Landlocked Love for the Deep Green Beauty!

My friend John from Montreal suggested we hit one of the northern New York rivers yesterday for holdover - and maybe even...dare I say it? - bright fish in from the lake.  It's a 3.5 hour drive for me, so I go up the night before and meet John at the donut store at early dark thirty.  Picked up a coffee, dropped my truck off, and headed for the first of the pools we'd fish at first light.  There was a steady rain; the temp was about 40 degrees F.

Not much going on at that first pool, so we moved on.  Water temp 38 degrees, and pushes of ice occasionally screwing things up.

Second pool's a charm!  John hooks up but the fish gets off.

He lands one a few minutes later:

John's flies make other tyers envious but the fish love them:

His fly box is a thing of beauty and shows the pride he takes in his flies.  I shoulda swiped it.  "Geez, John, I dunno, did it fall out of your jacket out in the river or something???"

I can be a good student.  John told me where to stand, how far to cast, and be ready to hang on.  That worked!

Turned out to be a fine holdover landlocked:

The Deep Green Beauty strikes again!

Breaktime was a special treat!  John brought Sopresatta that he and his family make.  Simply awesome.  I drooled so much that he finally broke down and gave me the little I left on the plate to take home!

John hooked up again and landed a fish with several lamprey scars!

They seemed to be healing well:

Just a few yards downriver, the Beauty got more love:

If these mallards knew what a master John is at tying spey flies with bronze mallard wings, they'd have left in a hurry!

Well, there you have it: my first tugs of 2012.  Thanks, John!!

(pics of me  by John, of John by me)