December 18, 2017 Trout Fishing

State of Minnesota now allows trout fishing on select streams in state parks and some small town settings.  Those areas in which hunting is disallowed; no hunter-angler conflicts should arise.  After deer hunting the last few years I have taken approximately one fall day per year to fish.  After deer and before the January 1 general trout stream catch and release opener.  December 18 was a warm day.  A local gauge shows that the air temp was in the 40s in the afternoon.  This all before the holidays and the onset of the deep cold.

First trout I've touched since late October.  Nothing remarkable but on the other hand they are all kind of remarkable.

Mostly I just wanted to get a long walk in, see good water and do some nymphing.  Walking to this hole I put a streamer on nice water but didn't move a fish.  Hopeful.  But it was empty water which is common in winter.  All the fish stacked up in holes like this one, which prompted me to rig up tandem nymphs.  Just deadly good looking.

The fish are in that hole and you can stand right next to it, knowing as much.  If you don't catch them the odds are that your flies are not where they need to be.  Iterative fiddling with beadheads, splitshot and indicator will eventually get the flies in the living room of the fish.  Try all the drifts; delay drifts and let flies sink; try it all.  This is not spring or summer when you are running around covering a lot of water with dry flies or streamers; in winter these good holes deserve some time.  In this case the fish were holed up in a little cushion adjacent to the main current.  The takes were all subtle winter takes: gradual sinking of indicator.  I think I took a picture of this fish because I hooked it on the first drift after adding a second splitshot.  

One fish out of here, right in the gray.  A little shallower than the previous water.

From there it was more of a walk; taking 1-2 fish out of each good hole.  Not really staying to pound away.

Big time action shot.

Will never tire of walking valleys like this one.

Looked for dead deer too; didn't find any.