting on this part of the stream, I focused more on taking some pics.  A lot of the holes had trees down in them, and it is going to take some branch cutting to make some of these holes fishable again.  Thats the nature of the beast.  Flooding has made for some significant widening of the stream.  There are some nice new little holes that will hold some fish once temps heat up.

I will keep my fingers crossed for some warm weather soon.  Don't forget that your fishing license is expiring on March 30th.  Don't get caught without one.  Also earlier I stated that hooks should be barbless.
My brotherin reminded me that they actually changed the barbless hook rule.  You can now use hooks with barbs in early season.  Still only artificial though.  


GOOD LUCK. TIGHT LINES!!!!!!!