Stuck In The Middle

Been a veritable fish food factory around here lately. Despite the blessing of a mild winter, which nobody is complaining about, and contrary to what local outfitters might have you believe, it seems to me that we're at a sort of in-between stage on the local fishing front. Fish are there to be had, but not in great numbers and with the change of the seasons comes a thirst for something different.

A few too many hours at the vise combined with a few too many chilled beverages can manifest into a seemingly endless stream of half-hatched ideas.

Note: Not a steelhead fly

On Tuesday we put one of those-half hatched ideas into action, drove over no less than a half-dozen steelhead rivers flowing at ideal conditions, and took to virgin waters. Casting flourescent tube socks into 36 degree water amidst steady 20 mph winds for fish that weren't there was our mission. A little over-ambitious? Perhaps, but I'm chalking it up as a victory in the "fish karma" department, and hoping that account will pay out in the near future when conditions are a little more favorable.

I plan to get back to my comfort zone next week and will cross my fingers that a pile of spunky spring steelhead will be there to greet me...