The Guessing Game.

Seems Winter  made an early visit to some Ontario towns and cities this past weekend. With temps dropping late Friday and some wintry conditions forecasted for Saturday and Sunday  I  figured any outings would be tough.  It's funny how we  try to pattern our quarry.  We form theories based on our past experiences only to have them flipped upside down and proved false at the drop of a hat.  This weekend is a perfect example of this.  Saturday would be the toughest weather conditions I have ever endured while fishing.  I fished  very close to the Lake on a well know river.  Squalls would rip in off the lake . Snow was accumulating on my windward side at a steady rate.    50km winds gusting to 70km would be on menu for the time I spent there.   I figured the fishing would be poor.  I was wrong.  It would be some intense fishing.  My landing ratio took a beating that morning, but I was unfazed.  I was happy to be hooking fish, and  bewildered by the cooperating Steelheads behaviour in this horrible weather.  I regret not taking any photo's. I wasn't about to dig deep into my waders to fish out my iPhone and take a chance of having it be damaged by the flying snow or dropped in the water.  Hooking and fighting fish in those conditions is lodged firmly in my my mind at any rate. On a side note, I would reclaim my digital point and shoot for Sunday, only to find the battery dead.

 Sunday.  Squalls have stopped, and  light snow is falling.  Although morning temps are chilly I assume Sunday is going to be even better than Saturday.  I was wrong again.  I fished all morning with zero action. Finally I break for lunch.  While snarfing back warm soup and sandwiches I receive a call from Neil.  We make plans to meet in an hour and after a nice break I am recharged and determined to turn this day around.

Neil would arrive  about 20 minutes late.  Exactly the time it would take him to spin his way out of a ditch he slid into while turning on to the gravel road just up from the access.  No harm or damage done, we laughed about his story as we slid our way through the bush.

Reaching the river we noticed tracks going down river, so our obvious choice was fresh snow.

Up we went.  We split up on two different runs within sight of each other.  Neil was quickly into a fish, and so was I.  My first of the day. A bright hen.  Warmed me up!

Neil made his way up to me where we would fish the rest of the day.  I brought a couple more fish to hand and Neil was kind enough to tail them for me.

Some very nice fish made Sunday worth every bit of effort spent.  This Buck is a favourite of mine this season.  Such a beautiful fish. 

A nice Hen would follow. I was a very happy camper!

 On our way out I would watch Neil work a couple runs with no results.  We were pleased  with the outing, as a few others on their way out at the access were reporting no action at all.  So this past weekend I had all my theories and ideas flipped.  As much as we try to understand Steelhead and their habits,  at best we really are only guessing.  That's OK with me.  I quite enjoy a good guessing game every now and then.