Ice Fishing on the Fly?

I just can't seem to hit this hole with the fly! Presentation is not my strongest skill. So here I sit stuck in the dead of winter and can only dream about fishing. Sitting over a hole with a tip up is just not my cup of tea (or whatever else you drink to stay warm out there). No value judgement, I just like fishing that involves water I can't walk across. Moving water if possible. Moving water that meanders through a meadow - even better. It seems I have no choice but to suck it up and stick out the snow season. No high dollar trip to Belieze and no "ice in my guides" trek to the year round put and take territory one state over. Nope, I will survive from my arm chair just fine with two of my favorite fly fishing activities: reading and drooling over new gear.

The 2008 catalogs are rolling in and I am starting to get that "clean out the gear bag and fly boxes" itch that always seems to follow. The list of new stuff I "need" is already growing. Dog-eared pages mark ideas for flies, rods, new reels, and an assortment of "stuff". Do I really need any of it? Of course not. I managed to catch (and not catch) fish just fine with my current equipment throughout the last season. However, there is something beautiful and even hopeful about the new fishing catalogs - they contain that same optimism that takes you to the stream. Even if the damn thing is buried in ice and snow.

Stay warm,
Trout Buddha

Winter Notes:

Went to the Southern Wisconsin TU Ice Breaker last week; always an inspirational event (and needed given the single digit temps!). Particularly impressed with Larry Mann from the Hayward Fly Fishing Co. in Hayward, WI. Great talk about wonderful fishing opportunities in that corner of the world. Check them out they seem like wonderful folks who really know their stuff.