A January Day on DePuy’s Spring Creek

Typically I don’t fish the spring creeks of Paradise Valley during the months of November, December, January and February.  Experience has taught me that the creeks just don’t fish that well during these months and philosophically I think the fish deserve a little break from us fishermen.  And, as I have gotten older, I have found that my body just doesn’t tolerate the weather conditions that accompany winter fishing.  Freezing temperatures, wind, snow and sleet just don’t add up to a good time anymore.  I know that my attitude towards winter fishing conditions will disappoint my old friend Fred Nelson who likes to boldly proclaim that if one is not cold, wet, sweaty, complaining about too much wind, or the fact that there is no wind at all, that it is too cloudy, or just too hot and bright, you are just not fishing.

 However, this past week I had a change of heart about winter fishing and visiting the spring creeks during, according to the calendar, the dead of winter.  As many of you know, and for those of you who don’t, we have been experiencing a very mild winter.  Not much snow, especially in the valleys, and warmer than normal day/night temperatures.  Last week with day time highs predicted to be in the high 40’s I decided to through caution to the wind and spring for the forty bucks it costs to fish the spring creeks at this time of year.  Well, if I only considered those days that I caught a bushel of fish a successful day of fishing, I would have to report that my day was a total bust.  However, at this point in my fishing life, I count any day that I can get on the water a successful one.  The day was clear and bright, the temperature did indeed get into the very high 40’s, there was little wind, there was no one else on the creek that day and I got to visit with my old friend of some thirty years Betty Smith.  As for the catching of fish, the closest thing I came to a fish that day was a couple of cookies baked by my wife and painted to look like little rainbow trout. 

Tags: DePuy's Spring Creek, Winter Fly Fishing, Winter Spring Creek Fishing

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 3:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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