Tag Archives: fly fishing

Farmington River Report 6/9/15: Lessons learned (and re-learned)

Learned: If you lose your Cocoons on Sunday night in two feet of water because you were stupid enough to try to wedge them over your cap on top of your headlamp, you can return on Tuesday morning to the scene of the bumbling and recover them. (This might have been the highlight of my day.)

Re-Learned: You can follow a nymphing session where you drop nearly every fish with one where you land nearly every fish.

Learned: When caddis are hatching and you’re dedicated to the nymphing cause, a Squirrel and Ginger makes a damn good top dropper on a two-fly drop-shot rig. (Every trout I took today while nymphing came on that top dropper. First time I used that fur-hackled wet in that position, and it won’t be the last.)

Re-Learned: If you want to fish alone, stay outside the permanent TMA.

Re-Learned: When fish start taking emergers, it’s almost never a bad idea to swing a team of wet flies.

Water was medium height, clear, and cold. Midges and a few creamy mayflies (size 12), but mostly caddis (size 14-16).

Off you go. Didn’t think that caddis emerger was going to bite back, didja?

Farmington River Mini Report 6/7/15: Let the dry games begin

A quick 90-minute session on the river last night from 7:30-9:00. Walked a riffle-pocketed run swinging wets. A couple bumps, but no firm hook sets. I was a little disappointed by the lack of surface feeding activity — there were plenty of bugs (caddis, midges, light Cahills), but nothing on them. That changed once I moved down to some smoother dry fly-type water. Three anglers were just leaving, so I moved in. I witnessed three different rise forms: the showy slash/splash, the subsurface boil, and the spinner sip. Unfortunately, it was one of those evenings where very few of the fish were showing any consistent feeding pattern. Still, I managed to stick a half-dozen browns ranging from nine to about fifteen inches. They liked the Pale Watery wingless (Magic Fly) size 18 and a size 20 Catskills Light Cahill. There was one good fish feeding (spinner sip) in about a foot of frog water on the edge of a impossible-to-mend-across current seam. I had at him repeatedly over the course of an hour. He did not come to net, but getting him to take was the highlight of the evening.

Time to warm up the cane pole for sulphurs.

Farmington River Mini Report 6/4/15: Butterhook

Those of you with more than a passing familiarity with Roger Moore’s first turn as James Bond will recognize the reference. For my purposes, it was simply one of those days. Sharp hooks, but some decidedly obtuse hook setting.

Tee Hee does his thing. Now, if only I could do mine.

live-and-let-die-271

I dropped so many trout it was comical. OK, so most of what I lost was moments away from being netted, so I got my money’s worth of play time — like that rainbow that twice erupted from the depths like a Polaris missile — but this was ridiculous. Bad hook sets, bad luck, or a combination of both, but I suspect mostly the former. Well. Now we have something to aspire to next outing.

I’ve been on a nymphing kick, and I started in Spot A somewhere below the permanent TMA. Three fish, and one unidentified monster. The indicator dipped, I set the hook, and felt the bottom. Then the bottom started vibrating. And moving upstream. With the sensation of substantial mass. Suddenly, the hook pulled free. This came in some water I had never fished before, so I consoled myself with the knowledge that now I know where it lives. Till next time.

After I lost my nymph rig, I tied on a Hi-Liter streamer. Yes, you can catch a nice low teens wild brown on a day-glow streamer in the middle of the day in June in water three feet deep. This guy whacked it once, missed, then charged after the fly like a striper on a Gurgler. Funny to watch, and even more fun to catch.

Spot B was above the permanent TMA. Blanked.

Spot C was within the permanent TMA. What a dork I am. Not only did I drop a nice some-teen inch brown, I did it twice. The first time I was just about to slip him into the net when he popped. Male, big black spots, paddle tail. I could taste that fish. Fifteen minutes later, I hooked him again. Same spot, same fly, only he came undone after he thrashed about on the surface ten seconds into the fight. Like the beastie from earlier in the day, I know where he lives. As I was leaving, I muttered, “The fighting is in rounds. This is round one.” (Anyone get that movie reference?)

Water was ever-so-slightly stained, 350cfs, 52 degrees.

Small stream report 6/3/15: Alive and well and living in Connecticut

The original plan was to throw streamers in the murky waters of the Farmington. But the river wasn’t high or dirty enough for my liking. Still, needs must fish. What better option than the outgoing tide on a small stream? None, as it turns out.

Conditions were perfect: 68 degree air temperature, water at a medium-high level after the rains and running clear and cool (58 degrees). Oh, the bugs! Yes, indeed. There were the usual suspects, like caddis and midges and mosquitoes. But how about size 16 sulphurs? Size 14-16 golden stones? Heck, let’s throw in some mongo golden stones (size 4-6?) into the mix — I’ve never seen those on this stream. And some egg-laden mahogany dun spinners, size 16.

The brook fished very well. I pricked dozens of fish, many of them in pools where I haven’t caught anything in years. Mostly brookies, but three wild browns in the mix. All on the upstream dry (elk hair caddis and Stimulators).

After the draconian winter of 2014-2015, how comforting it is to have nature reaffirm that she will always find a way.

Intriguing markings on this hen.

Brookie 6-2015

Another hen, this one of the Salmo trutta persuasion. Best hit of the day. She all but slaughtered the fly. You’ll have to bear with me on the substandard photography. I lost my good camera, and my backup had issues today. I hope to have the situation rectified in a few weeks.

Brown 6-2015

Farmington River Mini Report 5/31/15: Love that Emergency Bag

The Emergency Bag is probably over-named. Perhaps it should be the “Boy Scout” Bag (Be prepared). Or maybe call it what it truly is, which would be the “Spare Clothes In Case I Fall In and Other Miscellaneous Outerwear I Might Need” Bag. But, I’ve always called it the Emergency Bag, and so it is.

The cool thing about the Emergency Bag is that if you go to the river on the one day of the month when they’re calling for the deluge, and it hits, and you’ve forgotten your Gore-Tex rain jacket, that old rubber one you keep inside its blue confines comes in right handy.

So, to the fishing. I had to run a quick errand at UpCountry Sportfishing, and of course rest stops were an imperative on the drive home. The lower river was low (295cfs) cold, and was largely devoid of hatch activity. I managed to hit two spots before the heavens opened, and took one trout on a size 12 SHPHPT. My final stop produced one more take in a good old-fashioned Noah’s Ark downpour, but as I was bringing the fish in, lightning hit close enough to make me rethink the wisdom of holding an aluminum-tipped pole while standing in a river. So I disengaged and sprinted for the safety of the truck. A little shaken, but quite dry. And I owed it all to the Emergency Bag.

Come to papa. Playing tug-of-war with a standard-issue rainbow.

DCIM100GOPROG0010813.

Striper Report: A little grass shrimp goes a long way

And then there was Plan B. Fished an estuary over the past two nights with mixed results. The first night I missed the tide and most of the fish, although I did get a courtesy tap. There were grass shrimp and a surprising number of small (inch, inch-and-a-half?) clam worms milling about. How nice to see some actual bait and receive the suggestion that there might be something about with stripes other than the skunk.

Last night I was able to negotiate a more favorable tide window. No worms, but a few more shrimp, some silversides, and — what was that? That old familiar pock! echoing across the water. The rise ring was easy to see, and although it took several drifts and dangles over his position, I saw the take and heard the splash before I felt the tug. Lost the next one to a lousy trout hook set, and then all was quiet.

I reconnoitered upstream and sat in the dark, listening for mischief. There it was, though well out of casting range. Then more mischief from the opposite direction. I scrambled into position, but by the time I got set the fish had departed for parts unknown. I gave it another half hour, then decided that I did not want to test the will of the mosquitoes over my fading vitola.

Yeah mon, I caught a striped bass on a bonefish fly. A Crazy Charlie (tan, not the pink you see here) was the middle dropper above an Orange Ruthless clam worm and below a deer hair grass shrimp.

Pink Crazy Charlie

My three fly team looked like this one from last year.

StriperShrimpDropperRig

Striper Report 5/26/15: Won’t get fooled again

And so we close the books on what was easily the worst spring for fly fishing for stripers from the shore in Connecticut I’ve experienced since 2007.

How bad was it? By this time in an average year, I’ve already passed the century mark in stripers landed. A good year? Tally it in hundreds. I think I caught ten this year over the course of fifteen trips, and only three of those outings produced fish. Legal bass? Hah! I think I managed one striper over 20″. (Last year was lousy for big bass, too, with only one legal fish for me all spring. Granted, it was a thirty pounder, but oh, how far the mighty have fallen.)

Blame it on a long winter and a cold spring. Blame it on lack of bait. Blame it low flows in the rivers. Blame it on crashing striper stocks. Blame it on shifting channels. Blame it on every year is different. Blame it on plain old bad luck. One thing is certain: If I’m going to spend four hours in a river in the middle of the night, I gotta feel like there’s a reasonable chance I might find some fish. Folks, I ain’t feeling it.

So, time for Striper Plan B. I’ll let you know how that goes.

In another year, this might represent the number of stripers I’ve caught so far. Instead, it’s a painful reminder of yet another long, fishless night.IMG_1858

Farmington River Report 5/21/15: The Awesome Power of a Single BB Split Shot

I was indicator nymphing a favorite pool this morning that I knew held trout. But despite my best efforts to fish it systematically and cover water, I was blanking. Thirty minutes in and not a single strike. I knew I was fishing deep enough — there had been several false positives provided by the bottom. The water wasn’t particularly fast or deep. Maybe add another BB shot to the one at the terminal end of my drop-shot rig to slow things down a tad? Yessiree Bob. That simple change quickly had me into fish.

A someteen-inch wild Farmington brown that hammered my size 12 black beadhead Squirrel and Ginger nymph. These fish can be quite aggressive in their takes, even when you’re tracking your fly along at the speed of the current. You can immediately sense that you’ve got a good fish on. DCIM100GOPROG0020505.

I fished for a little over four hours today, mostly committed to the nymphing cause, bouncing around to six spots outside the permanent TMA. Water was on the low side of medium (270cfs in the permanent TMA) and 51 degrees. No significant hatch activity, (nor surface activity) although there were caddis just about everywhere. Once I made that adjustment to slow my drift, the fishing was quite good. I found multiple trout willing to jump on nearly every place I fished. They really liked the size 12 black beadhead Squirrel and Ginger nymph; only one trout, an acrobatic rainbow, chose the top dropper, a size 16 soft-hackled pheasant tail. Conditions look good for the weekend. Get out if you can and enjoy this wonderful resource.

Mister brown buck with the big fins, endeavoring for gator brown status (maybe next year?), close to freedom. DCIM100GOPROG0020591.

Farmington River Report 5/17/15: Subsurface Fun

Part One: The Guide Trip

I had the pleasure of guiding the father and son team of Bob and Tim today. They booked this trip a month ago, and they won the weather lottery. Wotta day! We started off outside the permanent TMA and found trout and solitude (and a girl in a bikini). Not a bad way to spend a few hours. Tim had never indicator nymphed before, so I set him up, gave him a quick lesson, then went to go check on Bob. A few minutes later, I turned and saw Tim’s rod doubled over. Way to go, Tim!

Happy nympher. The first of two fish for Tim under the the yarn. His second was a brown. Both fish came on a black bead head Dark Hendrickson soft-hackle.  IMG_3091

Off to Spot B where old pro Bob connected with a feisty rainbow on a wet fly swing. Spot C was in the permanent TMA, and despite a few random rises, we were unable to persuade any trout to jump on. Spot D was on total lockdown (I’ve never seen so many anglers in such a small run), so we headed for Spot E where we had the pool mostly to ourselves. One more trout on a wet and we called it a day. Thanks again so much, Bob and Tim, for such an easy, relaxing day on the river. Water was 280cfs in the permanent TMA, cold, and clear. Midges, caddis, and a few random mayflies.

Part Two: The Quickie

I thought it would be too early for Light Cahills, but I had to see for myself. Besides, the lower TMA was conveniently on the way home, it was evening, and I might find some risers to present to. There were indeed a few trout shattering the surface with splashy takes. No Cahills, but there were size 12-14 tan caddis, sz 20 caddis, and midges everywhere. I fished some snotty pocket water for 30 minutes and took five trout. A plug for the team of three wets: I caught fish on every fly, one on the size 12 Squirrel and Ginger (top dropper), three on the size 12 Dark Hendrickson  (middle dropper) and one on the size 12 Light Cahill (point). Browns and rainbows with one wild brown in the mix. Regrettably, I had to call it (there was a grilled flank steak and a spicy zin awaiting me at home). How exhilarating to see the fish rise to feed, boil on the surface, then feel the tug moments later. I love fishing under the hatch with wets.

Halo, beautiful. Dark Hendrickson winged wet. IMG_3093

Farmington River Mini Report 5/15/15: Trout (nearly) everywhere

Fished from 11:30am till 3:45pm today with the goal of hitting seven spots. I made five, which doesn’t suck. What doesn’t suck even more — or is that less? — is that I found trout willing to jump on in four of the five places I fished (two within the permanent TMA and three outside it — wouldn’t you know the only place I blanked was inside the TMA). I spent most of the time dedicated to the nymphing cause, but at my last stop I switched over to a team of wets and connected with a fat rainbow on a size 12 Dark Hendrickson wet. All the trout today were rainbows.

They bumped up the flow from the dam, and we currently have about 275cfs of cold water coming through the permanent TMA. I didn’t take a temp, but I’m guessing 50 degrees — if that. Hatch activity was slow: caddis, midges, some BWOs, a few stray Hendricksons. There were very few rising fish, even with the low water levels, and what was rising was doing so sporadically. Damn fine weather, and a lovely day for a post-lunch Rocky Patel The Edge Toro.

Fred here smacked my size 12 copper bead head UV pink hot spot dark hare’s ear nymph like it owed him money.

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