The ice... It's broken

With abnormally warm weather, I've been itching to get out, but time just has not worked out well.  I've had a few short trips, with some taps, or nothing at all... but today, I guess the temps got warm enough or I got lucky.

Tried the little brook across the street, figuring I could put in 20' and scratch the proverbial itch.

I fished my favorite little section, from just above the corner in the pic, to where I stood taking this shot.  The corner pool I finished at was looking pretty different.  The wood jam in the corner seems to be getting compressed and maybe sinking a little, and there is some new wood at the root ball the causes the stream to scour the 2 foot to 4 foot (when the water's really flowing) deep hole mid pool.  Today no fish seen or taken there...  But at the first little run I caught 2, well, 1 to hand and 1 that I touched only to see it instantly fall back to the stream and swim away.

Got one more in the run almost dead center in this picture, where the limb enters the stream from the right and the current is some what on the left, just before the stream turns right.  Typical of this stream, the fish were fairly blue in tone with amazing blue halo's.  I managed one pic today.  The chartreuse bead black and peacock bugger was the ticket.

I was amazed at the trash in the log jam (you can see though why lots of trout make it in this stream - there is at least a foot of water (more on average) below that jam - all the way back to the bank!  Sad that it's littered with bottles, cups, foam bits and bubble wrap.  a few hundred yards up stream the brook crosses a state road, maybe a mile from the center of a small city of about 35-40K people, and flow's next to old plastic factories for about a half mile before getting into a wooded area all the way to it's origin... The river it flows into, 50-60 years ago literally changed colors from red to green to purple daily based on the color of paper being made - that's a mile at most down stream (if you count the undulations of the little stream).  Some how, these fish scratch a living though.  Amazing testament to what they are capable of.

Couple more warm days and some serious rain wednesday, then slightly more temperate conditions on the weekend.  If things dont get to cold, we could be in for a really mild winter!

Be well

Will