Spooky I Tell Ya

We didn't get much snow up on Rainy Mountain this year. And, as a result, I thought the beginning of spring fishing would be pretty darn good. Man, did I get fooled. The streams either look void of trout or when I do see a couple, they disappear to never be seen again. I can't get close enough to move into position for a cast without them seeing me and completely vanishing. I've never seen trout on this part of the mountain to be this spooky.

Maybe it's me. Did I lose my fishing mojo? All I know is the fishing hasn't started out on a good note this spring, and I'm beginning to get a bit worried. I keep telling myself that I'm better than this, just based on my history of fishing these home waters. But, dang! I'm fishing really sucky! And, the trout are extremely spooky I tell ya!

As I think about it, the waters are gin clear this year, when usually due to melt off in early spring, they are stained. But, we haven't had any runoff this year. Not much snow fall through the winter months. Maybe that's it...the trout are spooky because of abnormal conditions? It surely can't be me doing something wrong. Can it? I mean, I'm wearing the same clothes. Fishing the same gear. The same flies. How could it be me????

Well, today was a bit better for fishing than the last couple of times. But, not much. Rich went with me today to see how the streams are fishing, and it's pretty much the same as last Monday...trout hunkered down and out of site. We saw a handful, but they darted off as soon as we appeared. We did hook up with a few, but the fishing is still not good at all on home waters. Yup, I'm ready for the Leetle Fellers to come out of their hidy holes and get active again. Surely, when we start seeing some decent hatches, things will turn.

Gear: Winston WT 7' 3wt fly rod; Ross Colorado fly reel; Winston Energy WF3F line; Simms sling pack; Brodin vintage 20" net.

Note: I bought a new iPhone 16 yesterday and it got a good test up on Rainy Mountain today. I was able to connect with satellite to send and receive texts, while off grid, up at altitude fishing my little Rio's. No, I didn't take a photo of a trout. No way I was going to chance dropping a brand new phone into the water while taking a photo of a fish! That will come in due time, once I'm familiar with this new phone.