It’s been a crazy spring so far with the weather all over the place. Is it January or April? Then, throw in 2 days of summer last weekend and I’m just as confused as the budding flowers and trees. Looking at the calendar, the 2018 spring gobbler season officially began on the 16th but you would think it was deer season with a snow-covered landscape and temperatures around 30 degrees for opening day.
I can only remember one other spring gobbler season a few years ago where snow covered the ground on the opening week. The fluctuation in temperature has everything in nature all out of whack and is especially hard on budding trees and flowers. During a time when everything is coming back to life, mother nature hit the rewind button and sent us back to winter.
As a tease, the temperatures soared into the 80’s last weekend for 2 days of summer in spring. Of course, we took the opportunity to finally hit the river. Kelsey was excited as well and led us down the trail to the hole we wanted to fish. Upon arriving and crossing the river I noticed Quill Gordon and blue quill mayflies on the water.
We no longer rigged up and I saw a nice trout come up and eat one of the freshly hatched out duns. A few casts later the nice trout inhaled my fly and the fight was on. I unhooked my net from my pack and handed it to my net girl. As I was bringing the feisty rainbow in I looked down river and Tara was hooked up as well.
After a minute or so I worked the bow towards the bank where Kelsey was having trouble getting it in the net. “It won’t fit” Kelsey said. Finally, I helped her net the 18 inch fish. We both admired the beautifully colored rainbow with a blood red stripe and white tipped fins. It was eager to get back to its home and jumped out of the net before I could get a picture. It was a great fish to start out on and Tara said the one she caught was just as nice.
Kelsey and I caught a couple of nymphs and caddis larva which she put in containers and kept her entertained while I managed to catch a couple more rainbows. She said she helped a Quill Gordon mayfly “because his wings were
all crinkled from where he just hatched out and then he was able to fly away”. Tara missed a couple and everything was going well until Kelsey decided she wanted to fish.
As I was reeling up my line and getting ready to get Kelsey from the bank she couldn’t wait 2 seconds and decided to come towards me. She took 2 steps and face planted in the river right in front of me. I quickly snatched her up by the back of her waders and took her to the bank. The water was still cold from the winter that won’t go away so it was time to head to the truck.
We dumped the water out of her waders and crossed back over the river. Thankfully it was 80 degrees so the walk back wasn’t too bad. Kelsey squished squashed her way back to the truck where dry clothes were waiting for her. The hatch was winding down and the fish quit rising so it was a good time to head to the cabin anyway.
The next day the temperatures once again soared into the 80’s and it was dang right hot out in those waders. There weren’t as many mayflies on the water as the day before so we only fished for a couple of hours as the fish are still on the sluggish side from the cold-water temperatures. It was hot enough out to get sunburnt but the water felt like there were ice cubes in it, just ask Kelsey.
That evening, I decided to take Kelsey to a brook trout stream and let her fish. Tara stayed at the cabin and grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs. Kelsey was excited to catch and see what a brook trout looked like because that’s what her middle name is. Brook trout are usually easy to catch and live in beautiful places. What they lack in size they make up for in the variety of vibrant colors they have. They’re our only native trout species in West Virginia and are our state fish as well.
As Kelsey and I walked to the creek we came across a ramp patch and of course we had to dig a few. I took a couple and washed them off in the creek and handed them to her. She’ll eat those things raw and likes them. The brookies were sluggish and weren’t cooperating at first so we decided to head up the creek.
She wasn’t doing too bad casting but the next hole had an overhanging branch. I saw a trout hit the top and told Kelsey to get ready. “I’m going to cast in there and then hand it over to you” I said. As soon as the fly hit the water I handed Kelsey my fly rod and said “get ready”. The fly drifted along and then disappeared quickly in the trout’s mouth.
I helped her set the hook and the fight was on. Kelsey fought the fish on her own and brought it into the bank. I gently grabbed it and kept it in the water as we admired the beauty of the brook trout. I let her release the fish and she was ready to go eat after that.
It was another great weekend spent in the outdoors with the ones I love the most. It doesn’t get any better than that! I can’t wait to go do it all over again.
