The fly fishers I talked to all said they would come to the creek on Christmas Eve, regardless of the wind and weather. I was determined to take pictures showing how they did it. But you know, "Only the Bold fish in the snow and the rain and the wind and the cold" (http://www.cantos.org/fishing/music.html
It was amazing enough that my wife let me go. But she stayed up late sewing gifts, and I got up early to go fishing.
For five hours I had the place all to myself. I started at the noth end and finished in the south end. I spent a lot of time wading in the creek. My legs and feet did not get cold, nor my body or hands. However, the wind was hard on my fingers, and my toes froze. In case you did not notice, the wind chill was around zero during this time, and the snow came down in big flakes. The wind was very strong. Of course there are plenty of places on the creek that are protected, even from a northern wind.
Vic's Lake had cars parked here and there, but I did not see any lines in the water. I did stand on the north shore, wade out a ways, and loft my fly line out into the lake a few times. The wind just makes it hard to keep you fingers alive.
The biggest problem I had was when I tangled. The tangle just got worse and worse. I finally went into the store and cut it all loose and put on a new tippet. I was lucky it happened when it did, because she closed at 11 am (after cleaning up the mess I dragged in on my snow packed felt-soled boots. Those did serve me well as I clambered over the dams and up and down the banks without ever slipping on the snow or ice.
If you have not fished in the wind and snow and ice and cold, there will be plenty of cold windy day in the last 10 days of December. It should be very nice for the Flatland Fly Fishers annual "Single Fly Tournament" on New Years Day: high 36°, Real Feel 35° (no wind). Of course, with so many cold days before that, there will be ice.
http://www.flatlandflyfishers.org/
Single Fly Tournament - Jan. 1st - Slough Creek, Sedgwick County Park. Breakfast 8:30 - 10:00am Tournament 10:00am - 2:00pm
Winter Program - Feb. 6, 2010 - Speaker Ed Engle
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