Season winding down

I haven't posted in a long time.  I was sick for months and I had some significant surgery in mid-September.

I did take advantage of Hardy ending their production of the Zenith rod  (the newer Zephyr has already been released) to buy a new rod specifically for nymphing.  I got a 10', 3 weight, and added a Lamson Litespeed reel.  The goal was to create a rod that was both long and lightweight, and use it primarily as a nymphing rod.

I've been out 3 times since my surgery and I've used the new rod all three times.  At times, I wonder if I should have gone one size bigger in the reel.  The balance point is a bit forward in the rod - just in front of the cork, to be honest.  I am going to add some weight to the back of the rod to hopefully fix this minor issue.

I've been a huge fan of my other Zenith rod that is paired with a Hatch Finatic Plus reel, and I really like this set-up as well.  But, for the price, I think it's very reasonable to expect a lot from this equipment.

My first time out, I hit my favorite spot on the main branch of the White.  This was before any significant rains in September, and the fish still seemed to be stuck in the deeper holes, rather than dispersed throughout the river.  I was still feeling run down from my surgery and I only fished 90 minutes, but I had zero strikes.

My second time out, I fished about a mile upstream from my previous outing, but still in the main branch.  A local farmer was kind enough to let me park on his property and access the river through his property.  Some very good looking water produced a grand total of 1 strike in 3 hours.  I have really struggled on the White this year, and I'm not the only one.  The past two years, I had done pretty well on the White, but this year, while I didn't fish as often as the past two years, it seemed like my trips to the White were often a complete waste of time.  I did catch 5 fish in the WRO tournament, but 4 of them were stocked.  I think I caught only 2 wild trout in the White this season.  None came from the Third Branch, where I did well last season.

Because of my surgery and illness, I fished a lot less than many years.  But, my per-day fish numbers on the White were terrible.  Hatches were almost non-existent.  What is going on with this river?

This past weekend, I braved snow, sleet and rain to fish the Winooski.  It was the opening day of rifle season for moose, and between people focused on hunting and the bad weather, I had the river pretty much to myself.  I saw no other fishermen, despite fishing some popular spots.

At the first spot, I had half a dozen strikes, mostly when the sun was out, and I got one standard issue wild rainbow.  It was a pretty fish, but nothing worth noting based on its size.  At the second spot I fished, I had another 4-5 strikes, but couldn't seem to hook the fish.  Finally a hail squall, followed by rain and snow chased me off the river.  On my drive home, we had accumulating snows and sub-freezing temperatures.  My snow tires are not yet on the car, so I took it easy.

I did hear from a friend who fished in the White River system on Saturday and Sunday.  Despite the cold nasty weather, he got 2 big browns to the net over the weekend, along with a few other fish.  So, there are fish in the White River drainage.  Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing, but my friend is a very talented fisherman, and I don't want to take anything away from his results.  He also caught a big rainbow while we fished together on the Dog earlier this year.

I might get out next Sunday, or I might be done.  Between my illness and my surgery, I fished about 1/3 of the number of days I usually fish.  Rivers that completely shut me out this year include the Middlebury, the Otter, the New Haven, the Wells, the Black, the Third Branch of the White, Ayer's Brook, and the Dog.  Last year, I caught fish in almost every single one of those rivers.  Time on the water is key to catching fish, and I simply didn't spend enough time fishing this year.

Next year...