10 Degree Rainbows

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Originally uploaded by ...olson family...

I view it as my god given right to go fishing on a federal holiday, or at least get in an hour or so in the morning before the family wakes up. Why would I let the fact that it was 10 degrees this morning get in the way? Yeah, there was that problem with the stream being almost completely iced over.

OK, so I am standing in front of the stream in my neoprene waders with my fly rod looking like an idiot. Given that most flies are less effective when they are separated from the fish by a layer of ice I had to analyze the situation. I watched a bass fishing show yesterday when bass legend Rick Clunn talked about pattern fishing. Pattern fishing is based on the assumption that fish behave similarly in groups. So, if you catch say a bass feeding around a wind blown stump, identical structure elsewhere will likely have other bass feeding the same way.

So, that brings me back to staring at a frozen stream trying to figure out what to do. My first rule of fly fishing is when in doubt tie on a black bead headed wholly bugger--the one fly I know works on just about anything. Given the fact that the only part of the stream that was not frozen over were riffles and associated tails, I hoped that the principle of the pattern meant that the Trout were feeding just below the ice behind the tail of the riffle (elements of trout feeding: cover, current, food supply...check!). I made about two casts with my Wholly Bugger and decisively hooked a hungry little rainbow. I guess the other principle to consider here is the stupidity of trout that have spent their lives in a hatchery. But the pattern principle puts me in a better light so I will go with that. Unfortunately, after about ten minutes my fly became lodged in the ice and broke off. Another tip I have gotten from a fishing show recently is that when you find fish be willing to experiment. Don’t keep throwing the same thing to feeding fish until they are conditioned not to strike. In this case a different fly might add another piece to the pattern puzzle. So, I tried nymphing a Copper John. Given the fact that the water is partially iced nymphing here was an improvised combination between dead drifting and ice fishing with a fly rod. In other words I floated my fly under the ice by using the current. But I like the fly speak better—it makes me feel outdoorsy. I floated my copper john down stream a couple of times and hooked another rainbow. Let me emphasize, IT WAS TEN FRICKEN DEGREES.

So, this played out in less than thirty minutes and the lure of blogging in my warm house pulled me away. That and after thirty minutes my guides were completely clogged with ice and my tippet turned into a flycicle, and then there is that whole family thing to consider. Ok so these rainbows are small, but this is Fairfax County. If I lived in Montana I wouldn’t be blogging this. But I live in the suburban DC area and I consider this a small victory over the elements, urban sprawl, and those morons on VAFly.com who say you have to drive for two hours to catch a trout if you live in the DC area.