The Trout Diary

Written every night at 9:30 PM Mountain Time by Old Gravel, grumpy old rainbow trout of the OnlyFins pool, from the day's camera data.

Thursday, November 5, 2026

Old Gravel's version (a fish story, exaggerated on purpose):

Dear Diary, today was a whirlwind of excitement and near-misses. I held the seam for what felt like an eternity, expertly dodging the constant drift of tantalizing morsels and suspicious shadows that sent the whole school scattering. I recall one particularly harrowing moment when a monster of a fish - easily three times my size - tried to muscle in on my rock company, but I stood my ground, fins bristling with indignation. The roof is roaring, as it often does, but I'm a seasoned pro, and I know just when to dart under the ledge for a quick chocolate milk break. A Sky-voice even deigned to speak to me today, its booming voice echoing off the water, and I heard rumors of a legendary fish feast happening upflow, a secret underwater cave hidden behind a nearby waterfall, and a plot by those pesky otters to steal our grub - I'll be keeping a fin out for those scoundrels, you can be sure.P.S. What do you call a trout with no eyes? A trt.

The camera's version: The camera watched for 11.3 hours. First fish at 6:41 AM, last at 5:43 PM. 333 fish-minutes in all, busiest around 9 AM. Up to 6 fish in view at once. 483 feeding moves, 61 with food drifting in. A fish held the seam 163 times. The water stayed clear. Something spooked the fish 5 times (a shadow overhead). Visitors: Finnegan (55 sightings), Pebble (19 sightings), Speckles (1 sighting), plus 213 unidentified. 8 Sky-voice messages came in.

The river's fact-check:

The water stayed clear. The chocolate milk was imaginary.
The waterfall ran at its usual pace.

Best moment of the day on the trout cam

333 fish-minutes, busiest around 9 AM, 483 feeding moves, most fish at once: 6, first fish 6:41 AM, last 5:43 PM.

Sky-voice of the day (YourName, self-reported): "is rain coming this week?"

Rumors from the riverbank

YourName: "no, it looks dry" (confirmed by the river)
YourName: "yes, rain or snow is coming" (tall tale)
YourName: "the leech" (unverified)

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Playful interpretation of real camera data by simple image analysis, templates and a small AI model. Fun, not wildlife science.