Do They Count?

      If you are lucky enough to live near a tailwater that fishes year around, you most likely know the joys, and the curses of “winter fishing”. The Arkansas below Pueblo reservoir has become one of the most popular winter fisheries in Colorado and from the first week of December till the end of January it seems to be “bring your own rock”. The fish get pounded by the crowds daily ,the water temps never seem to get  warm enough for “blanket” hatches, and the fish metabolisms slow way down. The talkers in the fly shop go from “I landed 30-40” to “I had several on”.

   Thursday was an exceptional day in P-town, 69 degrees and only a few light breezes. Cat and I were landing fish on and off all day, with the biggest landed at 21 inches. If you ever get the privilege to fish with Cat, you hear the most wonderful sounds, many times in a day, a loud squeak followed by giggles and laughing and you know she just hooked another. I heard the usual giggle followed by her reel screaming and the giggle quickly turned to a very serious “this is a big fish”. I backed out of the water and watched her rod shake and the indicator dive into the depths and was wondering if it would be larger than mine (the good husband that I am). I pulled out the camera and started filming when Cat’s voice changed and said “I think it is either foul hooked or a giant sucker”. The fight took another 3 minutes with each winning  small battles at a time. Cat was eventually the victor and netted a 21inch fatty Female. Watching the video back I was able to hear the sadness in Cat’s voice when the Rainbow came to the top belly up. As we were counting up the fish at the end of the day, the question was, Do they count?

     It seems that about a third of the fish I land this time of year are foul hooked and don’t know rather to count them or not. I golfed a great deal growing up and from mid October till mid March we had something called “winter Rules”, which basically means if you hit over the green and into a cactus, if you don’t like your lie, or even if a tree is in your way, just move it and say winter rules, and it does not cost you a stroke. I never felt quite right about the winter rules in golf.

     Foul hooks on the other hand? I have had clients land foul fish and not even know the difference, who am I, to tell the client that I wasn’t worth the tip. The battle when foul usually feels like twice the fish.  Cat has even noted how well I have learned to net foul hooked fish, keeping them in the water, so onlookers cannot see how they were hooked. I like to say that the fish hardly eat this time of the year and spend most of their time dodging size 16 Copper Johns. I also say only an awesome angler can sense that a fish is near and set the hook.

        To count or not to count, I can’t tell you what to do. Maybe the answer can be stolen from golf.  Land the fish, snap a great pic, put away your camera, gently release the fish and whisper “Winter Rules”.