The prior day’s temperature had exceeded 50 — balmy for January. Sunday’s forecast called for high 40’s. With the warm water, clear skies, and snow on the way, we headed south to catch what might be, we thought, one of the last opportunities for reasonably warm winter trout fly fishing in New England.

We headed to the Farmington — and we weren’t the only ones with the idea. Lots of guys were out, lining up in popular spots above the Church Pool. We roamed around and eventually settled in downriver, where there were less people.

I gave my friend Jared a lesson in Spey casting but, distracted by rising trout, we put down the big stick and grabbed our trout rods. We tried everything: from tiny (size 24+) dries to big ugly streamers. We didn’t land a single fish, sadly, but we had a great day out.

Spring seems a long ways away, but the days are getting longer. Hang in there — it’ll be here soon.