We had Five Days in April, Parts II and III

Before 15 inches of dense snow came on.  Smelled it moving in so we got out for a few days.  There were two parties in the campground loop: other being a band of wizened turkey hunters.

A few bugs in the air but no fish rising in consistent fashion.

Don't ask me how to catch trout with spinning gear.  Just horrible at it.  I can't get my kids on fish.  Granted this is not a warmwater scenario in which bass and panfish come from miles at the drop of any fly or lure.  Trout are tougher than that and these guys are kids; attention flits here and there.  But you'd think casting spinners into these deep corners would get some strikes.  Must not be getting down enough.  I just can't do a damn thing with that gear and I feel bad for it.

Each morning we went to the same cobble bar.  Sat in the sun.  Wet-waded.  Physics of rock skipping.  Geological anomalies.  I was the only one who would actually hit the corner hole full immersion.  Painfully cold.  But the drying in the sun was sufficient payoff.  On a couple occasions I put a Wilted Spinach on some sporadic risers, less than twenty feet from our setup.  Caught maybe 6-8 smallish trout.  Hadn't presented a soft hackle downstream in a while.  Enjoyed the subtleties of it.  Few more fish nymphing here and there.  There wasn't a rush to fish.

First time I've seen this guy attempt high-sticking.  And he did it well.  Flipping a tandem rig up into the riffle and following it back down.  This water was somewhat worn by the time he hit it, or I think he would have picked up a strike.  Still can't figure out which way to go for the kids: spinning or fly gear.  Plus/minus is there.  Fact is, kids catching trout out of streams is moderately tough, regardless of gear.

First trout stream catch on his own...   Izaak Walton true grit.  All his approach, his casting, retrieve and landing.  Semotilus atromaculatus.  In the same riffle/run configuration, he had an invasive brown trout flash at his spinner.  No connection though.  Kid saw it; liked it.

Heck of an image right there and that has nothing to do with the person taking it or any quality with respect to the taking.  Rather the content.  Tough to beat it.  Step off a county road 50 yards and there you are...  go deeper, find more.  Pretty important place.