Ice Sheet Nymphing On New Year's
As long as it is above zero, I go fishing on New Year’s Day. I also invite lots of folks to see who will show up. I think Sam and Paul were the ones who started the tradition. However, Paul was out of town or something lame and Sam was supposedly "injured". Hmmm. Anyway, this year's New Year's Day was a balmy 19 degrees at the boat launch below Holter Dam. That would have been fine and good if not for the stiff wind blowing downstream. With the chilled wind, it probably was closer to zero. That would probably be why only a few hardy (foolish) souls showed up during the day.
Regardless, we launched Jerrin’s boat and cruised across to the Upper Bull Pasture. We set up some chairs, a couple of Buddy Heaters, and rolled out the barbecue. Thankfully, we had a Yeti Cooler to keep our food and beverages from freezing. I brought along six rods, rigged and ready to play with. I selected one and got to work. I don’t always nymph, but when I do, I like to catch fish. So, I launched my first cast of 2016 and got bit. That’s how I like it.
I’ve got Simms Bootfoot waders, so my feet stay perfectly happy and I can stand in the water. My daughter, Keeli, does not have boot foots, but she was content to stand in the back of Jerrin’s boat and work the seam from there. She still picked up a couple fish in no time.
Kevin showed up with a new fly pattern to R&D and, of course, it worked. I’m hoping he ties a couple extra for the next outing.
After we covered the sweet spot and put the fish down from all the activity, I decided to work on a new technique of mine that I call, Ice Sheet Nymphing. It’s pretty simple. First, you find a large sheet of ice that supports your weight. When you find it, you push off from shore and just go with the wind and the flow.
Ice Sheet Nymphing is incredibly stealthy. From the fish's perspective, you are invisible and look nothing like a boat with oars splashing in the water. Wayne Jordan thinks I should just drill a hole and drop a San Juan worm down the middle. That might work, but I don’t really like the idea of a self-bailing ice sheet that might frag apart. It would need to be a bit larger and I prefer a smaller more nimble sheet. I had visions of going all the way to Craig until I realized I’d forgotten to grab a camp chair and beverages, so I called Jerrin for a quick shuttle.
Despite the cold, we had ourselves a fine New Year’s Day. For those of you that said you were coming, but decided to stay indoors on the couch, you missed it. Maybe next year?