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 12, 2026

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

Dear Diary, today was a whirlwind of drama and excitement, with the roof roaring above me as the waterfall crashed down. I held the seam a record-breaking number of times, fending off countless foes and interlopers, including that pesky Finnegan, who thinks he can just waltz in and steal my spot. A Sky-voice even spoke to me, its booming words echoing off the rocks, warning me of impending doom and telling me to stay vigilant. Meanwhile, I was snatching grub from the current with lightning speed, my reflexes honed to perfection as I dodged and weaved under the ledge, sipping on the rich chocolate milk of the stream's depths. The rock company kept me company, as always, but even they were abuzz with the news of the day's many visitors, including the mysterious Marble and Speckles, who made brief appearances before disappearing into the depths. Despite the chaos, I remained the undisputed king of this seam, ruling over my domain with an iron fin.P.S. Why did the trout turn down the free worm? It smelled a hook in the deal.

The camera's version: The camera watched for 11 hours. First fish at 6:46 AM, last at 5:32 PM. 269 fish-minutes in all, busiest around 11 AM. Up to 6 fish in view at once. 548 feeding moves, 114 with food drifting in. A fish held the seam 165 times. The water went muddy for a while. Something spooked the fish 30 times (a shadow overhead). Visitors: Finnegan (3 sightings), Marble (1 sighting), Pebble (1 sighting), Speckles (1 sighting), plus 451 unidentified. 2 Sky-voice messages came in.

The river's fact-check:

The waterfall ran at its usual pace.

Best moment of the day on the trout cam

269 fish-minutes, busiest around 11 AM, 548 feeding moves, most fish at once: 6, first fish 6:46 AM, last 5:32 PM.

Sky-voice of the day (a nameless Sky-voice, self-reported): "clue about going deep in winter)."

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