A Good Friday

Off the Grid

The days surrounding the traditional opener of Connecticut's trout season are sacrosanct.  Like Christmas morning when I was younger, the anticipation for the third Saturday in April builds weeks in advance.  For four days and three nights, our crew will be off the grid in the woods of northwestern Connecticut and camp life takes over. 

By rough estimation, it's been about 18 years since my uncle introduced me to this tradition.  We've camped through just about every type of weather over that stretch, but not many years have we seen these kinds of temperatures.  The nighttime lows this year resemble what we usually have for daytime highs.  Our waterways are extremely low for April and the Farmington River where we stay is no exception.  The soaking rains coming towards the end of our trip are much needed; I'm just glad I picked up the fresh 200 hundred clams and oysters from Long Island Sound before they came.

Face Time

Appearing in this week's New England edition of The Fisherman magazine is an article that I wrote about my favorite trout haunt, Connecticut's Farmington River.  On January 1, 2012, a new set of regulations took place that create over 20-miles of year-round trout fishing opportunities along this blue-ribbon stream.  The article explains these new regulations in detail, as well as gives a few good reasons why you are missing out if you have not yet experienced the Farmington first hand.  The fine folks at The Fisherman even put my ugly mug and a beautiful brown trout on the cover.  The issue starts hitting mailboxes and newsstands today.

Micro Managing

It seems that spring fever has spared no one lately. That became more apparent as I entered a fly shop adjacent to freshly stocked trout stream on Sunday morning. The high volume of anglers with the same idea as me on a bluebird day came as no surprise. Who wouldn't want to be outside in late winter when the thermometer would peak over 70 degrees? I for one was like a kid in a candy store, especially after spending the three previous weekend days cooped up indoors painting. 

The fishing on Connecticut's Farmington River has been as good as can be expected for March. A recent stocking means there are plenty of fresh trout to weed through and the mild winter was a gift to the resident holdover and wild fish. Along with the many brown trout that hold over from year to year, there seems to be a larger than normal number of rainbow trout that fared well. What is also different about this season so far is the river's flow--it is wicked low for this time of year, which is comfortable for getting around but it could spell trout if we don't get significant rainfall in the near future.

My friend Derrick did well on the Farmington just the day before, so we had a pretty good idea of where we wanted to be and wanted we wanted to do. Half expecting to see a deli line of anglers in the chosen run upon arrival, we were excited to find a lone streamer fisherman on the move.  The bug life was strong from the start.  There were winter caddis, stone flies and tiny midge coming off the water.  The goal was to imitate the larval forms of these insects in hopes of fooling trout gorging on them under the surface.  We rigged up light leaders under small yarn indicators and added little split shots and weighted flies to get down to the strike zone.  Below our first fly we experimented with a range of midge, stonefly and mayfly patterns until we found what was working.

After the first half hour of ignored drifts and fly changes, Derrick put us on the board using a minuscule yellow midge pattern.  To find out what else this holdover brown trout was eating, we gently sampled its gullet with a tool that resembles a small turkey baster.  Derrick squeezed the contents into the palm of his hand and we stared at a dozen freshly eaten nymphs that were size #18 and smaller.  It was obvious that trout were feeding right at our feet and it was time to go tiny.  We both tied on micro stonefly and midge imitations and stepped up into the head of the pool where many fine trout have won and lost battles to us in the past. 

Photo credit: Derrick Kirkpatrick

Over the next two hours, we connected with several quality trout that were stacked up and feeding along a current seam of fast and slow water. We tossed our rigs upstream and drifted them right along the seam, setting the hook on the slightest hesitation of our strike indicators.  It's amazing to think how these fish could pinpoint our tiny offerings tumbling through the hydraulics of this run, but they didn't seem to have much trouble.  Derrick and I weeded out a few smaller holdover browns that fought extremely hard from the well-oxygenated water.  The next trout my partner hooked was in a whole different class, however.  The lengthy fight that ensued left both angler and net man shaking with nerves.  She bounced from the head of the pool and dropped downstream; she bulldogged down deep then flailed on the surface; she came in close then screamed back out again.  Finally, right before she slid into the net, the only word that came to mind was wild.  Along with the Tyson-esque fight, the fish was in pristine condition; no marks, no clips, perfect fins, and amazing coloration.  It was a perfect example of what the Farmington River has to offer.  This female brown trout measured exactly twenty inches long and, as we would later find out, was getting up in her years.  The day was already made, but not yet complete. 

After collecting ourselves, I got back into the head of the pool. That wasn't the only horse up there because I tangled with another hell of a trout just a few drifts later. At first it acted as if it didn't really know or care that it was hooked; just pacing around in a patch of slow water. There was a lane of very quick water I had to lead it through to get to the safe zone where we were standing. I took a few steps backward and the fish bolted from the head, cleared the dangerous fast water and was almost within reach before that dreadful feeling of slack line ran through my body. That is just part of the game when planting micro hooks into large maws. There was no question if it was a big brown trout, but just how big nagged at me for a short long time.

After shaking off the lost fish, I climbed back in the driver's seat, though it seemed our short-lived window of success was closing.  There were surely other trout feeding in this section, but our drifts were neglected the rest of our time there.  It was a memorable morning and we both felt a sense of accomplishment akin to solving a puzzle.  Most of the popular pools in the upper Farmington River have top notch trout holding in them, but it's not every outing that you can dial in on exactly what they want and how they want it.  The rest of the day's action was rather anticlimactic, but no one was complaining.  The weather was phenomenal for mid-March.  The thermometer in my Jeep read 79 degrees as we cruised downstream to have lunch and a beer along a favorite stretch of river.  

A toast to an old friend after a good day on the water (photo credit: Tommy Baranowski)

Back at work on Monday morning, after emailing the photos from the trip to Derrick and our friend Aaron who couldn't join us, we learned that it wasn't the first time our crew landed that magnificent stream-born female trout.  Aaron's detective work after scrolling through archives of old photos revealed that I had caught her in April of 2009 and Aaron after that in November of the same year; all three times in the same pool!  In the three years since, she had only grown about a half of an inch in length and hadn't moved much, but it most definitely survived numerous encounters with sharp hooks, probably winning more than a few of those battles.  This fish was 19.5-inches when I caught her three years ago, quite possibly when it was at least three years old.  I think it's pretty cool that the Farmington River is producing trout that are five and six years old and perhaps older.  Check out the unmistakable line of dots behind the trout's right eye in the photos above and below.  Hopefully we'll see her again soon. 

Aaron with the same trout in November of 2009

Shaking The Rust Off

With our annual Opening Day camping trip fast approaching, today was a prep and scouting mission of sorts. It had been a while since I fly fished for trout with any consistency (months of surfcasting then ice fishing will do that), so it was about time to shake any rust off. The trip was a wild success from the standpoint that my buddy Aaron and I weren't at work and we were catching fish. We plucked several fresh stockers and a few better trout using a couple different nymph presentations. 

Another good sign was all the trout food around with midge coming off in the morning, stoneflies and caddis throughout the day, and a bounty of hendrickson nymphs found in seine net sample. Water temps are on the rise and the flows are currently at a good level. The river was very crowded, but that's to be expected on a Friday. It will be nice to get a bit of breathing room when we can wander the rest of river next weekend.

 

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

Heron attack survivor?

Hendrickson nymphs galore

Aaron's beauty taken in fast water

Making A Great Place Better

It's no secret that the West Branch of the Farmington River is among the very top trout fishing destinations in the Northeast.  The quantity of quality fish living within its banks is unmatched in southern New England. The ever increasing number of Connecticut and out-of-state anglers lining its pools is a testament to that. There are many reasons why this river, particularly the upper portion, consistently produces high-caliber trout.  One of them is because of its year-round catch and release Trout Management Areas (TMA).

Established in 1988, the upper TMA encompasses a magnificent 3.6-mile stretch of river from the Route 219 Bridge in New Hartford to the power lines that run through People's State Forest in Pleasant Valley. With sufficient food, great habitat, cold, clean water, and fish-friendly regulations, there is a strong population of holdover trout, and an increasingly impressive number of wild fish as well.  For several years, there has been a growing movement to expand the TMA to improve and protect this amazing fishery even more. A proposed expansion in the works would increase the upper TMA upstream to the old bridge abutments in the tail of Whittemore Pool.  This would be a big win for trout by providing more catch and release sanctuary and for anglers by providing more room to breathe year-round. 

In addition, the proposed expansion would make the rest of the river from the Goodwin Dam all the way down to the Route 177 bridge a seasonal TMA.  This would mean that from September 1 until Opening Day, the entire 21-mile stretch of river from the Dam to Unionville would be a strictly catch and release area.  And from Opening Day until September 1, there would be a 2 fish, 12-inch limit in areas outside of the TMA.  However, in an attempt to make regulations more consistent throughout the entire stretch of river, the mandatory barbless hook regulation would be taken out if these changes go through in their current form. No doubt that by increasing the river's catch and release areas the trout fishing on the Farmington River would benefit immensely, yet reinstating barbed hooks into the TMA is looked at by many to be a step in the wrong direction.   

A public hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 16 at 6:30 PM, at the DEP HQ in Hartford. This is the last chance to voice your opinion on the matter in person.  Based on public comment, the proposed regulations may be adjusted.  For supporters of expanding the TMA that cannot make it to Hartford, the Farmington River Anglers Association (FRAA) has drafted a letter (below), which you can tweak to make your own.  Written comments should be submitted no later than 4:30 PM on March 30 to Bill Foreman (see address/fax/email below).

Bill Foreman
CT DEP Inland Fisheries Division
79 Elm Street
Hartford, CT 06106-5127
Fax: (860) 424-4070
william.foreman@ct.gov

Dear Mr. Foreman:

I am writing this letter to show my support for the proposed changes in the Farmington River Trout Management Area. The expansion of the Trout Management Area to the bridge abutments at the tail out of the Whittemore pool, and the changes to the other areas of the river down to the Route 177 Bridge in Unionville are well thought out, and long over due.

However, there is one change in the proposed regulations which I DO NOT support. All three sections of the new proposals relating to the Farmington River require that the fish be released “without avoidable injury”. And yet the regulations requiring the use of barbless hooks has been eliminated from the proposal. Barbless hooks allow for reduced handling and a faster release of the fish, thus reducing unwanted injury. To eliminate this requirement makes no sense. Barbless hooks in the Trout Management Area have been required since its inception, and to remove this provision at this time would be counter productive to releasing the fish without avoidable injury. Please consider reinstating the barbless hook requirement in the TMA, and if you wish to standardize the regulations, make barbless hooks required for the entire section of the river in the proposal. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,     


[Insert your name here]

Dry-Dropper Success

I took a mental health day Friday and visited the Farmington River. The smell of skunk still lingered from my recent forays in saltwater, so I put the pressure on  myself to land some fish. I struggled a bit in the morning and couldn't move any trout while nymphing. Caddis flies were becoming more active after lunch, so I changed locations and methods then settled into a nice groove.

There were a handful of trout taking caddis on top, yet I had a sneaking suspicion they were gorging on them while emerging to the surface. So I tied on an elk hair X-caddis as my dry fly and dropped a small weighted caddis pupa about 18-inches off the hook shank. This rig was the ticket putting six trout in my net in under an hour. It was the most success I've had to date fishing the dry/dropper method. What I enjoyed most were the hook sets--even the slightest unnatural twitch of my dry fly meant a trout was eating the dropper underneath. And every time I set tight, the hook was perfectly placed in the center of the trout's top lip. What the best of the bunch lacked in size, she made up in quality--a very clean looking brown trout sporting a full adipose fin. It was a peaceful and productive few hours and the confidence gained in the dry/dropper method will prove valuable in similar situations in the future.