Happy Thanksgiving!
I tried to shrug off an achy back today with a little fishing but managed, on reaching for my net to land the rainbow at the top of the report, to hurt my back even further. No Turkey Trot tomorrow! But a bright fall rainbow is worth it. This fish was surfing up high on the inside of the bend, a foot or so off the bottom. Oddly, another trout — a brown I presume — was feeding beneath this rainbow. I’ve not seen anything quite like that before. There were tons of trout out on the sand flats today but I played it safe due to injury and left the river, passing a dead whitetail doe that had come to rest on the outside of a bend. It’s still gun season up here for a few more days.
The water was perfect for sight fishing.
The ingredients to sight-fishing are simple: No snow in the trees to cause reflection, clear water, and gray sky. Today was just right, minus the wind. You have to move slow — which was the only speed I was moving today. I’d say I was getting old but this particular back spasm has been with me since I was a teenager. So maybe it makes me feel young.
We are settling in for a Thanksgiving winter storm. Over the next 4-5 days we are supposed to get significant snow, wind, and unseasonable cold. This means the plow is going onto the truck this evening. There’s something lonely and poetic and wild about the first snow. We’ll eat turkey and chop down a Christmas tree and watch it snow. If you come fishing, well, be careful and have fun. I’ve always had good fishing on these wet first snows of the season. We’ll be open from 9 am – 2 pm every day except for Thanksgiving Thursday.
And…our holiday catalog is done: https://gateslodge.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/2025-Gates-Holiday-Catalog.pdf
Shop online at www.gatesflyshop.com.
From all of us, enjoy the holiday!
