Tag Archives: fly fishing

Striper Report 8/24/14: Back to Silverside City (with apologies to David Bowie)

Hey man, this report is so late.

Hey man, the fishing wasn’t that great.

Enough of that. To the outing. Hoyo de Monterey double corona on the drive down. Most excellent. Time and tide conspired to create supreme fishiness at dusk. Sadly, the bass did not cooperate. So after an hour of good old-fashioned college trying, I left the windswept rocky shores and rolling breakers for the friendly confines of the inside.

Out of the truck and a walk and wade to spot B. The bad news: weeds. An obscene amount of weeds. Weeds on every cast weeds. The good news: infestation levels of silversides, with bass feeding on them. The challenge: make your fly (or in my case, flies: 2″ super-sparse peanut bunker bucktail on top dropper, a 2.5″ Eelie in the middle, and a 3.5″ September Night [have I mentioned that it is time to tie up some September Nights?] on point) stand out among the thousands of naturals.

On the one cast out of a hundred that I managed to both, I hooked two bass. They weren’t big, but they gave me the illusion that I had triumphed over nature.

Last stop, another spot on the inside. In theory, it was a brilliant move. In practice, it was good for casting. Ten minutes in, I realized that I was tragically flawed as a prognosticator, and I should lick my wounds on the way home. And celebrate my one-in-a-hundred good fortune.

With no listening choices other than AM or FM, I subjected myself to what passes for classic rock, but is in reality dreadful pre-programmed subscription crap for the masses. Seriously, I don’t need to hear “Bohemian Rhapsody” twice in one night. Once every six months would be fine. Ditto anything by Journey or Billy Joel. And I don’t ever need to hear “The Joker” again.

Sorry if you like those artists or songs. Don’t lean on me man.

Here’s a short video of the bait situation. I actually hooked more silversides than stripers tonight.

 

 

 

 

Farmington River Mini-Report 8/22/14: Wet and wild

I had two hours to fish on Friday afternoon, so I jumped on it. I bounced around the lower river, visiting a few spots that I hadn’t fished all year. The air had a fall-like feel; it was overcast, and the river was running at 417cfs and 66 degrees. Bug activity was sparse and sporadic: a few small caddis, midges, and BWOs. 

This was a dedicated-to-the-wet-fly-cause outing. I swung a team of a sz 12 hackled March Brown on top, a sz 14 Drowned Ant in the middle, and the old reliable sz 12 soft-hackled BHPT on point. (I like a tungsten bead head fly on point when the water is running higher than normal. With a few strategic mends, it sinks the team faster, and also expedites deeper short line dead drift presentations.)

The PT was the runaway favorite fly. I hooked a nice assortment of wild browns with a few JV salmon in the mix. I had some hideous luck as well: not once, but twice I lost a good fish when he went deep and one of the flies on my team got entangled on rocks or vegetation. I lost two-thrids of my rig on the last one and called it a day.

Fat, healthy, and ready to rumble, these wild Farmington River browns are a treat to catch. Many of the takes today were subtle; more of a building of pressure on the mended swing than a clobbering hit. Good stuff.

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A team of three wet (fly fishermen)

And so it came to pass that the Culton men went forth on a crisp, sunny August afternoon and swung wet flies on the Farmington River. Okay. So Gordon was fishing a soft-hackled streamer, and was using a spinning rod. The point is — well, if you’ve ever taken your kids, or any kids fishing, you already know.

Watch out for those trees on the backcast. Cam didn’t catch anything, but he did a more than capable job casting and presenting his soft-hackles. Another place and time and he could have been well into some trout. A fly addict is born.

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Gordo’s juvenile Atlantic salmon. Dad hooked it on a hackled March Brown spider, Gordon landed it with the ten-and-a-half-foot rod. “Can I hold it?” he wanted to know. You betcha. Just get your hands wet, and watch out. They like to jump.

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Public Hearing on Striped Bass Management, August 26, 2014, Old Lyme, CT

This information comes from Charlie Kreitler, a fellow striper and fly aficionado:

Please take a moment to read up on the proposed management plans for striped bass in 2015 and beyond. There is only one public hearing on this in Connecticut, which will be August 26 in Old Lyme.

http://www.asmfc.org/calendar/08/201…ddendum-IV/563

The Draft Addendum can be read here:
http://www.asmfc.org/files/PublicInp…licComment.pdf

Options that are being considered are:
* What level of harvest reduction should be made?
* Should the reduction in harvest take place over 1, 2, or 3 years?
* Should bag limits and minimum size change, and should a slot be imposed?
Specific options under consideration are in the proposal. I suspect that supporting one of them is much more effective than proposing your own solution, but that’s just me.

Public comment is being accepted in writing or in person at the hearings. 

To me, the most important thing here is that fishery managers are FINALLY acknowledging that the species is not healthy and that action should be taken. Let’s encourage them to be responsible and protect the health of the species.

~

Thanks to Charlie for the alert. Grass-roots activism, baby. Grass-roots activism. If you can’t attend, make your voice heard and send Mike Waine your thoughts at mwaine@asmfc.org.

How can you refuse a beautiful face like that?

FridayBIBass

 

 

A thought-provoking essay on the coming striped bass crash

That striped bass are a sport fishing species in trouble is not new information. We’ve already been to the edge in our lifetime. What’s most troubling about the situation is that there is no uniform policy in place to protect these fish — and the bait stocks they feed on —  from big government all the way down to grass-roots anglers. There is confusion at the grass-roots level as well — yesterday on Mike Francesa’s show on WFAN, one of his guests waxed nostalgic about what a great job the authorities have done to boost striper stocks. Really? You’re kidding, right? Sadly, he wasn’t.

This piece by Zach Harvey appeared in a recent Rhode Island edition of Coastal Angler Magazine: http://coastalanglermag.com/rhodeisland/2014/08/fish-focus-shame-us/

A Block Island keeper lives to fight another day. Every year, tens of thousands of her sisters aren’t so lucky.

FridayBIBass

Steve Culton on HAN Radio’s Yankee Fisherman

I must have a great face for radio. Why else would John Kovach be gracious enough to invite me back on his Yankee Fisherman show on HAN Radio? We covered lots of topics: this summer on the Farmington, the effects flows have on fishing, fishing wets as dries, long leaders, setting the hook, and just what the Dog Days really means.

Thanks again to John and his team for having me. Here’s the link to the show:

 
A grey, mysterious summer morning on the Farmington. Who knows what possibilities the day will bring?
Morning Fog

What’s going on around here?

Much. Here are some details.

Radio/Podcast: I just recorded a segment on fall/summer fishing the Farmington with John Kovach’s Yankee Fisherman show on HAN radio. I’ll post the link when I get it.

Magazine articles: Look for upcoming articles in the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide (Salmon Fishing for Stripers); The Drake (W/S Caddis); Fly Fish Journal (The Streak, a 12-month striper odyssey); and American Angler (tbd…this will motivate me to get those story ideas to the editor).

Web articles: Last night I started my 2014 Block Island Diary. I promise it won’t suck. I have a few interviews with Ken Abrames to sort through — currentseams.com exclusives. And of course regular fishing reports and tying articles/videos.

Appearances: Yup, it’s that time of year. I’ll be presenting Wet Flies 101 at the TU Croton Watershed meeting on Thursday, September 18th. You can find directions at cwctu.org. I’ll be presenting Eastern Brook Trout at the TU Naugatuck Pomperaug meeting on Wednesday, October 1. You can find directions at tunaugpomp.org.

I also see currentseams is approaching 200 members. I think we’ll have to do another fly drawing to celebrate.

We’re not quite yet to this point. But make no mistake — fall is here.

Leaf 10:13

Farmington River Report 8/12/14: Before the rains came

It’s been a slow summer for me swinging wets on the Farmington. Until today.

They dropped the flow from the dam to 340cfs, placing the upper river at a near-ideal 375cfs, and the lower river at 400cfs. Water temp on the lower river at 2pm was 66 degrees, darn good for mid-August, and no doubt cooler still at the bottom.

I visited several locations today on both ends of the river and found plenty of trout willing to jump on the wet fly. I fished my usual three-fly team; today it was a size 12 Squirrel and Ginger top dropper, a size 14 Drowned Ant in the middle, and a size 12 soft-hackle BHPT on point. I caught trout on all three flies, and even had a Farmington River Grand Slam with at least one brown, brookie, rainbow, and Atlantic salmon in the mix. One of today’s salmon was approaching the double-digit inches mark. Salar the Leaper indeed.

A staggeringly beautiful wild Farmington brookie who took a Drowned Ant on a mended swing. This is one of the best fish I’ve ever landed on this river, a tremendous fighter worthy of your applause. Also note the classic contrasting colors of the fontinalis fin.

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With the lower flows, my focus was on exploring some treacherous snotty water that had been previously out of reach. I almost went swimming a few times, and I even breached my waders when I stepped into a chest-high hole. (Please use a wading staff when you’re wading swift or difficult sections.)

Very little in the way of hatch activity today, although the Cedar Waxwings were busy.

The big one — 20+ inches —  on a wet fly still eludes me this year. But with a bounty of wild browns like this one, I’m not complaining.

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Farmington River Report 8/6/14: Follow the Heinie Trail

It seemed stupid to spend close to two hours driving to fish for only seventy-five minutes. But I did it anyway.

I turned my attentions to a snotty section of the lower river. At 510 cfs it was a challenging wade. I didn’t bring my thermometer, but it felt about 65 degrees at index finger depth. Not bad for early afternoon on a sunny day in August.

This year, the wet fly fishing has been slower than usual for me. I think some of it has to do with the elevated flows. I probably should be doing more nymphing. At least the trout are happy. I fished size 12 Squirrel and Ginger on top dropper, a sz 12 Drowned Ant in the middle, and a size 12 soft-hackleBHPT (tungsten bead) on point. I had several raps from those pesky JV salmon; I landed one of them. What a tub of fish flesh. Almost perch-shaped. I dropped a brown who was hiding behind a rock with a dopey reaction hook set. The one brown that came to hand was wild and in the foot-long class. He was quite exuberant in his reluctance to come to net.

That one fish was just enough to cover my lack of good judgement.

Classy litterers only leave premium cans behind. This says, “I’m not just a rude, ill-bred person; I’m a rude, ill-bred person with exceptional taste.” 

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Someone enjoying a snack in the cool shade of the tree-lined riverbank.

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Currentseams Q&A: Multi-fly striper rigs

Q: Just wondering how you rig to balance strength on the dropper and still allow movement in the fly?  Blood knot with a long tag?  Or surgeons knot with a long tag towards the tippet end? What do you think your hook-up ratio is for the front fly versus the trailing dropper?

A: I think you’re referring to a tandem rig; when I fish multiple flies for stripers, it’s usually a team of three. I build all my multi-fly teams with 20, 25, or 30# Worldwide Sportsman camo mono. The mono size depends on where I’m fishing and what flies I’m using. For example, crystal clear water or small flies would have me leaning toward 20. If I’m feeling lazy, I’ll use a triple surgeon’s knot to form the droppers. If I suspect larger fish may be in the mix, I’ll use a double uni knot. I had a “bad” experience many years ago with a school of high 30s bass — if I hooked two, the bottom fish would pull the triple surgeon’s knot right out from the top dropper. Now, if I’m targeting larger stripers, I go with a single fly.

If I am fishing multiple baits ( i.e. grass shrimp, peanut bunker, silverside) the fly that gets eaten most is usually the one that most closely matches the naturals the fish are feeding on, regardless of position. One night a small peanut bunker fly saved my bacon. It happened to be the middle dropper. It still worked when I re-rigged with a single fly.

If I know what bait is present, I’ll hedge my bets. This June I fished two small grass shrimp droppers with a small clam worm on point. The water was infested with grass shrimp. 3/4s of the bass I caught came on the shrimp patterns.

My three-fly team from early June 2014, top to bottom: Grease Liner variant, pink Crazy Charlie, Orange Ruthless. The bass liked all three flies. These tags are about 5-6″ long.

Striper ShrimpDropper Rig

In early July, small sand eels were on the menu. I rigged a dropper system of two sparse sand eels suspended between a corkie and a Gurgler. This setup was fished in barely any current at a dead drift. Even though the bass were keyed on the sand eels, I still took one on the Gurgler (the point fly) while it was just sitting there.

This Golden Knight is tied on a small freshwater hook, but on an Atlantic salmon hook, it’s the kind of fly that I like to have when I’m fishing multiple sand eel patterns.

Sparse Golden Knight