Opening day on My local stream started with little of the usual fanfare of cars lined up at the bridge and circus clowns splashing through the stream ( which I usually avoid like the plague). One lonely car parked on the side this day, and only the sounds of birds and water over rocks. I passed only 3 or 4 other anglers the whole day.
Fish had been thick the previous week and I think cold temps had kept them upstream.
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The first pool I drifted through started with the biggest fish of the day, after a little tug of war this piggy came to the bank. Close to 10 lbs, my boot tip is there for scale. Not the feistiest fish of the day but what a way to start.
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I didn’t take pictures of all the fish landed depending on how long they took to get to hand and whether they needed more time to recover.
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All were Released in pretty good shape
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Random fish
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Some property had changed hands and I spent an afternoon in waters that had been Forbidden for the last 15 years I had been in the neighborhood
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A nice surprise was this little jewel that took a Hares Ear.
I also got a little Atlantic that went airborne several times and made up for it’s small size with a big attitude. It was so pretty with it’s red dots down the side, smaller head and forked tail that I wanted to snap a quick picture but the fly was hooked hard and it needed some recuperating more than a photo.
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Some fish were so fresh they jumped 5 or 6 times and at times cartwheeled 2-3 feet in the air. The only problem with fishing alone is that there is no one to Ooh and Ahh with you. At times I laughed out loud.
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A sore ankle on one leg and a bum knee on the other has limited my mobility this week but I was able to get out this morning and managed to get a couple on Black Stoneflies.
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It’s time for Dries and Browns and Brookies I think……
Cheers Sage
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