Slate green, liquid jade
Stone cold like fingers and toes
The lake above turning over
Winter’s breath chilling surface waters
Frigid shallows dance with warm depths
If “warm” could be used to describe ice cubes
The cold choreography of thermoclines
Top and bottom tango, pirouette
Spinning dull mossy ribbons into the tailwaters below
Swirls like tattered felt in fluid breeze
Gathering in pea soup eddies
Chilled to the taste of the dead
You don’t catch fish in this, they say
So, in sheer desperation, Señor Worm
(Admit it. You have some)
San Juan fire in alpine chill
Equatorial red in glacial green
Faded Christmas colors
Two small browns find their way to the net
They chase more for the heat than to eat, I suppose
But who could blame them?
Not I
For as the day wears on
Sky reflects water reflects mood
And I leave to find some heat of my own
Stone cold like fingers and toes
Stone cold like fingers and toes
The lake above turning over
Winter’s breath chilling surface waters
Frigid shallows dance with warm depths
If “warm” could be used to describe ice cubes
The cold choreography of thermoclines
Top and bottom tango, pirouette
Spinning dull mossy ribbons into the tailwaters below
Swirls like tattered felt in fluid breeze
Gathering in pea soup eddies
Chilled to the taste of the dead
You don’t catch fish in this, they say
So, in sheer desperation, Señor Worm
(Admit it. You have some)
San Juan fire in alpine chill
Equatorial red in glacial green
Faded Christmas colors
Two small browns find their way to the net
They chase more for the heat than to eat, I suppose
But who could blame them?
Not I
For as the day wears on
Sky reflects water reflects mood
And I leave to find some heat of my own
Stone cold like fingers and toes
Thanks, here, to my buddy Darrin for an afternoon on his chilly home waters, for his photo of an old man chasing trout, and for the conversations that inspired this bit of verse.
I have one or two S.J.'s. I have them under glass and labeled "use only in desperation". Nice piece Mike.
ReplyDeleteI knew it, Joel! You don't tie (and paint) a fly a day for a year without a couple of quickie SJs tossed in for convenience. :-)
ReplyDelete"Tattered felt in liquid breeze" - very nice, very nice. You may have had to resort to the jaun, but turnover is a tough time no matter where you fish.
ReplyDeleteI ain't proud, Austin. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do... just short of dynamite. Good hearing from you!
ReplyDeleteMike, from one ol' Fly Fisherman, to another, "Been There and Done That". Inexplicably, most fly fishers I know have some San Juan Worms buried somewhere in there plan!
ReplyDeleteWhy do we flinch at using SJ worms that imitate an actual trout food, but brag about the rookie that we fooled with a royal coachman that imitated...ummmm....nothing? Nice work here Mike.
ReplyDeleteAlways a plan, Mel. Always.
ReplyDeleteNow that is an excellent question, Jule. We fly fisherpersons are an odd lot, to be sure. I suspect the answer lies in the fact that SJs work so bloody well and we, for whatever reason, have chosen the hard way. Let's face it. If fishing efficacy was our goal, we wouldn't be wavin' fly rods.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, Royal Coachman is so much more elegant than worm, don't you think?
Nicely done Mike. I'm not too proud to say that I keep a carton of earthworms in the frig. Or I did until my wife tried to serve them to me for dinner. Now I stick with the SJ worms.
ReplyDeleteYum, Howard. Mealworms, here. You've seen all the bluebird pics...
ReplyDelete