A little south of now

Today I went fly fishing for the last time in a while.  It was a cool, damp, and foggy day.  Spending time fishing is always good, but being outdoors is really my main focus this time of year.  Because I am new to the region I am having to spend a lot of time scouting new areas, and doing a lot of research and other legwork now in order to benefit more in the future.

During my scouting I visited three different streams; one of which was basically a bust because of low water and limited public access. The first location was a great section of water with a long stretch of public land. We only saw a few fish in this first stream, but it has a lot of promise for spring and summer. Things should also go better when I have a better understanding for trout fishing as a whole.  My technique and knowledge is limited in this area because I have really only been out for panfish on a regular basis.

A good portion of the day was really used up by trying to determine what is the best way to go about catching any fish and determining what type of fly might be the best.  A few times throughout the day I was able to spot a few varieties of bug stages and that was helpful because I was able to get closer to using a fly that mimics fairly well.  I still need to work on adding a few other fly styles to my collection, but I feel like I do have a good start on the basics for most seasons.

As I practice my cast I feel like I am getting signicantly better at casting around trees and aiming into specific pools and gaps in the water.  My presentation isn't the best with the two-fly setup but I am getting better with that.  I prefer using a single dryfly because I think that is what keeps me closest to my comfort zone with panfishing.

After seeing what seemed like thousands of deer tracks and trails throughout the day we did come across a carcass.  It was just a little yearling, but it had been there for quite some time as everything was removed and bones were scattered.  There was a lot of other animals that were active in the area.  A number of bird species were out as well as tracks of raccons and beavers.
  

Finishing the day out at the third stream of the day was pretty nice as well.  It is a medium sized stretch of water, but it does have a lot of promise because of the regulations the state has in place for size restrictions.  Here I was able to spot a few more fish, but was still unsuccessful in catching anything.  There were four other vehicles at this location so I feel like I was just in an area that is over-fished and I should probably find a different location, or walk deeper into the territory before I start to fish anything.  From brief conversation with one gentlemen it sounded like other people had caught a fish or two but it hadn't been an overly abundant day for them either. 

     I am glad knowing I am not alone in this matter, but it will be nice once I am able to catch fish (and more frequently).  Depending on the next time I am able to go out again, I will either scout a few more locations further south, or possibly return to one or two of the spots I have found in the past month of locating trout streams.