A buddy and I took advantage of Superbowl insanity and hit the Rim in hopes it would be quiet while the rest of the state sat in front of the bigscreen watching M.I.A. flip off the nation on Live TV, Classy... But I digress...
So Friday we left the valley for the Rim, arrived at Bear Flats early morning. Weather was nice, but it was pretty chilly outside, mid 30's. We rigged up and hit the water.
There was still ice at the edges of some pools, the grasses were covered in frost and we started to get ice in the guides, too cool.
We worked our way through the creek catching fish here and there. The action wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. Good company, and away from the crowds. You know what? Yeah it was great...
We had planned on staying one night with the possibility of two. Kirk wanted to try out the whole "Hammock Camping" nonsense after camping with me twice before and using my tent, so I brought enough winter hammock gear for him as well. With expected overnight temps to be in the mid to high 20's I was anxious to test out some new gear I had made for colder weather. I had only previously tested it down to about 40f, this would be a good test I hoped. I got too warm the first night, the low for the night was low 30's but windy. Kirk said he was warm and comfy all nite and was sold on the whole hammock nonsense. Second night got us down to 25f and the new gear all worked great. I still got a little warm and decided to pull the liner out of sleeping bag and was much more comfortable. Woke up with frost on things hanging from the ridgeline and my Buff I was using to cover my face.
We made some great fires that kept us nice and toasty both nights.
On the second day we decided to explore a few other creeks on the Rim and do some plinking with a new .22 I picked up a while back. Nothing makes a fishing trip better than putting a bunch of rounds through a fun little gun.
Kirk also broke in his new 4wt with some Bows and Browns.
I also picked up a mix of Browns and Rainbows with my new 2wt.
The winter stoneflies were out and about, we did see some rises in the larger slower pools where these were falling from the branches.
In the end, we've got a new hammock convert and stories to share with friends.
It was a great trip, cold weather fishing on the Rim, no crowds, hungry fish and good company...
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