Okay…new fishing year…still something to celebrate, though.
I am compelled to fish early on the first day of each fishing season, regardless of conditions (I might delay in cases of alien invasion, multiple volcanic eruptions, or similar circumstances, but the decision would not be an easy one), so I had been looking forward to this morning for….well…roughly 7 months. That lag between seasons really should be shortened, somehow.
There was a bit of a rough start, though. I had delayed getting my license, largely due to work-travel, and discovered that the first two places I tried to obtain one had either an issue with their licensing computer, or simply had the nerve to not open before 9am ON OPENING DAY. I grant you, people locally don’t camp out for the first crack at a license, like movie premiers, but still.
License acquired at the third place, and off I go into the mountains. I was absently aware of the cloud cover increasing as I drove, but a lack of droplets in the windshield staved off any larger concerns.
As I finally pulled up to one of my favorite places, I confirmed that the outside temp was a reasonable 58 degrees (according to Nissan). Warmer than some of my fishing outings at the end of the previous season!
I tied on an old favorite, just in case any of the local fish were amenable to kicking off the season with me.
Stepping into the water, I am greeted by the familiar and welcome enveloping push of the current against my legs…at 42-degrees.
Fly Fishing is not for the weak and timid, after all.
The water was high for this river, running just under 800cfs, but the right bank was still very accessible. Given the water temp and the clouds keeping the sun from having a chance to correct it anytime soon, I took the chance to practice my casting, mending, and general line and fly control.
Very happy to see that I had not gotten completely rusty in the off season! I must have been regularly practicing in my dreams.
I worked my way upstream, into an area of pocket water, and took aim at some more technical spots, with conflicting current patterns around them.
Not quite picking up exactly where I was back in October, but accurate enough that I probably kept my smile the entire time. The rest will tighten back up, I’m sure.
I’m often fairly successful in pocket water, as I’ve previously mentioned. Not so much, today. All I got, today, was half a score of Seeeffdees….but I had a great time!
More to come…I’m sure.
What’s that? Not sure what a Seeeffdee is? It’s one of the very few things one can be guaranteed to get, assuming you have a combination of the right conditions, equipment, and focus. Okay, hardheadedness can replace focus, too. It is the phonetic spelling of the spoken form of the abbreviation for Cyanotic Foot Digits. Thanks for that to 42-degree water, me not putting on the thicker socks, and my being engrossed in the enjoyment of being back in the water!
Tight lines.