A Jumping Red Fox on New Year’s Day

The weather forecast had predicted a snowy, below-freezing day for New Year’s. But walking out to get the morning paper I could tell it was going to be a nice day, mostly cloudy but warmer than it had been for weeks. The kind of day I look for during the winter months for a quick fly fishing outing. I quickly called Jon and we agreed to meet at noon. I finished the chores I had planned for the day, made some sandwiches, loaded the truck and we were on our way.

Turning off the main road onto the dirt road that lead to the fisherman access points, Jon pointed out a red fox out in the field. Sure enough, a beautiful red fox was jumping in the snow chasing a mouse or something. It seemed to be enjoying the gorgeous weather for it was jumping way to high and playfully to be merely looking for a quick meal. It reminded me of the nature channel shows where the foxes are jumping high in the air and landing with their front paws digging deep into the snow. In the future I need to keep the camera with me in the front of the truck for times like this. It was in the back zipped inside one of the hundreds of pockets of my fishing vest.

Sometimes beautiful weather can be deceiving, especially on a full moon. Although it was nice to be on the river on such a gorgeous day, the fish seemed to have lock-jaw. While expecting to catch a ton of white fish, we didn’t catch a single one. I don’t remember any days last winter when I didn’t catch at least a few. We did catch a nice brown trout though, which is what we really wanted to catch. The trout was at the bottom of a deeper portion of the river right next to the middle faster water. It jumped four times after being hooked and certainly seemed energetic considering the cold, 38 degree water. Jon did an expert job netting the fish head first. The brown had taken a small scud pattern. It was sure nice starting the year off right by being on the river.