Fish When You Can

It has long been said that the best time to fish is when you can. Those words have never had more meaning to me than they do now. While the past few months have been the best of our lives with the new addition to our growing family, they have also been the busiest. That said, dad still "needs" to sneak out on the water once in a while to get his fix. With an understanding wife and a newborn that is getting better at this sleeping thing, I have been fortunate to find some time to wet a line here and there. I have always appreciated getting outside and doing what I love, but I think that level of appreciation is at all-time high now by not being able to do it anytime I want. Moral of the story, soak in every second with your loved ones, but don't forget to enjoy your "me" time too. 

Transition Trout

In late fall every year there is a few-week span between putting my saltwater gear away and drilling holes through the ice. One of my favorite ways to fill this void is by casting for trout and walleye along the Saugatuck Reservoir in southwestern Connecticut. This is the first year in many that I dropped the ball and didn't get my seasonal reservoir pass. Instead I have been keeping busy fly fishing on the Farmington River. Aaron and I spent a good part of our Saturday there nymphing and throwing streamers. It wasn't lock and load, yet we manged to put a handful trout in the net using small nymph patterns. A few of the brown trout had all the signs of stream-born specimen, which is always nice to see. I am enjoying my time on the river, but it won't be long before Old Man Winter has a firm grip on New England and ice season starts in earnest. 






Low Water Scouting

Governor Rell issued a drought advisory for the State of Connecticut last week. Many watercourses are at dangerously low levels and cold-water fish have been feeling the heat, literally. There are even reports about a 90% trout die-off in the Housatonic River. The recent soaking and cold front is a step in the right direction, but the region needs more where that came from.

At least one befefit to these conditions is being able to scout fish habitat that is usually underwater. Three of us took advantage of the situation and surveyed a local freshwater oasis that we frequent in autumn for trophy trout and walleye. Instead of fishing we combed the water's edge, which had dropped to where a good cast would have reached under normal conditions. The water level was at least 13 feet below normal, exposing countless crags where many a lure met its match. It was already well picked over when we arrived, but we still scraped together a decent sample of artifcial lures, as well as plenty of lead.

Some low-water finds (note the 'no-snagg' weight)

The most notable find, though, came in the form of a massive dead trout that washed ashore.  It was a seeforellen brown trout, a strain initially imported from Germany, which thrives in deep, cold lakes like this one.  Seeforellens can live to be 15 years old and have been captured in Western Europe up to 68 pounds.  Sadly, this specimen looked to be well its way to breaking the Connecticut brown trout record of 16 pounds 14 ounces.  We estimated the fish to be well over 12, probably in the neighborhood of 14 pounds.  It's not hard to connect the death to the drought conditions, but there is plenty of refuge in the depths here.  This beast had to be on in years, so death by natural causes can’t be ruled out either.

The smell was too bad to get a photo that did this trout justice

The low water also revealed the rocky makeup that makes it so welcoming to structure-oriented walleye.  Under the high-water line were erratic boulders, stone walls and old foundations.  Bait is in no short supply either.  The walleye and seeforellen, among other fish, thrive on its abundant population of illegally-introduced alewives.  Even so, the fishing is known to be notoriously stingy.  But knowing the size of the fish and how challenging it is to catch them keeps me going back.  Nevertheless, scouting missions like this always divulge new information and can improve angling success in the long run. 

The water's edge is normally above where my father (top) is standing

An old stone foundation within casting distance from shore

A Morning At The Res

The water was like glass for the first few hours of daylight today. Seeforellen brown trout were pushing small schools of land-locked alewives to the surface and birds were working over them. Most of the action was on the eastern side of the Reservoir. Per water company regulations, we were stuck on the western shore admiring the unfolding events. Not even a bite today, but that is nothing new for fishermen here. If we only came for the catching, we would have stopped coming many years ago. This man-made oasis, in heavily developed south western Connecticut, is a place like no other. The raw beauty here is also accompanied by the small chance of landing a trophy trout or walleye. My fishing partner this morning joked about how, like the almighty steelhead, fish in the Saugatuck Resrvoir are fish of a thousand casts. It sure does seem that way, but it makes the ones you bring to the net all that more rewarding.

First Light

Saugatuck Reservoir, Weston, Conn. -- November 2009