Farmington River coming back, contest, casting distance and other rainy Monday musings

The good news is: fall is finally here, along with her cooler weather, and the Farmington River water temperatures are finally getting back into trout-friendly territory! In an odd twist for September, water temps are actually cooler miles from the dam as the water that’s coming out is still (ridiculously) in the low-to-mid 60s. You should carry a thermometer with you and never fish if the water temp is above 68. I’m not sure when DEEP will do their fall stocking, but I imagine it will be in the next couple weeks. The bad news is: we’re getting creamed by rain, and the river in the PTMA as I write this is well into 4-digits cfs and the color of chocolate milk.It should drop and clear significantly by the end of the week.

Contest alert! If you have not entered my 1,000 Followers contest, you now have less than a week to do so. You can get all the details here.

This from the Ministry of Too Funny: every once in while, I feel like a total failure as a writer. That is, I write one thing, and a surprising number of people take it in a way that I could not possibly have imagined they would. After last week’s post about stripers and casting distance, I received a bunch of emails from people offering suggestions on how to increase my casting distance. I appreciate your helpful nature — I surely do. But what somehow got lost in translation was that I was already casting 100 feet. I don’t believe the fly caster who could reach the fish that Toby was hooking is alive on planet earth today. Maybe he or she is, but if so, you can probably count them on your fingers. At any rate, thankfully, the vast majority of big fish I hook come within the 75-foot range, which is attainable by anyone with the right gear and good fundamentals.

A roll cast to get the head out, a single water haul over my head, then bombs away! I love to hear the line whistling through the guides, and the dull thud of the line length bottoming out. We had great casting conditions, 0-5mph quartering over my right shoulder (I’m a lefty). *Photo by Toby Lapinski*

I also want to thank you all for your patience as I navigate a very busy time for me. Lots of personal projects going on (it’s all good) that are keeping me from writing here as much as I would like, and (gasp!) even from fishing as much as I would like.

Speaking of stripers and writing, I’m currently working on an article for Surfcasters’ Journal. As usual, I’ll do my best to make it fun and interesting and informative. Enjoy the rain!