I got a bunch of flies tied this holiday weekend, only I’m not entirely sure what it is I tied … perhaps I was rebelling against the sorely needed monsoon we experienced – with the out-of-doors gray, leaden, and dripping water.

Up to 7 feet of snow had fallen in the Sierra Nevada over the past week, and more was expected by early Tuesday.

… and that’s the good news, as it was the first major storm of the year, closing interstates and even prompting the Trout Underground to abandon the snow blower in favor of me delivering his groceries.

“Could be stunning Blue Wing Olive weather, you should come up – and while you’re at it, bring the following dry goods and victuals…”

I knew better, I’d fallen for the “..when you get to the driveway send up a green star-cluster, we’ll send Wally down with Rum and a toboggan.”

Even the Little Stinking is showing the effects of a sustained downpour, with gauge at Rumsey registering an additional 6″ of water, and a doubling of the stream flow.

I got into the swing of things thinking there might be some runoff this year, so I continued piling on extra lead and beads until I’d worked through the Purple stonefly-type things, and was well into a couple dozen Rainbow oddball-not-sure-what-this-is flies.

By the time the big hooks came out I wasn’t quite sure what I was making other than a big splash when it hit, and a concussive wave following.

I’m gearing up in earnest, figuring all the fishing will be early this year. The storm may have added to the snowpack but it’s still quite away’s from normal – perhaps another couple of weeks of steady downpour and I’ll think about some dry flies, as it is now – it’s snow melt followed by should’ve been here last week.