Monthly Archives: December 2015

CT hatcheries funding update

The Governor’s obtuse, short-sighted recommendation that funding for Connecticut’s hatcheries be eliminated met with a stalemate. A special session of the legislature has been called for Tuesday, December 8. If you have not done so already, please contact the Governor’s office and your representative to voice your opinion. A link with more information from the CT River Salmon Association and ways to contact the Governor and legislators can be found here.

Also, here is a pdf from the Fisheries Advisory Council with supporting information: CostofCuttingHatcheries1.

Make your voice heard!

No hatcheries, no Farmington River Survivor Strain.

Big Survivor Strain brown hen

Farmington River Report: Let’s get out the tape measure

I figured this would be a good day for streamers. Yesterday’s rain would elevate the flows (just over 400cfs in the permanent TMA) and maybe give the water a little color. Then there was the wind, supposed to be gusting to 30mph. Throw in temperatures nearing 50, and  yup, we’re going to spend the day targeting big browns on the feed.

But since I’m an iconoclast, I started off by nymphing. I had a few experiments I wanted to conduct with egg flies. (You may remember I spoke with a centerpinner Monday who caught over a dozen on eggs.) I wasn’t sure if he was using real eggs, flies, or beads. Since I was going for the eggy mass visual, I tied up a couple horrible flies last night that were basically Nuclear Eggs with a trailing 8mm trout bead. To convince myself that the pattern qualified as a fly, I put a soft hackle on one. I stuck two fish, but since I landed neither, I couldn’t tell if they took the eggs or the nymph dropper. (Dammit. I really wanted to know.) I’m going to continue research with some smaller hooks and beads at a later date.

A pretty brown that swiped the Deep Threat, missed, then came back for more.

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I dedicated an hour to the nymphing cause, then re-rigged for streamers (full-sink integrated tip and a size 6 Deep Threat in grey/olive). Nothing, nothing, nothing. Then I moved downriver about 50 yards to fish a long, slow, deep stretch of water I was sure held fish.

Second cast, mend, slow strips, THUD. I love big browns. They just never miss. It feels like you’ve hooked a submerged log, but the log is shaking its head at you. I could tell it was a good fish. And it was. Just over 18″, and very disagreeable about being forced from the comfort of its lie.

Ever notice that no one ever catches  a 17″ trout on the Farmington? Somehow, the fish grow to 15″, then suddenly shoot up to that magic   universally-accepted-as-impressive number. However, I can confidently tell you this brown was duly and accurately tape measured at just over 18″.

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I fished four pools today and found players in two of them. All I ask from the river in winter is one trout. That makes today my Christmas bonus.

December Appearances and Upcoming Events

It’s a busy time of year, and we’re certainly keeping our end up at currentseams:

Wednesday, December 9, “The Little Things” at the CFFA meeting, Veterans’ Memorial Clubhouse, East Hartford. For more information and directions, visit https://www.facebook.com/CTFlyFish

Thursday, December 17,  “The Little Things” at TU Croton Watershed Chapter, Orvis store in Ridge hill
Shopping Center in Yonkers, NY. For more information and directions, visit https://www.facebook.com/cwctu

Looking forward to 2016:

Tuesday, January 19,  “The Little Things” at Coastal Flyrodders, Wyckoff, NJ. For more information and directions, visit http://www.coastalflyrodders.com

I have not confirmed yet, but I will probably be tying at the CFFA show at Maneely’s in Manchester on Saturday, February 6, 2016.

I am in the process of scheduling a “Wet Flies and Fuzzy Nymphs” tying class at UpCountry Sportfishing, also in 2016. Date TBD.

I may be tying at the Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough, MA in January, but it’s an outside shot.

Your humble scribe in action.

TU_NYC

 

Farmington River Report 12/1/15: Close, so I provided my own cigar

I spent three hours on the river today with mixed results. I spoke to one centerpinner who said he took over a dozen trout, some in the 20″ class, on trout beads. Another bait angler report a single fish in the first five minutes, then nothing for two hours.

So, what about us fly guys? I threw a mix of streamers on floating and full-sink lines for two hours. Two sharp bumps that felt like smaller fish, then a chase on the mended swing from a good-sized brown that was hiding behind a boulder; sadly, no hookup, and I could not entice him to play again.

Then, I switched to indicator nymphing, and used a small egg pattern as the bottom fly. And there he was, my only hookup of the day. Nothing to shout about, so no picture. However (and this is significant as winter and very cold water temperatures are nearly upon us) the take was not a full drop of the indicator, but rather a series of quick shudders; I set the hook, and the bottom fought back.

Tiny dark midges were out in force, and there were a couple fish rising haphazardly around 1pm. River was clear and running at 280cfs. A damp, drizzly, raw day, but nonetheless beautiful in the eyes of this angler. (And for those who care about my post titles, it was a Gispert Churchill.)

Why trout beads work. That’s a real egg on the left. This photo is from a steelheading trip in November 2013.

Bead&Egg 11-13