The Gift of a Day to Fly Fish in Winter, 2014

   Finally, finally only a couple inches of snowfall NOT accompanied by bitter cold or heavy winds!  No fishing in January was frustrating.  No February fishing was simply unacceptable!  Luckily, I found one off-road spot (not plowed in by snow) to park and car camp. I saw lots of turkeys and deer & a few eagles and hawks during my wintry NE Iowa driving in the Decorah region.

   It snowed fairly heavily on Saturday but Sunday was beautiful.  I fished a favorite stream - one I knew would offer the best open-water conditions.  Other than being careful around ice shelves, the conditions were great!  No mosquitoes, no brush to snag & no competition from other anglers -LOL!  Four trout landed on a ~sz 20 dry fly.  The trout started rising to bugs in the surface film after I'd given up fishing with a sz 18 dry, a wet fly, and then my go-to nymph pattern.  If I was an angler with quicker reflexes (not yet but better!), I would have had 8-9 trout for the day.  It was great to be wading again.  Landed fish included browns, a bow and a brookie... my first trifecta on this stream!  The fish looked like they had been eating well.  The stream bed displayed green plant growth - showcasing a promising recovery from last year's flooding.  ~Twitch (2/16/14)