Barleywine
Member
I’m not fanatical about fishing on opening day in NJ since it’s legal everyday of the year in so many waterways to fish for trout in this state. Still, there was one particular location chock full of wild trout that I hadn’t been to all winter, and I was itching to get back. While fishing last Saturday in the Catskills after the Fly Tyers Rendezvous, and getting pelted with sleet while standing in cold water, my thoughts turned to how much better the weather would surely be for the start of Jersey’s season. Sure enough, the air temperature was barely above freezing under a cloudy sky, snow made frequent appearances on the stream, and the previous week’s hopes of fishing dry flies for rising trout were squashed when only a couple of midges and one lonely stonefly braved the elements. This would be a slow-fishing, cold hands outing, where one fish would equal satisfaction.
Remembering a friend's success with a black leech pattern during NY’s opener, I attached some 3x tippet to my leader, and tied on one of his leeches. My buddy George was using his favorite nymph...the Miss Kitty...tyed from the fur of his cat. He uses that fly so much, that if you see a bald cat, it probably belongs to George. The fishing was predictably slow at first, but I eventually connected with a spunky wild brown that was about 14 inches in length.
Coming to a good section that normally fishes productively with dry flies, I stayed with the leech, and was into a fish that was a couple of inches larger than the first one. This fish was headed for some bushy snags, but I was able to wade deeply enough to cut off its path, and soon had it netted.
George got into the act with a couple of fish on the Miss Kitty:
There was more to appreciate this day than just the trout fishing. There was some natural beauty constructed by a bird under a low bridge...
...and some things not so natural, like this garbage that found its way into the river, but was timely since I was brewing beer late into the previous evening:
Now that’s my kind of slogan!
The temperature kept dropping, and the fish stopped cooperating as the day neared noon, so we called it quits and hiked back in a heavy snow squall.
So who else went out and fished this weekend?
Remembering a friend's success with a black leech pattern during NY’s opener, I attached some 3x tippet to my leader, and tied on one of his leeches. My buddy George was using his favorite nymph...the Miss Kitty...tyed from the fur of his cat. He uses that fly so much, that if you see a bald cat, it probably belongs to George. The fishing was predictably slow at first, but I eventually connected with a spunky wild brown that was about 14 inches in length.
Coming to a good section that normally fishes productively with dry flies, I stayed with the leech, and was into a fish that was a couple of inches larger than the first one. This fish was headed for some bushy snags, but I was able to wade deeply enough to cut off its path, and soon had it netted.
George got into the act with a couple of fish on the Miss Kitty:
There was more to appreciate this day than just the trout fishing. There was some natural beauty constructed by a bird under a low bridge...
...and some things not so natural, like this garbage that found its way into the river, but was timely since I was brewing beer late into the previous evening:
Now that’s my kind of slogan!
The temperature kept dropping, and the fish stopped cooperating as the day neared noon, so we called it quits and hiked back in a heavy snow squall.
So who else went out and fished this weekend?
