December 14, 2021 – That Bathing in Tomato Soup Thing Is a Myth, Right? - Northampton County Limestoner

Real low, yo.

I got out for a full five-hour skunking on only my second trip of December.  Maybe I still had the smell on me from my last surf outing.  The surf continues to be a long drive for lackluster returns, so we bagged a trip on Sunday, and I have just been busy with the end of semester stuff.  I have a month off starting on December 19, so fishing will be done, cold or not, next week and into the New Year.  The creeks are really low, but if it rains this Saturday, I will give it a shot on Sunday.  Today, besides meeting the need to get out on a beautiful day, was nearly a waste of time.  Midges and even some olives were hatching for about an hour, but nary a nose to be seen.  This creek fishes poorly for me in the winter, but I was hoping for one last hurrah until late February or early March.  I had one moment of excitement all day. With the water painfully low and clear, I saw a big brown give himself away with a flash of mouth, eating something or chasing another fish, like an intruder rainbow.  Or he got the spawning memo late and was still juiced up.  I stalked him with a bugger and got him to move twice, nip the back twice, and when he finally ate, my overzealous hookset turned him.  With a shake of the head and a panicked bolt upstream to spook the rest of the hole, he was gone.  I think that my ability to see the whole thing so clearly, right down to the eat, caused me to set just a hair too early.  I should have waited for him to turn, maybe, or for that whole bugger to disappear.  It was a nice 16+ inch wild brown too and would have made the trip a lot less lackluster and maybe gotten that skunk off me.  I don't believe those things are like slumps, however, so no silly rituals until the next outing on maybe Thursday morning.