Quick New Year’s Day Outing

The New Year morning arrived cold at our quiet house.

I awoke my usual early hour, bought new fishing licenses and decided to head out.

I wasn’t expecting to catch anything. But, I’ve not fished in a while and decided it would be fitting to start 2018 with a fly rod in-hand.

So, I headed to a local golf-course pond, the scene of an escapade in the fall.

Unfortunately, much of it was iced over, save for small radii around a few aerators. I went to the aerator closest to the edge and threw nymphs and Mops into the circle of water.

I was decked out in some of my ski gear. The line started to ice up on the third cast, and, after 20 minutes, every piece of exposed skin started to hurt. Also, guilt started to creep in: What if I caught a fish, heaved it back towards the water and missed? The idea of a dying fish on the ice started to cloud my mind.

So, I called off the outing and headed for some coffee and a sweet treat. I picked up some goodies for the children, too. Yet, it was very nice to walk outside and feel that fly rod bend in my hand.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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14 thoughts on “Quick New Year’s Day Outing

  1. Happy New Year, Jo. I’m often only one donut away from success myself. There’s something about cold weather that makes coffee and donuts extra special.

    1. Happy New Year, Damon! Enjoy this winter season. Good news: The daylight period is getting longer. Soon, spring will be here again.

  2. Happy New Year to you, Jo. Props for getting out if only briefly. Not fishing during this prolonged cold spell is tough on all of us fly fishermen, but hopefully we will get a January thaw to allow for tail water fishing at some point.
    Best,
    Sam

    1. Same to you, Sam! And, if you’d ever like to write a post for the blog, LMK. Good news is we’re in the playoff season for football. Should be some fun games to watching starting with next weekend’s Wild Card games.

      1. Thanks, Jo, for the invite to write something for your blog site. I will take you up on that if I think I have experienced something of interest to you and your followers.

        I look forward to next week’s NFL playoff games. I also enjoy college football, especially Ohio State, being that is where I am originally from. Tonight’s playoff games should be a good watch. Too bad the Buckeyes didn’t make the final four this year, but they won their Cotton Bowl game vs USC.

        1. The Ohio State has one of the best coaches. Hope Urban manages his workload so he doesn’t burn out, as he did before.

  3. Happy New Year, Jo. I haven’t fished in 6 days. I definitely feel an emptiness. But out shoveling snow the other day for 30 min. convinced me that I am right in staying away from the river. and yesterday my granddaughter and I followed deer tracks behind the house for 15 min. and our faces hurt, so inside for some hot chocolate!

    1. Same to you, my friend! Thank you, Gary, for all of your great comments on the blog; moreover, thank you for all of the great advice when I was new-ish to fly fishing. You truly are a giant among men.

  4. Time for me to get the Auger started and Jig for Pannies and smelt until Winters end sometime in March. The only fish I found worth chasing in open water during the winter are Steelhead, and i have exercised that demon out of my system years ago!
    Good time for equipment repairs, upgrades, and agonizing over fly boxes and which to ditch and which to keep. Happy New Years to all.

  5. Thank you all regardless of where your home water is. Each of you has contributed to me becoming a better tier and angler.

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