Resolving

If you didn't read my New Year's resolution post, here it is: Fishing Resolutions. Read that before you continue on.

I think I've been doing pretty well following up on my resolutions. I've been regularly fishing a lot of home waters I hadn't been for a while, and I've been find that there are plenty of fish to be had in them, be they trout or other species. I'm also honing my skills with methods I wasn't as adept at. I may not have been able to make good on my resolution so early in the year if this weren't such a mild winter, a lot of these streams lock up to an extreme extent under the influences of the normal New England cold blast. But I'll take what I'm given, I've fished more hours this winter so far than any other.

Aside from finding fall-stocked rainbows in unexpected places them, I've also found a fair number of browns that have held over from the spring stocking. The hope exists to find a wild brown or brook trout, but the truth is the last time I caught a wild brown trout in any of these streams was 2013 and the last time I caught a wild brook trout was 2017. But I'll keep hunting and hoping.

The lack of brookies doesn't mean I'm not catching native species though. I've been locating the wintering holes where fallfish, common shiners, and white suckers are residing. These are fish I've had an exceptionally hard time locating in these rivers from late fall through mid spring, so it's a good thing I'm on this mission. Though I haven't caught the white suckers yet, at least not during the day (to be further explained soon), I'm hoping my dedication to nymphing will get me some. I have a lot of friends that nymph far more than I do and they catch suckers incidentally more than I as well. I catch them on purpose during the spawning run and in specific spots I can sight fish to them, but I don't get them incidentally as much as I'd like. Here's hoping this endeavor changes that.

The fish of the day was a native species, actually. I was fishing one of those deep, dark holes where legend has it the biggest trout in the river lives when instead of a beastly salmonid following my jig streamer, I saw something decidedly skinny but infinitely more menacing in attitude hot on its tail. Soon I had the first pickerel of the year at hand. I was all smiles after that.

How are your fishing resolutions coming along? 

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

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