Contrast

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Thanks for joining the adventure, and tight lines.

New England winters exist in near perfect contrast to New England summers. The abundance of life and color gives way to a very brief spell of even more color until almost everything goes to sleep. I sat "near perfect contrast" and "almost everything goes to sleep" because these things seem so to the untrained eye. In reality life and color carry on, maybe a little subdued, but when painted on a canvass of dull grey the what remains awake through the winter is remarkably bright.

 For those in the know, winter provides some of the best fly fishing to be had all year. The macroinvertabrate abundance available from late March till December has diminished, brown and brook trout have spawned and are looking to regain the weight they lost. If you know where to look and how to fish, and know that you must put your time in, winter could easily result in the biggest trout of your life.

Winter, to me, is my time to trout fish. Most others have thrown in the towel. The rivers are cold and icy and the fish are much slower than they were just a month ago. But I know, without a doubt, that if I put the time in on the right stream with the right methods, I will catch trout.
One may be the biggest brookie of the year.
One may be a huge holdover rainbow. .
One may be the brown trout of  lifetime
But the real endgame is always the same. I'm looking for the biggest, baddest, oldest trout in every stream I fish.
I am tasked with finding something so big and colorful that it should be hard to hide in the clear waters and grey and white background of winter. It is a challenge best left for those with a discerning eye, a quiet step, and an unending patience.