Post-holiday winter weekends should look like this…


(1) Don’t buy anything.

(2) Don’t go anywhere too far away.

(3) Put yourself and your family out in the cold a bit, exerting, so warmth and soup feel better on re-entering the house.

a. Skiing,

b. Skating,

c. General work in the snow,

d. Chores that require knee boots,

e. Fishing.

(4) Participate in some seasonal indoor activities too.

a. Making soup or chili,

b. Watching football.

(5) Some home improvement.

a. Projects, like fixing up your shop,

b. Revisit the organizational structure of your rooms,

c. Pick up and clean somethings, take care of things.

(6) Self-improvement and maintenance.

a. Reading, maybe writing,

b. Bonding with your family in whatever way you see fit.

So far in January, one for one. My kids skied and skated. In fact, one kid asked me if he could go out to ski. This was highly remarkable. We cut some trail in the woods by our house, and we made tracks in the park. I guess we’ve been skiing for a few weeks now, but we got out for three straight days over the weekend.  Beyond that, they worked on snow forts up through dark most nights over the past week or so.

The fishing report may be detailed here, given the forum.
1230-4 PM, very near my house
All nymphing tandem rigs, as normal
There were midges in the air and on the snow but no rises
It was cool, but not cold – no frozen guides, no cold hands
Wind was present until about 1 PM and then disappeared
This was HI water, 100%
In fact, those holes are so deep I simply couldn’t get to the fish in many cases
Think I caught about eight brown trout, of widely ranging size
The first fish I touched in calendar year 2013 is pictured below
According to my hand widths, pretty accurate, it was ~17.5”
I can say I’ve never had a first winter fish like that before
It required the reel, a need that is normally reserved for carp only
Walked it downstream quite a ways and landed carefully
What an absolute beauty to behold – nice deep cut mouth
Some takes were subtle, class winter deals, others were jolting
Hooked and lost three fish, one was pretty big
The sun on the trees was a welcome sight
The glory of our trout water restorative, as always






That fish came from the water pictured below.  Hunkered down pretty deep.  Ate a big black scud with an oversized beadhead.