The best time to go fishing is when you can, and all that. So even though I wasn’t stoked about overnight lows well below freezing, snow showers, and a NNW wind of 15mph, I made the command decision to ignore the piles of work on my desk and head to the river. Surely two hours on the Farmington beats the tar out of eight hours behind a desk.
Given the forecast and the fact that it was a weekday, the river was fairly crowded in the Upper TMA. Water was 35 degrees, clear and running about 435cfs. I had ice on my guides for the first hour. Then the sun came out, and with it some midges and an unidentified mayfly that looked to be about a 20 or a 22.
My suspicions about the weather knocking the bite down were confirmed. None of the other anglers I spoke with today had so much as a tap. Saw only one trout caught in two hours, and I’m delighted to report that it was at the end of my line. A standard-issue holdover brown who found my bead head, fur-hackled caddis nymph to his liking. Funny thing: I had been watching all my drifts up to that point like a hawk. On the one drift where I’m daydreaming, the indicator goes under. How often has that happened to you?
In a few weeks, the air and water will be warmer. And so will the fishing.
currentseams.com 
I once watched a buddy catch a huge largemouth bass on a back cast that touched the water. He thought he snagged a tree until he turned around. I’ve been caught asleep at the wheel countless times. Fish have a sense of humour, I suppose.
Nice blog you’ve got here, Steve. I checked out those soft-hackles, the Winter Brown and Grey Watchet and taken note of the peacock herl for the head. I’ve usually dubbed a bit of thorax behind the legs, so this will be a different approach to body construction for me. Thanks for the tip.
Thank you for your kind words. So many soft-hackles to tie and try, so little time.
FWIW I’ve never noticed a difference in my catch rate between soft-hackles with or without a dubbed thorax. I have also done very well with a soft-hackle with a thread thorax.