The Glass Forest

[Lone Wulff]

I hoped the precipitation would turn to snow by the time I reached the trailhead, but the temperature was still hovering around 32 degrees and it was still raining heavily. It had only dropped a mere two degrees from the time I left home. I contemplated seeking out a roadside wild trout stream in case the weather became unbearable and I needed to call it quits. I also thought about heading back home. As I sat in my truck considering my options I dosed off. When I awoke 30 or 40 minutes later it was still around 32 degrees and raining hard, without a hint of snow mixed in. It wasn’t going to get any better. I finally decided to suck it up and go for it. I put all my gear on in the front seat of my truck, which is no easy task these days, and headed out.

I only walked a couple hundred yards before I realized that it wasn’t going to matter if the fishing wasn’t very good. During the night, the temperature had dipped below freezing and all of the trees were covered with ice. The leafless, crystalline, branches glistened in contrast to a backdrop of dull gray tree trunks, a brown, late winter forest floor, and green rhododendrons. It was a mystical site to behold.




Ice shattered as trees snapped and crashed to the ground as I continued towards the stream. Every time it happened I would jump and spin around to see what was charging through the underbrush and coming after me. I quickly realized what was going on and started looking up to make sure I wasn’t about to get leveled by a falling tree. Curiously, it never happened in front of me, but always where I had just passed 15 to 45 seconds prior. I guess it was the river gods’ way of pushing me onward, ensuring that I made it to the water and didn’t turn around.




The creek wasn’t high, but it was fast, clear, and cold. I would only have a limited amount of time before my fingers grew numb making it difficult to tie knots. I kept it simple and went with single nymphs, size #10 to #14, and an indicator.

I ended up catching three browns and one rainbow in about four hours of fishing. I’m sure I also mistook several takes for the bottom. All of them came from the same type of water – where the current slowly picked up speed as the riverbed worked its way back towards the surface, downstream from the deepest parts of large pools. The pools were eight to ten feet deep and the trout were right on the bottom in five to seven feet of water.








The climb back out was just as spectacular as the hike in – without the crashing trees.






Although the precipitation had ceased a couple hours earlier, the melting ice made it feel like it was still raining steadily. I was thoroughly soaked by the time I got back to the truck. At least it had warmed up a little. It was now about 38 degrees.

[ofuros]

Enchanting silver forest, Lone Wulff.....well worth an outing.
Work & a not so little 4 month old boy are keeping me away from my small streams jewells.
Thanks for sharing your outing.....its just what i needed !
ofuros

Via Tapatalk 2

[Jax]

Hi Lone Wulff; My grand daughter was enchanted by your Glass Forest and I found the Photos to have quite a haunting quality about them. More Please. Jax

[Lone Wulff]

Hi Lone Wulff; My grand daughter was enchanted by your Glass Forest and I found the Photos to have quite a haunting quality about them. More Please. Jax

Hello Jax,

I appreciate your comment and I’m glad you and your granddaughter enjoyed the photos. It was certainly an awe inspiring site to behold and it more than made up for the slow day of fishing. I have added several more photos at your request. I think some of them are more spectacular than the ones used in the original post. I didn’t use them the first time around because I also posted this report on a local forum and some of the pictures may give away the location. (These additional photos won’t be making it on to the other forum.) I hope you granddaughter enjoys them as much as the first ones. Let me know what she thinks.

[Creek]

Strange, but inviting.

[ruffinogold]

I love when the ice does that on trees ! It's good you went for it anyway .... where you are looks like North Georgia , where I'm at

[Jax]

Those photos are are quite awe inspiring. Takes one back to childhood and the stories of enchanted forests. Many thanks for posting. Grand Daughter thinks the photos are cool with a capital C and says Ta!

[Satoshi]

The forest of frozen trees are beautiful, as well as trout you caught.

[fdavis]

It's like Narnia with trout!!! :)

[Brooktrout]

Those Browns look sweet, along with the magic forest.