If I was on the water today, I would be mercifully skipping this post, but as it is, you clicked here and now you're subject to: 2012 Awards! The highs & lows, and what might have been. Since your time is valuable (and today, obviously more valuable than mine), let's get right to it!
PHOTO OF THE YEAR (that I can share)
From The Gioia Fishing, here's a side profile of my cousin, Tim, during the onset of a monster thunderstorm. This reminds me of the cover for a DVD or something. Truthfully, we should have been in another zip code, but instead there we were, floating off the Maryland shoreline with the Captain asking us not to touch the metal rails! One of those moments that tests your faith....
FLY OF THE YEAR
Orvis' Bead Head Electric Caddis soft hackle probably should have won this award, based on the success I had with it all spring and into early summer. However, although not tied until September of this year, this stonefly nymph is the primary reason that I outfished myself this fall vs. this spring. There is no doubt in my mind that my second season trumped my first, and this is the reason why. This simple sum of rubber legs, craft store floss, wire underbody, hare's ear dubbing, and gold bead, in size 12, took me to new heights this fall. (I have since added gold wire ribbing for durability). There was a very clear before, and after, as derived from the night that I sat down and looked at the once blank hook. If you see me out there, you'll see this fly.
"MOST OUTSTANDING" RIVER OF THE YEAR
This is never a fair award, but it should come as no surprise that the Croton Watershed took the title for me this year. One year ago today was the first time I had ever fished it, and I was skunked that day. But, not since. Cold, steady flows all year produced some of the most active fish that I've ever casted to. It's also a "textbook" system, meaning that if everything you ever scanned in a book were to ever come true--like that looks to be where a fish is--it happens. The fish play ball with you here. The other side of the equation is that it's highly pressured. If you want to fish alone, don't fish here. Some of the skill set requires knowing how to fish a hole behind anglers that have just spoiled it. But, with a few tricks, you might discover that its worth it.
MVP...uh, MV"R". MOST VALUABLE RIVER
So not necessarily the "best", but the most "valuable", a lot like the NFL's award. No doubt about it, Wappingers Creek. It gave me such a surprise Spring until this poor freestone heated up. This normally put-and-take stream had some winter holdovers and gave me a dozen multi-fish outings in April and May. I don't think we could expect that every year, but for those days where I didn't have a lot of time and I just wanted to wet a line for two hours, it gave me all I could ask for.
CAST OF THE YEAR
You would normally think that a large fish picture would be inserted here, but not the case. This took place in the fall, on the Esopus Creek, while Euro Nymphing with my new stonefly nymph and a small prince nymph. I had never caught a "double" before and so when I set the hook and saw my dropper running upstream and my anchor running downstream, it was about an exciting moment as I've had ever, in fishing. Trying to net a double with an 11' soft tip rod is also quite Circ-de-Sole if you're inexperienced in it as I am. This was definitely a retrieve where I felt the pressure to get them in, even if only because this was such a nice picture for the blog. So, no 20" bruiser here--we'll get to that-- but just a really nice moment that I'll remember.
THE UNDER $50 GEAR OF THE YEAR AWARDS
THE HERO: I never thought a net would be such a transformational piece of equipment, but if you don't own a net with a rubber net bag, you would not regret this purchase. Having seen a good number of fish swim in and out of it this year, I can personally attest that you are helping to release the fish in greater health, and speed, due to fewer tangles, and truthfully, your next cast goes in a whole lot faster too because you're not picking it out of a nylon bag.
THE ZERO: I bought a loop-on 15' sink tip for $25 early this Spring to swing streamers with, and I hate it. I actually cut it up into a 10' piece and a 5' piece and I now I hate both of them. I just didn't like the extra fuss with casting it, and I further disliked the disconnect that I perceived between my line hand and the fly. Nah. I went back to weighted streamers and WF line. Wish I had that money back to buy two spools of fluorocarbon.
MONKEY OFF MY BACK AWARD
It took a long, long time, but I finally started catching fish on the Beaverkill this year. In 2012, two of the four truly trophy trout that I caught came on the BK; both in water that was 38-degrees or less, if you can believe that one (because I can't). Once I became a confessed Euro Nymphing addict, I had a lot of trouble fishing other methods effectively. This is why the BK, with its long, flat, unforgiving pools, always put me to shame. If you don't know how to fish with long, patient, accurate drifts--far away from the fish-- the BK will send you packing. Once I started re-dedicating myself to dry-dropper, the fish began to come. I can't wait to get back there during normal conditions in the Spring and try the old dry dropper once the fish are active again.
MOST ATTRACTIVE FISH AWARD
It was the week of Thanksgiving when this absolutely handsome brown slipped up and inhaled a #10 royal stimulator during a decent olive hatch. This fish wasn't even halfway to net when I realized how colorful and stoic he was. On a freezing cold day when I was really trying for a bite on my baetis nymph, he went up top and surprised me. I don't know how many trout I caught this year, but none have been as beautiful as this one. To see him in person-- it would have stopped you in your tracks.
AND FINALLY, FISH OF THE YEAR
To be honest, the fish of the year for me comes on any of the trout that I hooked and let my son strip/reel in this Spring. I took him out several times while the stockies were still around, and man, we did have that BIG surprise from Wappingers Creek! The first rainbow that he stripped in was really a nice moment. That would unofficially be fish of the year--but for safety reasons, I don't like posting photos of the kids here.
Acting alone, there would really be one or two fish and since this is my blog and I am the only one writing/reading this in all likelihood, I am going to declare co-winners.
JAN 7, 2012 BEAVERKILL
As long as my left arm, this fella took a hare's ear, or black stonefly (never did see which) under an indicator with split shot at high noon on a 34-degree Saturday. So tough, he knocked my net away when I tried to wrangle him and then spit the fly out in the process. The only way I could arrest him was to grab his belly and move him to shore without being connected to the hook--fortunately he was a little tired. Quick picture, and back in, nice and strong. The only fish I caught that day.
SEPTEMBER 2012 CROTON
I forget the actual date, but this co-fish-of-the-year was probably the biggest of them all. This never before seen photo was from the fish pictured in "The White Diamond". She took my stonefly - not on a dead drift, but swing like a wet where the rubber legs proved to be too much. One of the fastest fights I had all year, this 'bow wasn't on for 30-seconds due to where I hooked her and no available other option besides losing her in a snag. Safely released.
GIVE THANKS AWARD
Just a quick mention to friends and family who have supported my time on the water this year; either through helping me schedule a few trips that otherwise would not exist, or with supplying me with gear gifts that helped me to take more advantage of my time on the water. I hope you can see that it means the world to me, but without some sacrifice from others around me, very little of this would be possible. Please be prepared to do so again in 2013!
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