Winter arrived with a good dump of snow in Leavenworth last week.  Just barely got the boat covered up before it hit.  Although the boat is tucked away for a while there are still good opportunities to enjoy fishing in our region.  Take advantage of them over the Holiday weekend by getting together with family and friends fishing for trout at one of the many great spots available to us.

Not only do families get together, but it is a time when many students are home.  I think back about what I was doing during the day during this Holiday.  It was a great opportunity to spend quality time in the outdoors.  

I have fond memories of my brother Rick and I getting in trouble with our Dad by arriving late to the family dinner when we had to make one more cast or pass on one of our fishing trips.  These experiences are something that I am thankful for, being together with my Dad and brother in years past.  Those were precious times.  I want to suggest an option to consider for an outdoor adventure over this Holiday weekend.  One would be Rufus Woods Reservoir near Bridgeport.  There are fire pits and picnic tables right on the shore above the dam.  Take some firewood and enjoy the day watching for a bite while you warm near the fire and share memories of Thanksgivings past.  You could also try your luck from the shore at Brandts Landing, just six miles up lake from the dam.  The federal park at Brandts Landing has firepits and picnic tables at some of the bank accesses.  There is a vault toilet here, too.  I have had some very good success at times fishing from this area on Rufus Woods Reservoir.  This week’s photo is of me landing a nice rainbow from the shore at Brandts Landing.  

I just got two new fly rods.  One is eleven feet long, that I intend to use as a switch rod, and the other is a thirteen foot rod that I will use for spey casting.  They are both from the Ye Olde Fly Shop in Summerland Key, Florida.  I also got a large arbor 11/12 reel to go with them.  I will need some instruction on spey casting and the appropriate line to try this technique, so it will remain in the case for a while.  However, I think I can use the eleven-footer right away.  I loaded the reel with one of my nine weight floating lines to try it out on Rocky Ford Creek, near Ephrata.  

Back casts are difficult here, where I like to fish.  Many of my flies can be found in the tall cattails on the edge of the stream to attest to that.  I think I can use the switch rod to eliminate the back cast and put more of my flies on the water rather than in the cattails.  We’ll see.  If it all works out I will be putting my flies in front of trout that I haven’t been able to reach before, even on my best days of casting.  If it works I plan to spend many winter days catching big rainbow on Rocky Ford this season.

Sometimes my timing is good, and sometimes not so good.  I wanted to try out this new fly rod and Rocky Ford would be the place to do it.  I ran down there on Wednesday.  It was sunny and there was no wind.  However, I was the only one in the parking area when I arrived.  Hum.  I grabbed my rod and headed down to one of the spots that I like to cast from—and was very disappointed.  The Ford was still full of weeds.  It just hasn’t been cold enough to kill them off.  It has been cold enough to start the process, though.  There were mats of weeds floating and covering the surface twenty to thirty feet out into the stream.  I may have been able to reach the open water, but I never would have been able to drag a fish within reach to release it.  I looked for some open water near the shore and found none.  I hiked back up to the truck and found an angler fishing from the bridge.  He even hooked a fish but lost it in the heavy weeds before he could slip the net under it.

When we get enough cold weather to clear the weeds from Rocky Ford Creek I will be back with my new rod to try my luck for the big rainbow that inhabit the lake with the new rod.  The angler I met while there last week mentioned that he thought that the numbers of fish were down.  He mentioned that he had seen big flocks of white pelicans on the Ford earlier this fall, and they may have taken a toll on the rainbow population.  I have seen these pelicans at Rocky Ford for several seasons and have had some good days down here.  The numbers of fish may be down, but I still have landed some dandy rainbow.  

Most anglers will cast a floating line with an indicator with a Scud pattern.  I usually start with a Mini Leech and Ultra Scud combo.  I used to cast this with an intermediate sinking line.  In recent years I have been using a floating line but will add a tiny sinker above the Mini Leech to help sink the patterns.  I feel that the areas I am fishing just aren’t deep enough to require a sinking line, and the weight forward floating line is much easier to cast.  

I mentioned that sometimes my timing is good.  It was this past week when I decided to move the boat to my brother in law’s place and put the cover on and cinch it down.  Before I left his driveway it started snowing.  We got about five inches that night in Leavenworth.  I moved that boat just in time!
I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving Weekend.  If you get out fishing, best of luck to you!