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| A little snow remains. |
I had been fighting my first winter cold and/or sinus thing for a few days, but I was feeling markedly better by Christmas day. I slept in to let it warm up from a morning start in the 20’s (again), and then I made my way to one of my go-to Lehigh Valley limestone cricks. It was going to be a decent day. Afterall, lows in the 20’s are better than lows in the mid-teens. I had a plan to visit a couple cricks, maybe three of them just to scout, but with the air temperature still hovering below freezing at noon when I arrived at the first one, I saved my energy for another day. Despite the cold temps and snow on the ground, there was still no fringe ice. There was also little to no snow melt to worry about with temps barely getting above freezing for an hour today. I knew I could find at least a couple despite (or because of) these calm, static conditions, even if that meant nothing until the bright sun dipped below the horizon around 3 PM. Luckily, I did not have to wait that long, at least for the first fish of the day, which was also my best of 2.5—I landed another and dropped a second during "magic hour." I got one to take a midge under a bobber in a wintering hole at my first stop, but I could not repeat that success here or at similar spots throughout the afternoon (I even gave the Bonnie Braid indie a shot at a couple deep, calm spots). In other words, no clear pattern has been established for this guy just yet. I fished it all and covered a lot of snowy ground. I had the place to myself, so it was a good excuse for a walk in the woods. Not a dog person, so I suppose a fishing rod is my excuse to get outside in the winter. Those dog folks are the only other hardy souls I see out there on days like today.
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| Got a decent one on a midge shortly after arriving. |
This is the time of year when bugs are scarce, but I am not an egg man—and I am rarely a worm boy either. Instead, I fish larva that I know are in the cricks year-round or scuds or small buggers. The first fish took a midge larva, and I had a couple other bumps on a walts worm in soft pockets. I kept returning to the jigged bugger—dead drifting, letting it fall slowly in soft stuff, weighting down to drift under root balls and behind current breaks. That finally paid off on my walk back to the ‘Ru. Around 2:30 PM, I had a swing and a miss, then a short battle with an average brown, then another hard bump that did not connect. When I threw back at the same soft pocket where the bumped occurred, I finally had the opportunity to land and photograph my second and last fish of the afternoon. I have been lazy and not fishing the cold morning beat, but I may need to switch it up for my future outings. The mornings should be mild enough to make this prospect even more inviting and productive. With rain in the forecast, I may fish on Saturday or Sunday, and I have a Monday trip penciled in with Eric. With hunters back in the woods in the SEPA counties, we may have to get a mitch out on a crick that is not our usual oasis. I hope he hasn’t forgotten how to fish for trouts that are actually pressured once in a while! This will be a social fishing day, so fall stockie bashing is not off the table (although I am sure I can find something a little more exciting).
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| A little action on a jigged bugger to close out the afternoon. |
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