It is that time of year. Weather is variable and the same can be true with the catching part of fishing for trout. Now, hard fast rules, I am not here to give you, nor am I a believer in definitives when it comes to our favorite pass time. I tend to look at trends in order to gain more understanding in this problem solving game.

Weekends, up until now, have brought some sunny warm weather and some good catching activity as far as I can tell from the info posted on the web and through the fly shops.  When water and air temps rise, aquatic insects and fish metabolism leans to our favor and trout can put on the feed bag. On the other side of the coin not so much. I will have to work much harder to find a pod of stationary fish and work hard to spoon feed them

Early spring is about the only time of year I use my thermometer as a tool to provide me with some valuable water information. Water temps at 40 and rising during my time on the water is a good trend. Likely I might have some success. 40 and falling, my catching success probably will be in a lower percentage range than the former. This is what I found

3 early outings

Sat Feb 29th– This was the day after the Film Fest.  a group of 10 experienced anglers fished around the mouth of the Rocky Branch of the Lower Kinni, a reasonably reliable spot with numerous different water types up and down stream. Air temps were in the 30’s with sun. a great day to be on the water with friends. Water temps were in the high 30’s never getting above 37 degrees during the warmest part of the day. Some midges were in the air and some small stones were on the banks. 1 fish was caught.

Mon. March 16th- Rush River down stream from Hwy 72. I was so darn excited to fish on that Monday. The rivers had finally calmed down from the week before where we had snow, a significant run off event, and high water. Waters were calm, clear and 38 degrees and air temps was to rise to mid 40’s. I thought it might be perfect and had my camera poised for some prideful pictures of the giant fish in my secret spot. GOOSE EGG! Although air temps did rise the river temps never did and the lack of sun kept everything on the cold side. I am convinced I had the right water but the trout had lock jaw or maybe said angler was just inept that day. This was a 3 hour tour during the warmest part of the day.

Tuesday March 16th- The Lower Kinni downstream of Camp Qwakji. The sun probably peaked the ridge by 9 am and was warming the water by 10. Water temps rose from 39 to 42 in the 3 hours I was there. The suns intensity was magical to both my hands and my heart. I need to get away from the ongoing societal erosion. Tuesday, in this beautiful place, I found some sanity. Two casts after 11AM I felt the tug of my friend. It only got better. By 2 pm I quit and walked up the hill. Numerous fish had been landed along with a couple of dandy’s. Midges and 1″ long stones were on the water. Trout were feeding. Hand tied versions of these two bugs were the ticket. This angler was taken away from mayhem and transferred to Utopia. 

The rest of the week was cool, cold or drizzly. I chose to work around the house. I walked my pup today on the upper Kinni instead of fishing. There were anglers out in force. Guess folks might have more time on their hands to fish. Let me how you did?