Revisiting

My friend Todd and I recently took advantage of a break in our work schedules and fished together for the first time in a long time. It's always a treat getting stream-side during the week since most of my trout fishing is regulated to the crowded weekends. The plan was to revisit a stretch of river that we had fished a few February's ago. It was great to be back on this portion of river again in mid May when there was much more life apparent in the water and woods around us. We dropped one vehicle upstream and drove down river a mile so with the other and waded our way back.

It was a gorgeous spring day weather wise and the fishing was pretty damn good too. We found more than enough freshly stocked trout to keep us busy at each stop along our route and there were a few higher quality trout mixed in. The highlight of our day was an awesome brown trout that fought like mad and was the most beautiful fish I had seen in some time. If I had to guess, I'd say that one was born in the river. It was a hell of a way to cap off a fine day on the water. We'll have to revisit this stretch more often. 

Short & Sweet

There was a strange white substance covering the ground as I walked down to the riverbank.  It was the last day of March and a dusting of snow had fallen to remind everyone that this was indeed still New England.  The inclement weather left the Farmington River void of anglers and the pool I was thinking about during the hour drive up had yet to be fished that morning. 

With only a short window to fish due to family obligations, I was happy to find the trout didn't mind a little foul weather.  Aaron and Derrick joined me and we put together a great sampling of Farmington fish using very light nymphing techniques in scary low flows.  Despite recent stockings, we didn't find any fish fresh out of the hatchery.  It was quite the opposite actually; we netted some high quality trout, a few of which were mostly likely born in the river. 

The highlight of the outing was a double hook-up with a brace of wild fish.  Derrick connected with a female downstream and I stuck the golden male above him, which immediately went airborne on the hook set.  Aaron sealed the deal with a great net job and camera work.  Derrick and Aaron landed another impressive pair of browns after I left too.  It was certainly a short and sweet trip with good friends and cooperative fish.  I am already looking for my next chance up there and will keep doing my rain dance in the meantime.

A Fine Day

My buddy Aaron and I logged some hours on the river today in preparation for our annual Opening Day camping trip later this week. The water flow has come down quite a bit from the last time I fished here, but it wasn't low by any means. The surface temperature was steadily rising, with a high of 49 at lunch time.  A healthy amount of blue wing olives were popping off in the afternoon, but not many trout are looking up yet. The river was extremely crowded and high winds made getting quality drifts difficult at times. Other than an unpleasant encounter with a fellow angler with poor stream-etiquette, it was a great outing. We did quite a bit of seining and fly changing today before eventually settling into a nice groove. A few different subsurface presentations worked well, with yarn indicator and European nymphing being the most productive.  Woven golden stone patterns and STDs both fooled large, quality brown trout. It felt great connecting with some nice fish on my own flies.  It's the best way to build confidence in patterns. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for our upcoming trip.  For now, it's back to the vise.

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

 

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

A Wild Saturday

My good buddy Aaron and I visited an old haunt of ours on Saturday in search of wild brown and native brook trout. The small stream was still on the high side after the major rain event that hit the region earlier in the week. The water was still gin-clear, however, and very fishable. The warm sun spiked the water temperature to a high of 54 degrees and a seine net sample revealed a variety of menu options, with an abundance of cased caddis.

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

 

We spent much of the day nymphing with weighted flies; a method we haven't spent too much time using here--and for many stretches, it proved very effective. At times the tight quarters made wielding long rods difficutlt, but the extra reach helped maintain our stealthy approach.



Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

A few fish came unbuttoned early, but we eventually settled into a groove and landed a fair amount of trout. A few stockers migrated into this Wild Trout Management Area with the heavy flows, but the majority were stream-born and flawless.



Photo credit:  Aaron Swanson



The extremely mild weather was a welcomed treat, and it felt good to be back on a stream that we spent many a day on during college. It felt even better to have her cough up some gems. Until next time, tight lines... 

Woven Nymphs

A fly fishing technique known as European nymphing, or Euro nymphing, is quickly catching on in American angling circles. There are many variations, but the basic concept of Euro nymphing is the use of weighted flies instead of adding lead split to your tippet. Tying flies with tungsten bead heads or lead underbodies will help get your flies into the strike zone quicker, as well as allow the angler better contact with his or her rig during the drift. Below is an example of a simple pattern, woven with green embroidery floss, that is easy on the wallet and extremely effective on trout. 

Looking Back

As another year winds down, I thought it timely to revisit some memorable catches of the last 365 days. Highlights included checking off new species from my bucket list and gaining experience with new-to-me angling techniques. There were many firsts for me in 2009, including first walleye through the ice, first carp on the fly, first false albacore, and first sight-fished striped bass. I also had my first success while European nymphing, as well as good results while surf fishing in a wet suit. I am very fortunate to have seen and learned the things that I have this year. Here's to a great 2010!

Photo credit: Derrick Lambert

Photo credit: Aaron Swanson

Photo credit: Derrick Kirkpatrick

Photo credit: Derrick Kirkpatrick

Photo credit: Derrick Kirkpatrick

Photo credit: Dennis Yonan