Finding my honey hole.

I’ve made myself a promise this season, to fish places that I did not fish last year. Still, it’s hard to not return to the “honey hole” (a phrase I picked up from Capt. Kent Klewein) when fishing time is limited and I want to meet some trout. Anyone who fishes locally (Northern Illinois/ Southwestern Wisconsin) knows this pond well, so I’ll spare the details of how convenient & nice this pond is. Just because there’s a lot of trout in there doesn’t mean they are dumb trout – in fact, they can frustrate you to the point where you start to doubt your skills altogether. I call them educated because they know a hook when they see one. I’ve had days when I’ve caught nothing here, and it drives me nuts because I can see them, lot of them, approaching and refusing my fly. I sometimes think there are smarter ones among them that steer the other trout away – probably yelling in trout language “only a blue gill would bite that shit, don’t you see the hook?”. I had better luck this day, caught a few nice sized ones. I could not get my hands on the jumbos in there, but one day I will. Driving to and from fishing spots, I am reminded (of how lucky I am) that I have such opportunity to see American farmland that I would never otherwise see. The smile on the side of the barn brings a smile to my face as well.