One Foggy Thanksgiving Night

 One foggy and warm Thanksgiving eve four years ago, I caught a gorgeous walleye on a spur of the moment outing. Unlike my Christmas Eve tradition, which was started from a similar spontaneous outing and a monstrous small stream wild brown trout, I didn't decide to make this a yearly trip. But when I glanced outside on Thursday night to see my street bathed in fog I couldn't resist. I rigged my spey rod, and though the conditions were poor to horrible for night trout fishing I set out into the mist to swing large streamers in the black waters of my nearest trout river big enough for such pursuits.

In the eerie and quiet desolation I cast and pondered, allowing my black and blue Intruder to dance the current breaks and look enticing enough to tempt whatever trout may be slightly active. Maybe. Probably not.

Passive tactics allow for contemplation. Thanksgiving has never been a huge favorite holiday of mine, for a variety of reasons personal and ethical. But that's not to distract from the importance of gratitude. And as I stood there in frigid water, waders leaking, waiting for a grab that would never come, I smiled. I'm one lucky bastard. 

This has been an awful year, but I'd recon you've all still got something to smile about. So go stand in your favorite river or lake or ocean and smile about it. 

Until next time,

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, and Franky for supporting this blog on Patreon.