February 26 and 28, 2018 – Ready for Things to Really Begin? - A Couple Unproductive Trips Closer to Home

Good company (and lunch) but bad fishing so far this week.

I know, it has been mild this week, and there was even a good shot of rain, but the flooding didn’t really help things out the way it would, say, in May, and the fish, the bugs, and even this particular fisherman are still in that in-between stage.  Winter is coming to a close, but it’s not spring, and that is why this time of year can be cruel.  Today, for example, I saw early stoneflies, midges, BWOs, crocuses blooming, and the buds on my forsythias starting to pop, but no fishes.  I got to fish with a new toy, a 10 foot 5 weight that I picked up for a great price earlier in the winter, but I also had to fish in my backup bootfoot waders because my primary waders are in Bozeman, MT getting fixed or replaced (for free) and will be out west for 4 to 6 weeks.  I have fished twice this week so far, with two skunks to show for it.  Monday was understandable: an hour at Stony Creek in hipboots (backups to the backups) and with junk flies, just hoping to catch one during a stolen moment, a break from grading papers.  

Not quite ready, but soon, very soon...

Today, however, Tom C and I actually gave it a good 4 hours of bouncing around a few spots on a creek in Northampton County, but it ended up being more of a tour.  Tom has not fished this creek before, and he was looking to expand his NEPA options this year, so I drove him around to a few holes, a couple that looked very fishy today, despite higher than optimum water, and allowed him to imagine the same spots in late May or June.  The morning started later because of bad traffic in SEPA; the boy’s bus was 15 minutes late, and it took me 30 minutes to get to my meeting spot with Tom, when it would usually take 10 minutes.  He did cook me lunch, however, and we talked of many things, including fishing, so it was still a good day to get out, better with company.  It is always easier to take a beating when the guy fishing with you is also experiencing the same conditions.  The high expectations of warm, spring-like air coupled with the low probability of late-winter fishing, especially on a wild trout stream: it always seems to bite me a couple times in February and March.  Time to chase stockies for a week or so closer to home?  Perhaps…