The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

So goes the song. On my home water, it's a close second to the most wonderful time of year. The truly most wonderful time of the year there is the paraleps hatch. It might be in March, it may be in April, it may trickle on into May, but it always gets the fish up and brings out some of the big guys. It's predictable, it's incredible, and many of the best days on my home water happened during that magic hatch. 

The month of December takes second. I'm not completely certain why, and I don't particularly care in this case. Because I know when it's going to be good only because there isn't too much shelf ice. Abundant pen water... that's all I need. Today I wasn't sure how much open water I'd find. It also took me a while to figure out where I wanted to fish and I had been busy all morning, so I had a pretty limited amount of time. I decided to go without waders, just to fish from dry land for a change. I used to do this more often in December. I'd go out and fish until I caught something, then go home. This time I wished I had left earlier and worn waders... I caught the first fish in the first 5 minutes. 

The next fish came from a run that hasn't produced all year. It used to be sure bet for an average sized brown, sometimes two. It was after I released that fish that I thought to myself: "Damn, I really should have worn waders!". Being stuck to the dry land limits the places you can effectively fish. so I made the best of it.

Knowing a stream like the back of your hand helps. I fished the water I knew I could fish and skipped the rest. And I did really well, all things considered. Two fish missed, three lost, and five brought to hand. No at all bad as limited as I was. Of course, one of the three I lost was a really nice fish that I would very much have liked to have caught, but I didn't do anything wrong so there's nothing I could do to change that outcome.

It was great to be home. I feel comfortable on this stream in a way I am not anywhere else. There's no pressure, I generally know how a day is going to go there, and the fish are almost all wild and gorgeous. Beyond that, it is remote. I feel better when there aren't other homo sapiens around.

I know this is the first trip report since I've been sick but it isn't my first day on the water. It was my favorite though. I'm not sure I can really express how being on my home river makes me feel.