I guess winter is setting in. It’s cold, windy and rainy here in North Alabama. For all intents and purposes, fishing season is over. Sure, there’s no closed fishing season here, and you can still fish if you want to, but as John Gierach says, “You don’t have to.” Even if you did fish in this kind of weather, you probably wouldn’t catch much unless you’re into watching a bobber with a minnow under it or crawling bass lures over deep ledges. A few trips to Tennessee tailwaters are planned over the winter, but there isn’t much urgency right now. At least not until after the Bama-Florida game this coming weekend.

It’s hitting me hard this time, the whole winter and not fishing thing. I fished less this year than any other year in my life, well, at least the years that count. And it’s eating at me. I’m already restless before December. Destination guides are piling up beside the bed and toilet. By the end of February things could be downright desperate. In the meantime, I’ve apparently decided to amuse myself with photos of leaves. You’ll find a couple from the weekend below.

In other news, Reed Curry’s book on Trout, UV Vision and fly tying is finally out! He sent me a copy to review, and I’ll post my thoughts as soon as I can plow through it. In the meantime you shouldn’t wait on my review to buy the book. Reed’s as fine a writer as you’ll come across, and you can bet his book is entertaining, quirky, informative and highly useful. Check it out on his site!

I think all these leaves are from a pear tree.

I arranged them a couple ways, aiming for something sort of random but not quite.

Take care,
Nathan