Snowy Day Stockers

[Johnsfolly]

If you didn't know, when I am not chasing lifers I tend to be fond of chasing trout in many different locations. There aren't many stream-bred brown trout or wild brook trout streams closer than a couple of hours from me. It's the weekend and they were forecasting some bad weather moving in. I decided to go for some stocker rainbows and I did a trip North to the Patapsco River near Elderburg MD, which they stocked on the 4th. With the bad weather I figured I could get in a couple of hours of fishing. I didn't expect that It would be snowing as soon as I got there. The road ran along the river and I could spot likely holes to target for holdover trout. I met a man and his young son along the road that were not having much luck. I decided to go well below them before fishing. Upstream from where I parked, there was a small creek confluence  with the river. I checked but the hole at the confluence was only big enough to hold a single trout and I didn't see or spook any. I will have to remember to check out that spot for micros later in the spring/summer😉. The snow was getting heavy.

I headed downstream and found a nice hole to fish. 

After my initial attempts at getting a strike were spurned, I had to make a shift in plans. The snow had now turned to feezing rain and my fishing window was closing. I just knew that this hole was the best spot for a holdover stocker in the limited time provided by the weather. (purists cover your ears/eyes 😉😂) Since I was planning on keeping a fish or two, I tied on a #20 treble hook with a split shot about 6 inches from the hook. I put on a couple of bubblegum colored Gulp eggs and cast out into the current seam on the edge of the deep water. I have used this setup to harvest stockers for years from stocked ponds like the Urban trout program in MO. It didn't take long and I hooked and landed a decent 13" stocker rainbow. 

I would love to say that I caught a few more, but no more bites even from casts to spots that should have had fish. The weather was getting worse and I had a bit of drive home and decided to leave after 20 or so mins after catching that trout. I can't complain since I did end up catching a trout in a new location. I plan on coming back to this area and hope to find some decent fallfish or maybe some interesting micros.

I plan on making this trout with a hot chili/sesame oil with lemongrass. Maybe that will end up on the What's cooking thread.

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

Extra credit for using “spurned” in a report👍

[Ham]

It ain’t always easy. Sometimes it’s a grind to get a single bite. Enjoy your harvest!

[Johnsfolly]

17 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Extra credit for using “spurned” in a report👍

Here I was thinking about extra credit with the photos including snow and fish😅😉

[snagged in outlet 3]

48 minutes ago, Johnsfolly said:

Here I was thinking about extra credit with the photos including snow and fish😅😉

Photos are automatic EC.  And much appreciated!