More than enough rain led to high flows, delayed ice up on the bigger lakes, and some real decent bite windows.
High water had brookies spread far and wide. Big males were dominant in the overall catch.
The brookie hens in the mix had good length and colors, but were low in the girth department when compared to the males.
A few landlocks began to show up, but the trend of weaker numbers over the past few years continued at least for now.
The last salmon was an interesting one. At just 13", it had great colors, a fair kype, and dropped milt when landed.
The most welcomed surprise of December was the resurgence of browns at least for the month.
We had a pretty significant cold snap at mid-month that made changes to the playing field. Back channels froze up and ice showed up at lake shores.
Getting back to the browns, my most memorable day came when I fished a slick, but not locked in lake shore. A raw, dark day with a nice chop and quality browns willing to play
I'm thinking these may have been returns on earlier Seeforellen strain stockings and take this as a good sign! I also think I was a bit late to the party when I hit that stretch of icy shore on December 12. I'll be prospecting earlier in 2023
One interesting note is that cold water lure preferences flipped somewhat from norm. Normally, jigs are the answer, particularly under a bobber. Many days after starting with spoons or spinners, a jig presentation often ends up tripping the trigger. This December, slow jig starts were often reversed by a frantic spoon bite. As always, the mantra is to give them what they want.
Holiday festivities were a ball, but put the angling on hold. My son-in-law is a big IPA fan. I spent most of the time higher than pterodactyl teats. A throwback to Gaddabout Gaddis, the Flying Fisherman.
Anybody remember him?
I closed out the month with a trip to coast to see if I could duplicate the non-stop action of November. Not even close. In fact, not even a bite. Maybe the storm of December 23 broke things up. Anyway, even without fish, there are far worse places to be than on the salt at sunset just short of the New Year.
Happy New Year and good fishing to all!