Opening Day of Trout Season

  Every year I go to Manns Choice to fish the Juniata river on the first day of trout season. It's more than fishing; I get to hang out with one of  my closest friends. We went to school together. We joined the Navy on the buddy program. We've been friends for over thirty years. We have a good time that starts on Friday.

Chris cooking lunch.

 
  I was a little concerned that the rain would wipe out the river this year. There is nothing I like about fishing muddy water. High water and low visibility makes things extremely difficult. Luckily, the water was just running high, and it wasn't muddy. It made fishing challenging, but it wasn't impossible. I caught six trout through out the day. I fish a seven foot, medium action rod with six pound test mono-filament. I was switching between Mepps Aglia spinners in gold and silver in size 1 and 2. I prefer the number 2's. I also was bouncing a night crawler off the bottom to switch it up. I added weight when fishing the crawler, which decreased sensitivity and increased snags on the bottom. I think the first day was an even split; three on spinners and three on crawlers.

Average size of the fish that I caught.

  On Sunday, the water had receded about a foot. It really improved access to the holes in the river. I was able to cast to the spots I wanted, and more importantly, I was able to present in those spots longer. The swift water from yesterday had been moving my bait or spinner very quickly through the holes. I caught seven rainbows on Sunday. The best measuring in at around 18 inches on six pound test. I removed a number 10 hook, a number 8 hook, and my number 2, gold spinner, and I released it. The number 10 hook's line broke, and the number 8 hook looked like the knot had come undone. That should stress the importance setting the drag and of tying a good knot; I'm a faithful user of the Palomar knot (Fishing knots).

Rainbow trout - Catch and Release