Still, perspective adds a layer of meaning to even mediocre photographs, so I plowed ahead, and this is what I got.

The Year’s Real Story

For us, 2011 revolved around the record snowpack, which topped out at 170% of normal, and was bolstered by a lot of late snow:

Late snows pushed the snowpack to record levels

The winter fly fishing wasn’t stellar, though it seemed to hang on far into spring; temperatures in “spring” were about 15 degrees cooler than normal, so despite all the snow, we never had a giant runoff event. Instead, the water was just… high. For a very long time. In fact, everything was a good month behind “normal.”

The snow -- and cold spring -- were the stories in 2011.

It's high, so instead of catching trout, we got all arty and pretentious...

Still, I found time in the fall to catch a few fish...

The Small Stream Thang

The last couple years have been all about small streams; I often found myself driving past closer, bigger trout in search of a more distant, smaller trout, and in truth I can’t wholly explain the attraction.

Neither am I ready to stop:

Wayne Eng on a high -- but fishable -- small stream.

A new stream for both me and Older Bro -- that was cold and over its banks. I'll be back...

The point of the whole exercise...

Wayne Eng (about to hook a brown trout)

Do I feel like a putz, or what?

To a fly fisherman, this suggests a good day ahead...

The beauty of Humpies is the more they're eaten, the better they get...

Older Bro on one of his favorite Brookie streams

Hey, that's me! (A rare Underground sighting)

The last small stream trout of the year...

Wayne Eng in the spring

Mosquitoes are not our friends...

Wally the Wonderdog on a hot day; he keeps wandering right into my fishable water.

They're so much prettier than they have to be...

A late fall trip to a new (to me) small stream.

The Maine Thang

We made it Maine again in the summer of 2011; the place has a solid, built-to-last permanence about I simply haven’t seen out west, and there are times you can catch a smallmouth bass every cast,

We pulled up on this island, and started catching a bass every cast...

We got over 1.5 inches of rain in just the morning...

The Grand Lake Canoes are still gorgeous.

A West Grand Lake sunset.

Industry People, Places & Gear

The Orvis folks proved they had a sense of humor after I made sport of them in a blog post:

Orvis poked fun at me after I made sport of their blog...

Later, I crafted a revolutionary new IFTD show format that would allow manufacturers to sell their gear via the power of interpretive dance, but the industry — inexplicably — failed to listen. They’re the poorer for it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It was also The Year Of The Interview: I neatly questioned a couple writers and a photographer, including John Gierach, falconer Rebecca O’Connor, biologist Anders Halverson, and even uber-fly-fishing photographer Val Atkinson.

Falconer Rebecca O'Connor

I interviewed Val Atkinson for CalTrout.

I even revealed a Forbidden Love:

The Ultimate Fly Fishing Snack Food

And also dealt with a bear who tried to peel up my garage door (and was largely successful):

This guy was way too close to the house...

Let’s Hope For More in 2012

I admit to shooting far fewer pictures on my 2011 trips than in prior years — a symptom of someone who wasn’t fishing enough, and didn’t want to give up as much of his fishing time to taking pictures.

Of course, there’s a pretty good reason I didn’t fish as much:

“”

2012 is going to be interesting; we’re making two round trips to Ethiopia, and once M2 (my clever code name for Little M’s little sister) comes home, I suspect fishing time will be hard to come by.

It’s what it is, though I have uncovered some interesting small streams not all that far from home, and there’s still hope for a quick escape to another state.

I think every new year comes with a healthy set of expectations, most of which are just waiting to be dashed by weather, sickness, work and other surprises.

Still, I hope to see you on the river in 2012, Tom Chandler.

Perhaps the leading light in fly fishing photography since the early 1970s, Atkinson remains the pinnacle fly fishing photographer; he shoots in a very classic, painterly style that evokes a certain romanticism about the sport.

Plus he knows how to have a little fun:

My favorite Val Atkinson photo (click to read his interview at CalTrout)

I interviewed him for CalTrout, an organization that’s been lucky enough to enjoy the use of Atkinson’s images for its website and promotional work (as has the Fall River Conservancy website).

Read the interview and you’ll learn:

• The story behind the famous Drake/Guinness photograph
• Atkinson’s feelings about digital photography and fly fishing media
• A few tips on taking better pictures of your own

See you drooling over the photographs, Tom Chandler.

Not a bad thing to have hovering over your small town.

Today's ironic photograph

The stream was a little high, but to a cranky fly fisherman, it was plenty fishable. And hugely pretty, though spring really hasn’t fired up there yet.

The early wildflowers were just getting going, and most of the trees hadn't even budded out.

The fishing wasn’t whiz-bang great, but I landed a half-dozen, Wayne did about the same. And on dries too.

Try doing that in the face of a 170% snowpack.

I love that place.

Even tested an Orvis 8′ 4wt Superfine Touch rod, and didn’t find it wanting.

But now I’m tired. So I’m going to bed.

See you dreaming about small streams (that aren’t overflowing their banks), Tom Chandler.

Underground Franchises also available for hardware stores, restaurants, speakeasies and adult book stores.

(sent by Alert Underground Reader [Name Redacted])

Here are a handful of photographs from my cold-weather trip with Wayne Eng:

Wally the Wonderdog and the Glacier Glove River Park due for a review soon

Anticipating an ice berm across the access road, I had my skis in the truck – and was absolutely bummed to discover I could drive all the way to river. (Hell, anybody could drive to the river.)

Life so rarely happens as we plan; in this case, all hope of an epic trip disappeared – replaced with the reality of a dark, BWO-free river.

Hoar frost on a riverside plant

Yeah, it had been cold at night.

Wayne & and I agreed this was probably a #28...

No BWOs were sighted (zilch), and nobody got on these either, but then again, there wasn’t really a hatch.

The water in winter looks darker and colder (it is).

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

Wayne, just prior to hooking the only fish of the day.

The fishing was slow, the river was cold, and the whole experience was almost unbearably beautiful (like winter fishing usually is).

More to come.

MORNING UPDATE: Meski’s sick and apparently nominated for “sick kid duty” today. Expect something tomorrow…