Is my season over?

I know some friends were still having luck with landlocked salmon on the Clyde last weekend.  I wasn't having any luck at all.

The weekend before, I got out on the Winooski, focusing on two particular spots I like a lot.  One is notorious for big rainbows, including my biggest VT trout ever.  The other has more fish and it's where I catch more browns on the Winooski than anywhere else.

At the first hole, really a large seam that creates a hole, I had half a dozen strikes.  It was a cold, windy day, and when the sun came out, the fish seemed most active.  I was fishing a large muddler minnow, a GR hare's ear and a ju ju baetis.  At this time of year, I expect most of the action on the baetis, but instead, it seemed to be the hare's ear getting the most attention.  I only managed to get one fish to the net, but after fishing the White a few times recently with no strikes at all, it was nice to just be fishing where I knew the fish would think about the fly.  After about 2 hours here, I headed downstream, below the Bolton power dam.

I was very surprised to have the entire river to myself.  It was opening day of rifle season for moose, and I did hear some gunshots.  OK, it was also 34F, windy, and the forecast included rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow.  I got all of those plus some hail.  The second spot I fished is very popular, and I tend to do best in the faster water above a deep pool.  I worked through this water and had 4 or 5 very quick strikes, but they weren't solid.  I didn't hook anything.  Then, the cloud ceiling dropped, the hail started, and then switched to sleet and freezing rain.  After 20 minutes in these conditions with no additional strikes, I called it a day.  But, I had at least 10 strikes - more than I had all of September and October in the White.  And I got one wild rainbow to the net.

This past weekend, the weather was still raw and the water was colder.  I had a Saturday morning orientation at Sugarbush for my winter job there as a ski instructor.  After that was over, I had lunch with some friends and headed to the confluence of the Mad and the Winooski.  This spot never seems to fail me.  I did spook one small rainbow that was basking in shallow water as I waded upstream.  The water was cold and it was windy.  I was fishing a 3 weight.  In these conditions, I would normally fish my Sage RPL+, and overline it with a 6 weight line.  But, the tip broke a few weeks ago on that rod, and I have to send it in for a warranty repair.  (Do any other Sage owners find the concept of a lifetime warrantee that costs $60 every time you use it somewhat absurd?  That's a lot of money to pay for something called a lifetime warranty.)

So, I used my 3 weight again, but with the 10' rod length, the casting went OK.  I know there are big fish in this area, but I've never gotten one.  But, I almost always catch something.  This past Saturday, the water was cold, the air was cold, the wind was raw, and 2 hours of casting led to no strikes at all.  It's very rare that I get no strikes here.

Finally, I was too cold and called it a day.

If things don't warm up a bit, I'm guessing that will be my last day for the season.  Since some surgery in early September, I fished 5 times - 3 on the White and 2 on the Winooski.  I caught a single rainbow on the Winooski and the three days on the White yielded zero strikes.

I fished way fewer days than most seasons and caught way fewer fish than normal.  For the second year in a row, I caught no big fish at all.  Someday, maybe I'll learn how to fly fish and things will be different.  I think I've been saying that for 30 years now.