Yours truly and FAOL member-slash-All-Star pspaint braved the elements on Christmas Eve morning (how oxymoronic does THAT sound?) to bag a few creek chubs on a small Lake Ontario tributary. Rain from the previous day had put some color into the water, brought it up considerably from its previous status as low-n-clear, and turned it into a veritable jacuzzi of a balmy 44 degrees F. Confident that the prior day's winds were a distant memory, we ventured out armed to the hilt and prepared for whatever curveballs those wily chubs could throw our way. Flying in the face of decades of established chubbery, and after much painful deliberation, we were determined to subdue our quarry with nothing but fly gear.

Hours of dogged line whipping proved fruitless, despite over two dozen rod-bending bouts with an army of pesky brown trout. Due to the absolute lack of creek chub action, I am forced to (in utter embarrassment) present the following pictures of some of our B-grade conquests. My most sincere apologies.

First of the day:


Phil starts out strong:


These dang browns won't stop harrassing my chub flies


Phil is apparently having the same problem...


Though Phil initially thought he'd hooked a monster Salmon River-sized chub, he was met with disappointment yet again:


Misfortune strikes again!


Lady luck must have had a good laugh with this one:


Next time, we'll just be resigned to catching trout like this steelhead. They put up a decent fight, even if they aren't chubs...


And here's one from the previous day for Kerry Stratton. See, even a toughguy breaks down and smiles every now and again!


Wishing you all safe, happy, and relaxing holidays!!! May your pursuit of creek chubs and suckers be every bit as unsuccessful as ours!

Marty