Tag Archives: Farmington River guide

Flirting with 500 followers, spring appearances

We’re winding down the spring 2017 appearance schedule:

“The Little Things 2.0,” Thursday, March 16, Farmington Valley TU, Unionville, CT. Doors open at 6:30pm. Meeting is open to the public. For more information, visit the FVTU website.

“The Little Things,” Monday, April 3, FCFGPA. This is a members only gig.

“The Little Things,” Thursday, May 4, Housatonic Fly Fishermen’s Association, Wallingford, CT. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 65 North Main St, 7pm. Everyone welcome. For more information, visit the HFFA Facebook page.

Whew! Then we can all just go fishing.

On to the fantastic 500. One day we’re at 502 followers. The next, 499. So it goes in the razor-edge, cutthroat world of website subscribers won and lost. Once we stabilize over the 500 mark, we’ll have our usual currentseams follower appreciation giveaway. You, being a loyal reader, never let your subscription expire. Right?

Ooh. Ahh. Ohh. Striper swag from a previous giveaway.

Striper Soft-Hackles

Farmington River Report 12/6/16: Wet fly action in…December?

Trout blasting wet flies on the swing with a water temp of 36 degrees? Yes, indeed.

I fished the permanent TMA today from 9am-1pm. I was rigged for nymphs, and I spent the first 30 minutes bouncing along the bottom, desperately trying to ignore the growing number of trout slashing at W/S caddis. After the second or third time of telling myself that I was acting like an angler throwing Clousers at a school of stripers feeding on the surface, I disengaged the shot and re-tied the point fly to match the dropper: size 18 soft-hackled pheasant tail. It was by no means a proper wet fly rig, but what the heck — I’m lazy. Second cast, whack! A lovely late fall  wild brown. Next cast, ker-pow! (Those old enough to have watched will recognize the channeling of my inner 60s Batman TV show memories.) And so it went until the hatch waned.

The first fish of the day is always memorable, made even more so when it sports such finery.

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I got out to warm up, and after ten minutes the slashing resumed in earnest. Only this time it was tiny BWOs they were after. The fish proved to be more difficult to catch during this hatch; they wanted the fly on the dangle (if they wanted it at all). By now the sun was up good and proper, and the trout were for the most part hugging the shade line of the eastern side of the river. I had to work hard for the two I landed, but when you’re swinging wets and it’s December and you’ve never had this much success with that method this late in the year, you’re squarely in a no-kvetch zone.

One of the BWO trout, a low teens wild thang.

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But wait, there’s more. We also had a five-minute-blizzard of a midge hatch. I switched to dries for this, and fooled two on a size infinity Griffith’s Gnat, but sadly didn’t stick either fish.

And at this point, I won’t even bother writing about how I blanked on streamers.

On the way out I spoke with fellow guide Mark Swenson. Mark was Euro nymphing and had done quite well (in fact he landed one while we were chatting). He was also fishing small stuff, size 18s.

But for over two hours, I had the river all to myself. Just me, the trout, the bugs, and a December sunshine that made me feel like summer could come any day now.

Farmington River Report: Let’s swing

Avram wanted to learn the black arts of wet fly fishing, so our session was dedicated to the three fly wet team. Okay, there were some issues with wind and tangles. But — and it’s a good but — there were lots of hookups (at least a dozen). There were fish caught on all three flies (Squirrel and Ginger, Dark Hendrickson, BHSHPT, all Avram’s ties — how cool is that?). And there was the satisfaction of learning something new (and doing well at it). Like Tuesday, the hatches were meh, but we basked in our glorious solitude, and were thankful for all the fish that decided to jump on.

I haven’t hooked a tiger trout in some time. But Avram has.

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He got into some bigger fish too, like this snub-nosed rainbow.

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There he goes again. Avram took them on the mended swing, the dangle, and short-line deep.

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Some lovely spring color against drab earth tones.

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Farmington River Report 4/19/16: “I suck at nymphing.”

That’s how my client David summed up his subsurface skills on the phone.

It may have been true a few days ago. But not today. No sir.  Today, friends, David was a steely-eyed nymphing missile man. He put a hurting on the trout with a yarn indicator, a single BB shot, some Pheasant Tails, and a fierce resolve to overcome that northern banshee we call wind. I don’t usually count fish, but we surpassed the dozen mark today. Way to go, David!

It must be the height of Hendrickson madness if the UpCountry lot is full at 8:45am on a Tuesday. We fished two spots outside the permanent TMA, and did well in both locations. (You know it’s going to be a good day when you hook a fish on your first demo cast.)  We fished a drop-shot rig under one of my home-brew yarn indicators; the top dropper was a size 16 soft-hackled Pheasant Tail, and our point fly was a size 12 BHSHPT or an Eagan’s Frenchie (thanks, Pete!) We took fish on all three flies.

Wind was a constant challenge, but I think we’ll take unfavorable conditions if a good bite is part of the package. Hatches were meh. There was a micro burst of Hendricksons shortly before 3pm, but it was over in a matter of minutes. David capped off his day by swinging a team of wets and hooking his first trout on that setup.

Yup. Today did not suck.

A portrait of a dangerous nymphing machine.

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Writing, fishing, tying, guiding, presenting

The currentseams.com headquarters is humming today. Here’s what’s going on.

To start, I’ve made a few small changes to the site’s format. I’ve added a “Book a guided trip/contact me” link along the masthead. You’ll find my email and my phone number within. These are the best ways to start a conversation with me. Please don’t try to book a trip or request an order of flies in the comments section of a random thread. I really appreciate your cooperation on this. I’ve also added a link to the Compleat Angler to the right sidebar. Scott and his team have always been good to me, and I’ll bet they’ll be good to you, too.

Speaking of guided trips, my spring calendar is beginning to fill up. Weekends generally aren’t good for me in the spring; so if you want to get out with me, try to have a few weekday options in mind. Half-days are four hours, and a good way to spend some quality time on the water.

The word machine continues to roll. Look for articles in American Angler, Field & Stream, Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide,the  J. Stockard blog, and more in the near future.

A new currentseams Facebook page is coming. My original page was intended solely as a fishing-related endeavor. However, family and friends have glommed onto it, so I need to create a fishing business only page. If you’re a current fishing friend on Facebook, be on the lookout for the new page (I’ll announce it here) as the old one will no longer have any angling content.

Dagnabbit, I owe you all some videos, both tying and Q&A. I beg your patience. All good things to those…etc.

‘Tis the season for winding down on presentations. That can only mean good fishing weather approacheth! I’m looking forward to the Fly Fishers’ Club of Harrisburg’s annual banquet on April 8th.

Finally, we’re getting close to the magic number of 400 official currentseams.com followers. As usual, we’ll be doing a fly goodie bag giveaway. Thank you again for your readership and support.

As they say on M*A*S*H, “That is all.”

I’ve been on a saltwater tying kick. It’s been a long time since I tackled some bigger flawings, so tying those Rock Islands (foreground) felt like reuniting with an old flame. Here’s to a  stronger herring run this year!

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Your official Get Your 2016 CT Fishing License reminder

I used to be so good about getting next year’s license the last week of December. Not so much in recent years. So, here’s a reminder for all of us. Talk about money well spent — a fishing license remains a tremendous value in Connecticut. Now, if we could only get the pols to stop futzing with the hatcheries…

Support your local trout.

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Farmington River Report: A Steelhead Warm-Up

A quick session to tune up the old indicator nymphing skills. Water was 255cfs, low for this time of year, and leaves (mostly oak) were a factor. Only fished for 90 minutes, and managed a big, fat rainbow with a wide pink band that, in true steelhead fashion, refused to come quietly to net. Taken on a Hare’s Ear and SLF bead head fuzzy nymph, size 12.

Baron von Chunkenstein. The indicator goes down, the rod tip goes up, and madness ensues.

November Farmy Rainbow

Farmington River Report: still low and slow

Dave took my Wet Flies 101 class today in the form of a private lesson. We fished two runs in the permanent TMA (170 cfs) and then we bounced around above Riverton (110cfs). The TMA was a blank, but we found some fish willing to jump on after we headed north.

Dave did a great job moving around in an effort to find fish (something I can’t emphasize enough when wet fly fishing). We brought a gorgeous wild brookie to net, and played tug-of-war with something more substantial that decided to skedaddle before we could land it.

What great day to be fishing as we had vast stretches of water all to ourselves.

Heads up! Incoming char.

Dave S Brookie

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Dave covering water with his team of three wets.

Dave S Swinging

Farmington River Report: A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Since I couldn’t make up my mind yesterday whether to stay home and work or go fishing, I decided to do both. Fishing first. A man must, after all, set his priorities.

The first hour I did a little exploring on the lower river. This was a section I’d never fished before. It was either impressively deep or painfully shallow. Lots of holes and oxygenated riffles and other things trout like. I’m filing this spot away for future reference.

In the course of my travels, I came across old friend BRK TRT. Alan was casting to some delicate risers in some slow-moving water. We chatted about small streams for a bit (if you haven’t, check out Alan’s site Smallstreamreflections), then I went off to swing some streamers and do a little nymphing. The sun was warm. The air crisp. The river cool.

It most definitely did not suck.

A recent ward of the state that found an olive Zoo Cougar (fished with a floating line and a BB shot at the head of the fly) to his liking. Not bad for a hatchery brown. His spots almost look airbrushed.

Stocked Farmy brown

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Alan declares his passion in no uncertain terms.

BRK TRT

Tip of the week: black crickets

The last two times I’ve cut the lawn (today included) I’ve noticed an abundance of black crickets milling about. I would think a black cricket fished dry or wet would draw a lot of attention if it were drifted or swung along a grassy bank.

Something like this: braid or dubbed body. palmered soft hackle, deer hair wing/caddis-style head, only all black. Size 8-12.

BlackCaddis