Icing Guides and Hibernating Trout

Yesterday morning I met up with a friend before sunrise with air temp at 20 degrees and water at around 35-36.

The stars were bright and it felt like a hunting morning in November as I drove to our rendezvous. Although the river we chose is just calming after giant blocks of ice had passed, leaving the most perfect looking trout water, we knew that very few if any stocked trout would remain after such a long and fiercely dry summer past.

Nevertheless, the one had a brand new custom rod to toss and the other freshly acquired boots and waders to douse. Just as the morning gloaming appeared, we hit the water. Immediate icing, stuck reels, no fish and big smiles followed. Soon, we opined–maybe a couple weeks and those pods of hibernating fish will cooperate.

The undisclosed wielder of a new rod, just as the night turned to morning.

~ by John McGranaghan on March 27, 2011.