It’s a busy Monday, so yesterday’s fishing report comes to you mostly in the form of pictures – the kind that reveal a lot more about the experience than they do the flies or gear used.
The facts? No Blue Winged Olive were seen, and out of desperation, Wayne and I threw – and got a half-dozen grabs – on the big October Caddis dry. We didn’t land any of them, but loved just getting bit – not an easy thing to see when the snow flurries rolled through:
Temperatures were below freezing, but it’s always easier to fish in snow than rain.
At times the snow came down hard enough that it made a frying noise in the trees.
That’s me & Wayne before we left – we look disappointed, eh?
This shot from the bridge in South Dunsmuir (which was damned slippery).
Wayne shot a few of me, looking stylish as always, this time in a Patagonia soft shell, which we’ll talk about (Wayne Eng photo)
The October Caddis Dry produced swirls (if not trout).
The river is dark, cold and other-wordly beautiful.
Fishing in a heavy snow is an odd experience; the snow passes through the air and disappears into the water like it never existed, as if moving from one dimension to another.
See you in winter, Tom Chandler.
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Awesome.
Certainly beats ice fishing. mic trout(Quote)
Nice shot of the October dry with the snow – great flake development. Makes for a more stable snowpack – see, you can mix fishing and skiing in more ways than one. Now I’ll wait for the shot of you fishing with your skis on! Taku(Quote)
great shots from the last few posts. incredible stuff. Jean-Paul Lipton(Quote)
Wow. And I say again: wow. Great shots. I have a trip scheduled into the Everglades in a few days, and the only thing covered with thick frost will be the Belgian White sloshing about deep in the cooler. Otherworldly, indeed. John(Quote)
does it ever feel like the twilight zone to you in those conditions…kinda like your floating but not……so those dries were doin me good until today….not a single look from the discriminating trout….then i tried shortlining some bugs…nadda….hmmm the only thing left is the big steamer…well i wish i could say i hooked a cow but that would definitly be a lie…but i did get a couple nibbles and one fish chased it all the way to my feet…amazing to see an animal on the chase like that…especially in such frigid water…but he wasn’t that intrested….maybe tommorrow i’ll throw the black one instead of the white….or maybe i won’t. i might just have to try that big ole dry again….just gave bob grace a half-dozen tweaked stimi’s that have been slamming fish since the octobers came out….go pick one up t.c…he’ll probably just give you a couple since the show is dwindling….or gone…..hope to get a bunch tied up for next fall….maybee see you out on the dead quiet river soon……… ike(Quote)
Great photos, love the light-dark contrast. Brent(Quote)
Great shots indeed! Troutdawg(Quote)
Yep…like evyeryone has already said, nice shots. I’m jealous, as usual. Although, I don’t tolerate cold as well as I used to, so maybe not that jealous. Kentucky Jim(Quote)
Wow… these are awesome… Thanks, Tom. James Hathaway(Quote)
Beautiful photos, but I think you and Wayne are both nuts.
Don’t your glasses fog up? (Mine always do.) And how do you manage to change/replace flies when you can’t feel your fingers? SMJ(Quote)
What is it with that blue Michelin Man suit that your sporting these days?
Is it a new brand of waders? A dry suit for suba diving? Winter combat-fishing accouterment? Don(Quote)
Curious, contrary headwear choices- Mr. Traditionalist sports the very latest from Pataguci. While Wayne, a 21st Century Guy, persists in wearing what looks like a hollowed-out elk rump. Sully(Quote)
SMJ: Get some of those defogging tissues at a skiing/sporting good store. My glasses only fog up when I overheat, usually due to getting too hot on the hike in. This time I was wearing a Patagonia soft shell, which you’ll hear more about later, but is designed with aerobic activity in mind, so it moves a lot of moisture. No fogging.
Don: The ill-fitting waders are my too-big backups (or-when-any-sized-guest-arrives waders) – My replacements from Orvis arrived yesterday, and the new ones look great). And I won’t even try to explain the Michelin Man thing.
Sully: I’m no traditionalist, I just insist that the new stuff is actually better before using it – a standard not always exceeded by our friends in the gear world. As for Wayne, in a closeup, his hat makes him look like a WWII Japanese fighter pilot, which would serve a certain purpose on the river. Tom Chandler(Quote)
I’ll have to give those a try. Thanks for the tip. SMJ(Quote)
Really nice pics Tom, I’m glad you got out to take them. It’s a bit warmer down here in Sacramento but not nearly as pretty.
Nice to know that Sully is so familiar with elk rumps. One can only hope it has something to do with elk hair flies. Greg Hall(Quote)
BONZAI ! wayne eng(Quote)
Mama is sure proud of your photos. I could care less about the fish, poor things. In that cold water all winter long… CBC clara chandler(Quote)
The colder the water, the fewer the fishermen… Tom Chandler(Quote)
great photos…really beautiful…and cold.
i have often unsuccessfully searched for the pattern recipe for the “Eng Thing (Theng)” nymph by Wayne Eng…finding only small, blurry photos online and no real information. as a fishing buddy of his, do you think you could get him to share the recipe? thanks. glenn h(Quote)
Glenn: We’ll ask Wayne about that one – maybe even talk him into a guest post about tying the Eng Thing. I’ll see what I can do. Tom Chandler(Quote)
Hey Tom,
The river shots looks beautiful, but I’m always at least as impressed with your macro shots. Nicely done.
And I love Wayne’s hat. Do you know if those babies come in Magnunm XXL. I have a really big melon.
Rick Rick(Quote)
Rick…..First you have to shoot an xxl. elk……. wayne eng(Quote)
Hey Wayne – some of my best memories are riding my bike to baseball practice with a huge gob of elk jerky in my glove. I’d gnaw on it all the way to the field, then share some with my teammates before the game. While we sat waiting our turn at the plate we’d pass my glove up and down the bench, burying our faces in the smell of good jerky.
My uncles were elk huntin’ fiends- but I got stuck on the wrong side of the country. I may be able to work something out with my cousin though- we saw a couple big boys up in their timber this summer.
Rick Rick(Quote)
Unreal pictures. It is true that pictures paint a thousand words. Love it. Fly Fishing Frenzy(Quote)
Awesome pics — I can’t wait to be up there over the New Years! Nicole Lazarus(Quote)
Great photos from the Dunsmuir area. Both of you are pretty hearty souls to go fly fishing during the Winter months. Bravo! Guess the next time I go out on a trip with Wayne, I had better not even fuss about it being a bit too cold… not that I ever do… lol
Seem to recall, Wayne, your teasing me on one trip about my Patagonia fleece baseball style hat with built in ear muffs…
Happy holidays and hope both of you have a great new year. Save a few trout for the rest of us. Marlene(Quote)
looks Awesome, its that way in montana a lot, i enjoy it thou. tom ski(Quote)