Tag Archives: Eastern Fly Fishing

Farmington River article in the Sept/Oct issue of Eastern Fly Fishing

Hot off the presses! “West Branch Farmington River — Southern New England’s Blue Ribbon Trout Stream” by yours truly is in the current (September/October) issue of Eastern Fly Fishing. Many thanks to UpCountry Sportfishing’s Torrey Collins and CT DEEP Fisheries Biologists Neal Hagstrom and Brian Eltz for lending their comments. If you don’t subscribe, you can get a copy on newsstands or you can check here.

It’s a privilege to able to write about the places that I love to fish. How fortunate we are to have the Farmington River so close to home.

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“Mouth of the Housatonic River” from Eastern Fly Fishing

Gadzooks! Ten years since I wrote this? How amusing to sift through the archives and find stuff that came out of your brain when nobody knew your name. “Mouth of the Housatonic River” is a quick-read primer on the spring striper bite. There are a few almost-funny jokes, and much of the information is still pertinent. The article first appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Eastern Fly Fishing. You can read it by clicking on the link below:

MouthHousEFF

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Housy Trout & Smallies in the March/April issue of Eastern Fly Fishing

Hot off the presses: “Upper Housatonic River, CT — The Smallmouth River That Thinks It’s A Trout Stream.” You can read it in the March/April issue of Eastern Fly Fishing. You’ll find a little river history, a little reconnoiter, some trout and smallie basics, and a couple of my favorite Housy fly patterns. Oh. It’s also a pretty good read (said the author modestly). I believe you can get a copy at matchthehatch.com.

Where we set out to prove the O.W. Holmes quote, “There’s no tonic like the Housatonic.”

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What’s new and news with Currentseams

Happy Saturday, everyone. Just some quick notes from your humble host. First, I hope everyone’s making through winter OK. Courage! Spring will be here soon. Thanks for your readership.

~ Speaking of reading, I’ve been writing. Just finished up a piece for Eastern Fly Fishing on the Farmington River. Many thanks to everyone who helped out, including but not limited to Torrey Collins, Don Butler, Steve Hogan, Neal Hagstrom, Brian Eltz, and of course my editor extraordinaire, AKA Mrs. Culton. It should be out later this year. And my Housy piece in the same mag should drop any day now.

~ I see Currentseams is very close to 700 followers. Once we reach and stabilize that number, we will have another subscriber appreciation drawing. Get six of your friends to follow!

~ My tying weekend at Legends is sold out. If you’re one of the people who signed up, many thanks for your support.

~ I hope you’re enjoying my “Best of North Country Spiders” series. We still have a few more to go.

~ Finally, my guiding rate card has changed (you can see it here). This reflects the ever-growing cost of doing business, what the local market is currently bearing, and brings me into line with my peers. Or, as Aunt Eller sang in Oklahoma!:

“I don’t say I’m no better than anybody else, but I’ll be danged if I ain’t just as good!”

Aunt Eller

Tight lines to all.

 

 

 

 

Farmy Photo Shoot and a Mini Small Stream Outing

Out to the Farmington today to take some scenics for my upcoming feature in Eastern Fly Fishing. As you might have imagined, the warm weather brought out anglers in force; it seemed like every major pool or run had a rod probing its depths. Didn’t see any fish hooked. Wished I was fishing. But I had decided to visit a small stream after my photography work was done.

Not surprisingly, much of it was unfishable. Part of this brook flows through a hollow, and the sun had yet to work its melting magic.

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I did find some relatively open water. Not a touch for me today; again, no surprise, probably due to snow melt which tends to drop that water temp. Here’s a helpful small stream hint: sometimes I purposefully cast my line or leader over a rock to hang up the fly in the current. The waking fly is particularly attractive to kamikaze wild trout. I try to make sure the fly is holding over a likely lie. In this case, I was fishing a dry/dropper — this is a great tactic for a submerged soft hackle. You can see the leader going over the left third of the rock; the fly is at 10 o’clock.

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Farmington River Quasi-Report 1/29/19: Shooting in the cold

This seemed like it would be the best day in the foreseeable future to a) shoot some photos for my upcoming Farmington River feature in Eastern Fly Fishing, and b) sneak in a few casts before Arctic winter sets in. So. It was cold. Ice-in-the-eyelets cold, from 11:30am-2:30pm. Water was a low (the new normal!) 680cfs in the permanent TMA. Streamers was the method in the first two hero pools. Not a touch. Went to the nymphing well and did likewise. In the meantime, took many dozens of still life shots and river scenes. Ran into Farmy guide Steve Hogan (who I’ve never met — nice to meet you, Steve!) and got a rack of shots of him nymphing. Mission completed, I drove home.

It’s now 10:35pm and I’m pleased to inform my readers that I am finally warm.

No two winter fishing days are alike. 

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Farmington River Report 8/23/18: Not a bad evening’s work

I spent yesterday late afternoon/evening shooting Torrey Collins for that Farmington River piece for Eastern Fly Fishing. Mostly work for me (I can think of worse jobs I’ve had) but I did wet a line here and there. The river was up a bit (they bumped the flow from the dam 40cfs to make it 440cfs in the permanent TMA) and the fish were open for business. We hit three spots and found players in all of them. Good hatch window in the first run, and the fish were all over Torrey’s nymphs. I took a break from shooting and swung a couple wets, and given the hatch and surface feeding activity volume, I was surprised to only stick two trout. Caddis and Isonychia were the stars. The last two spots were in heavy water, and we fished until dark, having most of the river to ourselves. Thanks again, Torrey.

Like me, Torrey isn’t bashful about wading into some of the river’s snottier sections to catch trout. Here, his daring is rewarded with a hookup.

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Holy pink band, Batman! This photo is all natural, no light or color enhancements. What a gorgeous creature.

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Housy article complete, Farmington feature next

The Housatonic River piece is off at the editorial suites of Eastern Fly Fishing; it’s due out in the Feb/March 2019 issue. Next project is a feature for the same mag on the Farmington River. Haven’t taken fingers to keyboard yet, but I’ll be out this week shooting photos on the river with UpCountry Sportfishing’s Torrey Collins (hopefully his gf Mandy will be joining us). As always, if you see me on the river, come say hello.

Fish-friendly photos. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

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Getting your word’s worth

The word machine is humming along. In fact, I’m taking a break right now from one of the many pieces I’m working on. (Despite the sunny weather, I made the command decision to write today. With all the high water and piss-stinking miserable humidity, and thunderstorms later, the fishing will have to wait.) Here’s what’s in the pipeline:

“Steel Deal,” a feature on Great Lakes steelhead tactics, coming this fall in Field & Stream

A feature on the Housatonic River for Eastern Fly Fishing, scheduled for March/April 2019

A feature on the Farmington River for Eastern Fly Fishing, scheduled for Fall 2019

“The Little Things 3.0” — I’ve completed this and I’m pretty sure Field & Stream is going to buy it for publication next year.

Please support these magazines, even if it’s just to buy a copy of the issue with the article. No readers means no more pubs which means no more interesting articles from folks like me.

Then, there are the new presentations I’m working on for the Fly Fishing Show…

And I haven’t forgotten about that new smallie bug. I promise it will be worth the wait!

No. Not happening right now.

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