Trouting

The itchiness, bumpiness, and redness has returned to my fingers, thus creating my irritatedness. You've heard it a thousands times though, so I'll refrain from bitching about itching and writhing my fingers within themselves until my joints pulsate.

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Something I haven't done this year that I'd hoped to do more, was go trout fishing. for some reason, I stopped, and retired my rod into the corner after only going out a handful of times.

This is amazing, considering I caught around 90 fish on the opening day of this year(late April) , including a few of the largest in my history as a trouter. But with the changing of the leaves, and the onset of the spawning season for the brookies and brownies (brook trout & brown trout), the drive has been rekindled. Now, it's a mere wait for water levels to rise to preferred levels.

When weather is warm, or water is low, I don't like to fish for trout. It causes undo stress on the trout, who are ever sensitive to changes in conditions.

It's funny how in faster, deeper, colder water (within reason), trout are so much more resiliant.

I still have some trout pictures I need to show you all from April, including the massive hatchery released "breeder" female brooktrout I caught. She had another less-fortunate fishermans poorly tied hook in her mouth. Luckily, hooks are designed to disintigrate after a short period.

I kept 3 trout this year, ate one, send two to the taxidermist as samples for him to use. Never before had he seen a brook trout as fat as the two females that I had caught. In fact, in a "show", the taxidermist claimed if he mounted them as they truly were, that he would be nailed for making the fish unproportional. The truth hurts I guess -- so he photographed the fish.

I also caught my first ever "Tiger Trout", which is a hybrid trout that comes from a female brown, and a male brook trout. Steril, and rare, a few hatcheries bred a good bit of them and released them into the stream to allow for the occasssional rarity.

The fish I caught however, I think was even more spectacular, because I believe it was a stream born fish.

Small, and slender, it didn't have the rough fins or the "look" of most hatchery bred fish. It's marbled yellow and olive sides glistened as it lay in my palm, and slipped him back into his watery retreat.

Memories.

Time to make some more.