December 5 and 6, 2018 – Sneaking in a Few More Stockies – SEPA Freestoners

Explored and found a few spread out in pocket water.

I took the long ride to the beach on Monday and only found the rats that signal that the end of the run is near.  Still, I know some fun-sized fish will cooperate for a couple more weeks, provided this latest cold snap doesn’t cause the water temperature to plummet.  It is already under the magic number of 50, but if the bait hangs around a little while longer, there may be time.  I was hoping to run down to the coast on Wednesday or Thursday but forgot about a few early morning commitments when I was actually mentally prepared on Thursday.  Thank goodness for the local stockies, as I still got out for about two hours on both Wednesday and Thursday for quick, impromptu trips.

Still haven't turned to the midge.

Wednesday was windy and cold, with air temps barely breaking 35 degrees.  When I visited this first creek with my dad last time, it was after a rain and some milder temps, so the fish were more eager to feed and even set up in some current.  Not today.  While I pulled one or two out of pocket water, I ended up catching 6 of the 8 or 9 fish I landed in the slow, deep holes.  I decided not to use an indicator and work on my nymphing technique in frog water, cold frog water, so at least I honed my skills on very light bites in calm water, almost going with a sixth sense that a fish had taken the fly.  The fish were still big but less feisty in water that was in the mid-30’s.

A grayer and calmer day, but lower water and no bugs to help the cause.

Thursday was a still cold but somewhat calmer day, even though the breeze persisted.  After taking care of my morning bus stop duties that precluded me from a sunrise on the beach, I was still itching to get out, especially after spending a couple hours reading mediocre papers from my students.  My time was limited.  Once again, enter the stockies. 

No holdovers today, but some fresher stocked rainbows instead.

I took a trip this afternoon to another nearby creek where I caught a bunch of holdovers in November, knowing this time that fresh fish had been stocked over them.  The new fish must have thrown off the games of the holdover browns or, because there was nothing doing as far as bug life, those holdovers were resting this afternoon.  At any rate, it was all recently stocked rainbows today, and only 4 of them.  I also had a few half-hearted takes, the kind where you see the white flash of a mouth, wonder, Was it? and then drop a sluggish trout after one head shake.  I guess two days in a row of high pressure, cold, and wind, plus no bugs, just made them more interested in simply conserving energy.  Still, I got in a nice walk in the woods both days, saw some deer and wildlife, and caught a few fish within 30 minutes of home.  I will take it in December.

Going to take a lot of midges to maintain this figure.