No rest for the weary. The publisher has asked for more photos (that’s a good thing!) and captions for the Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River. So, instead of a report on my small stream outing this week, you get this update. Regular reports will be somewhat on hold until I get this book business finished.
The Farmington River continues to run high out of the gate. Hopefully they’ll reduce it by the weekend. I’m on the river giving a lesson tomorrow. Even the Hous is well over 1K cfs. I suppose a little too much water is better than the D-word.
Have fun, go fishing, and a pre-Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there!
And I still haven’t gone striper fishing this year! I’m also working on a new piece for Surfcaster’s Journal. Details on that to come.
Writing a book is all about milestones and deadlines, and the first truly big ones are now in the rear view mirror. Yesterday I sent the complete manuscript to the publisher, along with photos and captions. Next step will be their read and review, and then my edits and re-writes. The target publish date is still next summer. Many of you have asked about orders and pre-orders — that’s exciting to hear! I don’t have any information on that yet, but of course when I do, I’ll let you know here and elsewhere on social media.
My first hybrid tea rose, Peace, bloomed this week. That means that our creamy and yellow mayfly friends are beginning on the lower river. The waters are down to an excellent 465cfs in Unionville. I’d hop on it, but I am crashing my final draft deadline of June 1. Please wish me luck, and I hope you get out this weekend…or even today.
Peace, baby. It’s a good color to signify the arrival of Sulphurs.
Happy Hump Day to all. Sorry about missing a post last week, but I have a really good excuse (besides the book): #2 Son Cam’s graduation from the College of Wooster in Ohio. And now, we’re back. Except I spent the last two days planting over 50 cucumbers, chili peppers, and tomatoes. (Advil, anyone?) Now that those are in the ground, I’m back at the book, fast and furious, as my June 1 deadline approaches rapidly from the east.
That means no fishing for me, but I hope you’re picking up the slack. We’re supposed to get dumped on Thursday, so that will no doubt jack up the rivers. Hopefully the waters will recede somewhat by the weekend. Connecticut needs the rain, and we’ll be grateful for the influx into the reservoirs.
Two years ago, May 30, LaFontaine’s Diving Caddis.
While this has been a crappy, cool month so far, I have been thinking about caddisflies. The warmer days tend to really get them going. May is typically prime time for caddis on the Farmington, and when the book comes out, I hope you’ll pay particular attention to the section devoted to this highly underrated bug. If I were nymphing or swinging wets today, you can be sure I’d have at least one caddis pattern in the mix.
Must go write. And I’m really looking forward to finishing.
We all could use a good Hendrickson hatch, and now we don’t have to wait. Well, you might have to get to the river early enough to secure a spot, and then wait for the bugs to pop — usually early afternoon — but the hatch is on and moving upriver. I guided James and his daughter Charlotte last Friday on the lower river, and the hatch was just getting started. With favorable air temps forecast for the entire week, now’s the time to jump on it. it should be on in the PTMA this week.
Pick an active feeder during the first phase of the Hendrickson hatch, place one of these soft-hackled Hendricksons over its lie, then hang on.
Hendricksons are one of the mayflies that will be featured in my book. They’ll be part of a general chapter on mayflies (caddisflies, stoneflies, midges, and other food sources are the other four categories) which then breaks down into some of the more popular/important specific hatches. The intent is not create an in-depth, Latin-heavy, scientific bug-biology geek white paper; rather, it’s to give you meaningful, useful information. The better you understand the hatch, the more fish you’ll catch.
Happy Monday. It’s finally not stupid cold and snowing/raining. And yet, here I am, sitting in my lonely writer’s garret, writing this, then back to writing the book. Sunshine beckons. On the other hand, writing about fishing as a job doesn’t suck.
If you read yesterday’s Courant, you saw the front-page article about the propose hatchery budget cuts. Yours truly is quoted often.
I’m getting toward the home stretch in the book writing. I alternate days when I think I’m in good shape with those when I project abject terror. Ok, that’s a little strong, but I’ll be happy when I’m finally done. I’m still loving what I’ve written so far, and that counts for something.
I will be getting out to the river this week to do a little more location scouting, and then hopefully an hour or so of fishing. Won’t that be wondrous? Can you believe that I have not caught a trout yet this year?
If you’re thinking about taking a lesson with me, please wait until June. I’m doing only one this month, which is unheard of for me, and I may be doing only one in May, also unheard of.
I’ve said it before, but I appreciate everyone’s patience as I throw my energies into the book. Since it’s almost Hendrickson time, here’s one from the archives for all you soft-hackled fly lovers: The Best Hendrickson Soft Hackles and Wet Flies.
I spent a good chunk of last Thursday banging around the lower Farmington with Farmington River guide Steve Hogan. (Steve grew up in the area, and knows that section way better than I do.) To say we covered a lot of ground would be an understatement — Steve’s device said we walked 20,000 steps, which, for those of you keeping score at home, translates to over 8 miles.
Exhibit A. So many pockets to pick, so little time.
But the point isn’t that we got some exercise. The point is, man, there is so much incredible water between Collinsville and Unionville! That I’ve fished so little of it boggles my mind. The wet fly possibilities are virtually endless. Yes, you have to walk to get to much of it. Yes, a good percentage of it will be tough wading. Yes, sometimes there’s bushwhacking involved. Yes, there will likely be many spin/bait anglers. And yes, that area can get very trout-unfriendly by mid-June. But I’m licking my chops at the thought of going back and fishing some of the marks that, incredibly, I had never seen before last week.
Virgin water for me. A challenging walk and wade for sure, but I’ll bet it would just be you and the trout!
I gave Joe a wet fly lesson last week — a little early to expect action on a swung fly, but that’s when we had a window. The rain held off, and we enjoyed having vast stretches of the river all to ourselves. The bite was predictably slow, but Joe did a great job with his presentations. I have the highest confidence that he will be a deadly wet fly machine this spring once the Hendricksons begin to pop. Sadly, I saw very little bug activity — not even some courtesy winter stones — only a couple lonely midges.
How Pipeline Pool got its name. I’m working hard on researching accurate information on river access, including parking. Of course, each of you is ultimately responsible for where you park and fish. Pipeline is one of those places where there is plenty of easy access and parking.
The next day, I spent a few hours on river recon for the book — it was blustery and cold and we even had a few sun snow showers to add to the wintry ambiance. But today, it’s warm, and it looks like a decent week to get out and fish. I’ve got more recon time scheduled tomorrow, and hopefully I’ll be able to play a little hooky and wet a line. The river got blasted by that rain last Wednesday/Thursday, but has dropped nicely. What’s more, the state has stocked the Farmington (and a lot of other rivers) — not within the PTMA, but from Hogback Dam down to Whittemore; below the 219 bridge down through Canton; and from Collinsville dam down to Unionville. Enjoy the fresh fish while they last.
Happy Monday. I suppose I am one of the lucky ones who doesn’t view Mondays as a collective negative. Such is the fortune of working for yourself at a job you love. (Of course, the money stinks, but that’s a different story.)
I’ve learned that at this moment, we’re in a holding pattern with the hatcheries budget thing. DEEP was surprised to see this manifest, and for now it’s just a line item on a proposed budget. When I hear that it’s time to take meaningful action, I’ll let you know, and what your action should be.
Many thanks to the Yale Fishing Club for hosting me last Thursday. We tied some soft hackles, and at some delicious New Haven-style apizza. While I loved the white clam pie, the potato and bacon was on another level of wonderfulness.
Now that’s a bird’s eye view! Many thanks to filmmaker extraordinaire Matthew Vinick for lending his time and fine drone photography skills.
I did manage a couple hours of fishing during last week’s research/photo outing. Total blank. But I’m not surprised, given that fact that there was an active snow melt which was dumping gallons of icy cold water into the system. And today, we have more winter-like temperatures. Thankfully, those are supposed to go away soon.
Hi gang. You may have seen it on the inter web, or perhaps gotten an email about possible cuts to the current CT fish hatchery budget. That, of course, would be unacceptable, and, of course, it would also be ridiculous given the revenue that’s generated by licenses and trout stamps. I’m searching for a definitive action step for us to take — who to contact and what to say — and I’ll get that out to you as soon as I have it.
I know I’ve already said this a hundred times, but thanks for your patience with this one-post-a-week stuff. I’m making good progress on the book, Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River. My recent focus has been on writing about the water. It’s been challenging since I can’t actually get out to much of it due to snow/ice/frozen/no parking, etc. So I’m writing as much as I can from memory. Even then, I still like to be able to get out and reconfirm what I think I know. Lo and behold, this we have a warm spell! I’m hoping to explore this week.
Finally I’ll be teaching at the Yale Fishing Club this week. What a treat to be able to tutor a new generation of fly anglers — not to mention the New Haven-style pizza I’m going to eat.
Last year. Now, say in your best Thurston Howell III impersonation voice, “…must be a Yale man…”
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