In late fall, trout fishing often becomes a little tricky. The water cools down again as the nights are getting colder – and the trout should be more active, but the rivers and creeks are low and clear. Hardly a fish is to be seen, and you might wonder where all the fish went, that made the surface boil during mayfly-time.
But this pattern keeps repeating each year, and knowing that the fish have not disappeared but are just hiding, keep up my confidence, that there is still a chance to catch a fish. So I keep going, I cast, I hope. It usually is a good idea to seek the faster water. I am not sure if there are more fish or if they just bite better in the rippled water. But fact is: you catch fish! Many times you catch more than just a single fish in these spots!
But in general, this time of the year has something quiet to it, something almost meditative. Nature has become just as calm as the water flows, birds are no longer fighting loudly, there are fewer hikers, and the farmers are through with the harvest… you hear the rustling of single leaves, falling to the ground, squirrels searching nuts in the undergrowth….
And I am taken by surprise as an aggressive trout unexpectedly shoots from the undercut banks… what a beauty! I look at it in admiration, knowing that trout season will be over soon. And then I will have to wait almost half a year until I will again be able to stalk the most beautiful of all fish – the brown trout.
