Beach Day

This should have been a post about my third or fourth ice fishing trip of the season so far, but apparently Old Man Winter has been vacationing in Florida.  So like many anglers across the region, I am making the best of the spring-like weather.  With no fishable ice to speak of in the entire state of Connecticut, a gorgeous January day along the banks of the West Branch Farmington River was not a bad plan B. 

A few friends and I met bright and early at UpCountry Sportfishing in New Hartford, picked up a few supplies and hit the river, which was at a very manageable level; it's lowest flow in several weeks.  There were trout surface-feeding on winter caddis as we suited up, yet we were set on dredging the bottom with various forms of nymphing.  It was slow going at first, but each of us eventually settled into brief grooves and pieced together a decent batch of rainbow and brown trout.  If there was a magic fly that fish were keyed into, we couldn't figure it out.  However, a variety of patterns produced, including golden stone flies, pheasant tails, and winter caddis and midge larvae. 

Any January outing when winter hats and gloves come off by 10 AM, no hand-warmers are needed, or no ice in forming in guides should be considered a beach day.  With the stellar weather, the river was loaded with like-minded anglers as expected.  The crowds turned out to be a positive thing, forcing us to fish some water we usually overlook.  The highlight of my day was plucking a holdover rainbow trout on my first drift from a pool I had never fished before.  We capped off the beautiful day on the tailgate of a friend's truck sipping microbrews and talking fishing. 

Unfortunately, the long-term weather forecast doesn't look all that encouraging for anxious ice anglers in the Northeast, but at least we have some great backup options like the Farmington River to keep us at bay while we wait.

Photo credit: Tommy Baranowski

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson