Bighorn River, February 4, 2007. Air temp 17 degrees, Water 40 degrees, 1,500 cfs. Arrived at Bighorn Access about 9am. There was a good six inches of fresh snow in the lot. Winds were calm while the temps were down, then came up pretty good once the air temp rose to about 30. Had the river to myself the entire morning. Started with a scud and red midge pattern, and landed a fish on each right off the bat, then nothing. After 20 minutes, I changed to a SJW and a pink soft hackle. Got a fish on each right away, then nothing. This kept up most of the morning until I'd tried just about everything in my tailwaters box. The only pattern that caught more than one fish was a Downey Nymph. Did try a few new streamer patterns without success. Also tried something different with weight. Instead of the usual split shot, I threaded on a large tungsten bead and a small red glass bead (to act as a stop against the tippet knot). This allowed the leader to be pulled through the weight (sort of bass Carolina/Texas rig style). I was hoping to see the strike indicator be a little more sensitive, but if there was much of a difference, I couldn't tell. I'll keep experimenting.
I am getting tired of winter fishing at least to the point where I have to fish with gloves. I had paused to untangle a knot, and being near-sighted, I reached up to remove my sunglassed while I was holding my dropper rig. Somehow I managed to snag the top fly in my sweatshirt hood, and while then lowering my hand, snagged the dropper in my glove. One of those moments where you're glad you're fishing alone.
Fortunately, by 1pm, the weather had warmed up sufficiently I could remove the gloves and the guides weren't freezing. The fish showed a short burst of feeding for about 15 minutes, and by 2:30pm, things pretty much shut off. Made it home in time for the kickoff.