December 31, 2009

Skinny December BrownWinter was a little slow in coming to the north country (again) this year. But when it did arrive, there was no mistaking it. Cold weather put slush into the river and knee-deep snow made the walk-in a memorable event.

In between work requirements and sub-freezing temps, I was only able to make it out to the Sturgeon 3 times in December. But, I did find some browns (and steelhead) to play with. While steelhead are fun, that’s for sure, hooking into a decent brown gives me the greater satisfaction. No huge browns were netted. A seventeen-incher was the best I could muster to the net. But, judging from the way it fought, I think I had a hog brown on for about 30 seconds until the hook pulled out. Never did actually see that one, but it was a horse, whatever it was.

Bottom-bouncing hex nymphs brought most of the action. Even though I frequently tie on a yarn fly in tandem, it was the insect imitation that got the action. The 17-inch brown came on a tan beadhead woolly bugger, size 8.

Now with January here, the slate is again clean. Time to draw up a Final Day Resultsplan for 2010. Swinging traditional wet flies is definitely on the list, as is introducing the sport to a couple newbies that I’ve got my eye on.

Oh, and just for the record, my last outing was December 31st. Here’s a photo that summarizes my success.