1-1-04 - My first step into the water for 2004!

Jim, Greg and "Bubba" working the pool that held a few browns.

Jim and FAT moved upstream for a bit; all of us working the deeper water wherever we could find it.

For some reason this first bend below the wier in Lincoln Park always demands to be fished IF no one else is around!

1-1-04 - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Waters Fished: Root River
Fish Caught: 0
Outing Date: 1-1-04
Weather: Cloudy
Air Temp: 40's
Water Temp: about 35F
Water Level: Low
Water Color: Clear
Fish Species: Brown Trout
Pattern Fished: Tucker Nymph, Pink Squirrel, Black Heron
Pattern Color: per respective patterns
Fishing Quality: Fun when you're with friends....

Well, I cannot think of a better way to start of the new year than to get some of my favorite fishin' buddies out for some time on the water! I arrived at a respectable "late morning" 10:30 AM to find FAT and Jim (MS2) already had gone through all my favorite water around Quarry Park...and found NOTHING. Meanwhile, I had been on the phone with Greg who was downstream in Colonial with his brother.

After saying our "Good Mornings" and "Happy New Years" we decided to head downstream to find Greg! Starting in lower Colonial, Jim and FAT plowed upstream and I batted cleanup. It was basically an exercise in hole fishing, as whatever had been there (making REDDS) wasn't in the shallow water...but maybe in the deep?

Upon finding Greg and "Bubba" we learned that there were indeed a few fish running around; they had taken some brown smolts on spawn but were really trying to get the attention of a pair of browns. Even drifting spawn, they had no luck most of the morning.

We all continued to work the holes in Colonial; Greg and Bubba even gave us a chance to try those browns on the fly, but nothing turned them. It was time for a trip to Denny's for a warmup! Greg and Bubba had headed into Lincoln Park; I went to find them. So I get there, to the spot where Greg's brother had hooked up early in the day, and find them both drifting the first pool I ever fished on the Root. While I watched, the sight of a huge brown porpoising caught all our attentions! Needless to say, Greg and his brother stayed to hunt this fish as long as they could bear. I still needed that warmup!

The afternoon, around 2:00 pm, was left to Jim and I. Time for Island Park...but as we drove there I got the gut feeling I should go to Lincoln Park instead. Turns out that it wasn't the fish "callin' my name", but rather that Alex J. had finally arrived and was working the area as well!

So Jim, Alex and I all worked the pools of Lincoln Park for the remainder of the day....deep water is still murky so we're back to fishin' blind. Despite not a single hookup for any of us, it was still arguably the best way to spend New Year's Day (OK, well technically, see my earlier report for Paradise Springs; had there been fish we would have all been there instead!).

  MP