01/09 & 01/10

  Hey guys-thanks for convincing me to fish steel in the winter, I actually kind of like it- I also like sleeping on piles of broken glass.
Tried it for a couple of hours 2 weeks ago while the grandkids and wife X country skied- it was about 18 degrees and no luck-used blue sacks in the Bovines.
  Went back up Sat evening myself as the weather guy said light snow for Sun and sunshine for Mon. He also said it was going to be in the high 20s- he aparently hasent gotten over his labotomy. They said it was supposed to snow for Sat and I drove up in an afternoon of pure sunshine ,course that probably hurt the fishing.
It was 17 when I left the house both days and snowing a bit all day except for when I was draining my water lines and about to leave for home late this afternoon( sun came out for about an hour) it was way up to 19.
I DID however score in the LFZ on a very nice large male. I was unprepared for the subtle hits and had missed a few before hooking this guy. It was great and now I'm the one who is hooked on flys for these guys. Gotta roll cast or ice up the  guides but it was a very nice and freezing experience. Im still trying to be a fly guy and got the hits on a couple of little #10 pink bodied and green winged streamers with a bit of sparkle on the body. They look kinda like little brookies. I will NEVER again buy those pre-made leaders, aside from the knots  coming undone all the time they got real brittle and broke easily. Next I'll get some 5 lb mono and use that.
  Sun had a few cars in all the upper lots and on Mon only one or two at each lot-except of course for Altmar. Saw a number of fish caught and guys spoke of  more for both days- all upper river.  Be back in a couple of weeks.....

Thanks Dime. I will be back late Feb with the wife and grandkids again- maybe an hour or two for fishing too. Those family things with the kids are fun but not much time to get on the river.  Hope to get another trip in between for myself. --Ill watch the weather and go when they say its going to be lousy and cold.
BTW--NEVER NEVER leave your keys inside one of these darn self locking trucks when its 19 degrees out. It really adds to the experience.

RT - do yourself a favor and buy a spool of Drennan 4 or 5 lb teat fluorocarbon tippet.

Yes, it is pricey compared to the other brands - there is a reason for that - it is the best cold water tippet out there.

I use nothing but Drennan from Nov to March and have very few muck-ups with my leader/tippet.

All Seasons Sports Shop on Rte 13 carries it.

i think thats top secret info pa :) for the fishing part though, he's one of those guys thats stuck on swinging big flies for steelhead. i love catching them that way myself; actually my favorite way,,,although i'm not a complete numbers guy; i like to hook fish, and rising a fish off the bottom to a BIG fly in 33 degree water isnt the most common occurence; especially when millions of nymphs, pupa, shucks, etc. etc. get washed out of the rocks daily on the salmon river... i love winter nymphing for steelhead. cant wait to do some this weekend...

Brrrrr. Glad someone's fishing!