the year end tournament. But it is April, was a wonderful day and the river was well cleared
of ice. So, off I went for a walk down by the river. I still had a rod geared with a blue batman
and copper john from last year and tried them with no success. Turned over a rock and the
nymph I saw resembled a hairs ear which I tied on top and changed to a pheasant tail for
the bottom. I had maybe a couple of nibbles and it wasn't very long after I saw a fish sipping the
surface there came a tug on the line and I was rewarded with a fine rainbow. He fought sluggishly
and I thought it was maybe a whitefish, though it wasn't a whitefish pool, until I caught a look
at him. A rainbow sure enough and winter dark, perhaps 18 inches, on the pheasant tail of course.
They call them smart phones but it's no reflection on the operator as an arriving email informed
me there was office work to be done. Would have been smart to not bring it along. It was a
nice hour plus on the river and the season begins with a smile, always does with the first capture.
The ride home too was unencumbered as the construction on the calf rope was completed over
the winter. Yeah!
