Some time on the water - finally

We're back in my hometown in Upstate NY for my son's baptism this Sunday. I took advantage of the day off from school to head out to one of the few open rivers for fishing year round. It was heaven to be back on the water after too long cooped up inside studying for exams and tying flies. Today was blustery and cold, with air temps around 30 (not counting the wind chill, which was fierce) and a water temp of 34. Ice in my guides was, as always, a huge pain, but what gave me the most trouble was my reel getting iced up and freezing on the spindle. I had to keep dunking it into the river to free it up. I was using my five piece 5wt today with a Ross Flywater reel. The clicker that engages the gear in the inside of the frame seems to be made of a composite material, not metal, and think this may have had something to do with how easily it froze up.

Not much to report fish-wise. I figured that they would be pretty sullen and sluggish with the weather so cold, and I didn't see much activity at all. I started off throwing a #8 black Kaufmann's Stone, to no avail. I switched over to a #8 Olive Wooly Bugger and tried fishing that low and slow through some pools, but that wouldn't produce either. I really did not set out today to catch a mess of fish - I just needed the time alone and with the water. Someone, I'm not exactly sure who, said that "Catching fish is as incidental to fishing as making babies is to having sex." I love that quote...and I've repeated it many to friends and relatives who cannot understand why I would stand in 33 degree rushing water in late February, chilled to the bone, not even catching any fish, and still come home looking like the happiest guy on earth. It's just what makes me tick, I guess.