December days on the water

Well it’s been a little while since I’ve cast a fly. The past
few weeks were cold, making fly fishing difficult at best. That,
combined with the loss of Ruby James made getting out a low
priority. Fortunately temperatures around here have warmed
and some good fishing friends recognized the need to get me
out. Matt and I spent a few hours wade fishing the Snake on
Friday. Temperatures were in the 40s and the snowpack along
the river shallow. We tag-teamed a few nice looking runs with
nymphs and managed a few fish to hand. I was a little
surprised we didn’t see any risers, but nothing wrong with
subsurface action in December. We spoke to a few other
anglers in the parking lot and surmised that melting snow
dropped water temperatures and made fish inactive (always
good to have theories on why the fishing’s slow).

Matt fishes a double nymph combo in hopes of
fooling a few fish in a deep run….

A cutthroat, no matter the size, always feels like a
victory in the winter….

During the weekend, I found myself in Dubois checking on
our cabin. The weather was fantastic and I was excited to hit
the water with friend and fishing guru Leon Sanderson. We
fished a few different pieces of water and managed some nice
fish. Again though, we had to work for our fish. Tight line
nymphing was challenging as the takes were very subtle.
Regardless, it was great to catch up with Leon and spend an
entire day on the water. Plus, I feel like it was a good way for
me to deal with the loss of the pup. We celebrated our day
with a delicious homecooked fried chicken dinner!

Leon working a nice run of water….

This week looks to continue to be fairly nice. I’m jumping
back in the substitute teaching game but hope to also get out
on the Snake.