3wt7X
Active member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2008
- Messages
- 670
What a difference in weather a week makes. Four days ago, it was as cold as I can ever remember since moving to Maryland. Today it was in the lower 50s.
The kids have been cooped up, and between watching endless cartoons on Netflix and doing gymnastics and karate in the living room, it was time to get them out in the woods. I have been taking them on hikes since they began to walk, but today was a little different. We never have went out exploring in the winter, and we have never made it a several hour journey. We packed up some lunch, and hit the trails along some blue lines in the Catoctin Mountains.
The streams were beautiful. Crystal clear water and as cold a ice. It was obvious things were melting off, but there was enough ice formed around the streams that it was easy for their little legs to navigate the woods. The bug life was more active than I anticipated with midges, black and brown stoneflies and an occasional olive flittering around. They really enjoyed watching the stoneflies crawl across the wooded areas and rocks.
I did not plan to fish much, but being me. I carried my soft 6 foot 3wt brookie setup. I put a small streamer on to quickly throw a few casts in the plunge pools and soft water around the deeper holes. The fish were pretty active, and within a few 100 yards, I had a larger brown follow my streamer across a slow hole showing itself. I set my eldest up and helped her flip the streamer to the tailout were the brown rested. Fish on, and it was gorgeous dark freestone brown.
We switched over to another small trickle with trails surrounding. I found a nice logjam with a water fall off the back side. With all the stone flies around, I switched the rig up to a dry/dropper. The girls were focused on seeing the next fish now, and they both waited in anticipation as I threw the rig up on the edge of the white water. Three gemmies in a row, with the biggest being around 7 inches.
The excitement of seeing those fish through the kids eyes was something that is hard to put into words. I was a proud and happy guy, and the girls had a blast in nature.
The kids have been cooped up, and between watching endless cartoons on Netflix and doing gymnastics and karate in the living room, it was time to get them out in the woods. I have been taking them on hikes since they began to walk, but today was a little different. We never have went out exploring in the winter, and we have never made it a several hour journey. We packed up some lunch, and hit the trails along some blue lines in the Catoctin Mountains.
The streams were beautiful. Crystal clear water and as cold a ice. It was obvious things were melting off, but there was enough ice formed around the streams that it was easy for their little legs to navigate the woods. The bug life was more active than I anticipated with midges, black and brown stoneflies and an occasional olive flittering around. They really enjoyed watching the stoneflies crawl across the wooded areas and rocks.
I did not plan to fish much, but being me. I carried my soft 6 foot 3wt brookie setup. I put a small streamer on to quickly throw a few casts in the plunge pools and soft water around the deeper holes. The fish were pretty active, and within a few 100 yards, I had a larger brown follow my streamer across a slow hole showing itself. I set my eldest up and helped her flip the streamer to the tailout were the brown rested. Fish on, and it was gorgeous dark freestone brown.
We switched over to another small trickle with trails surrounding. I found a nice logjam with a water fall off the back side. With all the stone flies around, I switched the rig up to a dry/dropper. The girls were focused on seeing the next fish now, and they both waited in anticipation as I threw the rig up on the edge of the white water. Three gemmies in a row, with the biggest being around 7 inches.
The excitement of seeing those fish through the kids eyes was something that is hard to put into words. I was a proud and happy guy, and the girls had a blast in nature.
