In the Dark Again

Clouds and cold fog obscure any light that may otherwise reach the river at 11:00pm in February. Some things can still be seen, especially in my peripheral vision. But this is probably the darkest night I've ever fished in the when there weren't leaves on the trees and over my head. Being under the forest canopy on a clear, moonless summer night can be unnerving, so dark you could literally walk into a tree without any visual cue that it was there at all. In winter though even the darkest night is only so dark. And typically clouds reflect the artificial light and brighten things up substantially, so it was the fog that made this night so special. The perfectly dark winter night. 

On paper, it could potentially have been the best winter nigh fishing session I'd had yet. Dark is normally good in night fishing. But in retrospect, it was never going to be that good. The air was warm but the water was the coldest I'd fished all winter, and the river wasn't high but it was high enough to be a pain. And it just didn't feel right, perhaps the most important factor of the least important factors. 

But I didn't skunk. Working a deep bucket that has been a reliable spot this winter, and was previously reliable in early spring other years, I got more than one take. I was fishing a Bad Mother and a black leach. I wasn't sure which was getting taken, but more than once, after I'd dropped the flies into the top of the bucket and slowly lead them through it with the rod raised high, I felt a distinct thump. Eventually I managed to set the hook, sending a tiny stocker rainbow into the air. 

This wasn't going to be "the night". I'm still waiting for "the night". But I was fishing for trout in the dark again in February, and had continued my winter night skunk-free trend. That's not something many people can lay claim to.

Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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