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.

Monday, November 9, 2026

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

Dear Diary, today was a whirlwind of excitement and drama, as usual. I held the seam a record number of times, fending off those pesky intruders who dared to challenge my dominance. The roof was calm, but I could sense the upflow of future thrills and spills, and I was ready to take on whatever the day threw my way. At one point, a Sky-voice boomed down, saying something about "fin-tastic creatures" and "water wonders" - I'm pretty sure they were talking about me, the greatest trout to ever swim these waters. I had to make a few lightning-fast escapes from those shadowy monsters that kept looming overhead, but I always managed to find my way back to the safety of under the ledge, where I could sip on some delicious chocolate milk-colored currents and survey my kingdom. All in all, it was just another day of being the undisputed king of this stream, with my rock company and trusty seam to keep me company.P.S. Why did the cutthroat get kicked out of poker night? Too cutthroat.

The camera's version: The camera watched for 11.1 hours. First fish at 6:43 AM, last at 5:36 PM. 266 fish-minutes in all, busiest around 10 AM. Up to 6 fish in view at once. 467 feeding moves, 78 with food drifting in. A fish held the seam 184 times. The water went muddy for a while. Something spooked the fish 14 times (a shadow overhead). Visitors: Finnegan (42 sightings), Ripple (4 sightings), Pebble (1 sighting), plus 354 unidentified. 6 Sky-voice messages came in.

Best moment of the day on the trout cam

266 fish-minutes, busiest around 10 AM, 467 feeding moves, most fish at once: 6, first fish 6:43 AM, last 5:36 PM.

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

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