My tackle has been cleaned and stored away for months. The fly tying vise is permanently in place, many flies tied. Holidays have floated downstream. The time will soon arrive, the start of a new season. It will be cold. I will fish, just about no matter what, at least for a while. Wind being my biggest enemy. Sunshine would be nice, but cloudy skies usually leads to better fishing. With a little luck, I will start my day in the same stretch of water that I have every opening day. I know the fly I will start with, and depending on the sky conditions, I know the second choice as well. So it goes.

In general, I’m not a fan of Winter but Trout trumps cold. I look forward to the early season. There are fewer people participating thus leaving more prime water available. I’m not fighting through six-foot-tall streamside jungles, there are no annoying insects. The water is stable, at least for the first couple of months and fly selection becomes, at least for me, much easier.

In the first couple of months I tend to fish water I already know. I don’t spend much time exploring when the opportunity window to move fish each day is small. Usually two to three hours at best. I will target the time slot of 11 am to 2 pm. It’s no guarantee but a good place to start. When fishing these familiar waters I often find fish in the same locations that I do in May. Although the stream temps are cooler than you would find in May, these are Spring Creeks thus the temperatures are still somewhat stable day to day. I find only extreme cold for a period of time might move fish. On those days I will search out the slower, deeper water. Deeper being relative to where the fish might normally hold. The other time I look for moving fish, and this can be daily, is when stream temps peak for the day. Although usually brief there is a noticeable increase in action because I believe the fish are actually searching for food before the water temps drop.

My fly box will be stocked with four patterns. Three are streamer variations, the fourth a Scud. Unlike some, (Gary), I have no plans to fish the surface this early in the season. (If there is a surface feeder to be had Gary will find it and he will catch it on a #18 Olive Sparkle Dun. He succeeds more times than you might think). I will fish a scud, either a Wendelburg Hares Ear or a Killer Bug in riffles and pools. I don’t nymph a lot and typically don’t spend much time tossing Mayfly and Caddis imitations until Spring. One reason being that many of our streams mayflies are not as abundant as they once were decades ago due to reasons we’re still trying to figure out. The other reason being even though they’re present they’re just not very active until Spring. Truth be told I probably spend ninety percent of my time swinging streamers. Always starting with a leech and occasionally mixing it up with Sculpin and Crayfish imitations. The only adjustment I make to my tackle for the early season is in my leader. Knowing that I primarily only fish sub-surface, I find no need for the longer, tapered leader. I simply nail not to my fly line 6 feet of 10 or 12-pound maxima, chameleon leader material. To that I tie in a tippet ring and to that 2 to 3 feet of 4 or 5X tippet material. Being that all my flies are weighted, I have no problem delivering the fly.

See those red hands? Its early season.

As I write this opening day is just four weeks away. My hope is for temperatures in the high 20s, no wind and cloud cover. A light snowfall would be fine, it just adds to the vibe. Keeping fingers and toes from freezing is always a top priority. I’ll be standing somewhere. Probably swinging away. I’ll cover a lot of water. I expect to catch a few, after all, they haven’t been bothered for months. Remember, Trout trump cold. Ready, set,…..