Local color

I stopped by a local stream yesterday afternoon and was treated to a four on/four lost visit.  Undaunted, I returned today and had a little better luck.  In one section of the stream that I had previously had only limited success in, I had five brookies take the fly (Picket Pin or Usual).  Four I lost while fumbling with my camera, the other I landed and released after getting a lousy photo of it.  In a downstream section I had only one taker, a nice little brookie that I believe has eluded me for the last few visits to the stream (I have lost a fish three times in the run between the two boulders in the last picture).  I finally successfully tricked the fish with a Usual and was able to get a photo and send it on its way.  I have a feeling that a net may significantly improve my catch percentage.  Any net recommendations would be appreciated.

Farmington

I guess if you live in CT and don't fish the Farmington then there is something wrong with you.  I have to confess that although I started fly fishing for trout 40 or so years ago,  I didn't actually fish the Farmington until last year.  Ergo, I have a lot of catching up to do.  Knowing that Alan (BRK TRT) has fished the Farmy numerous times, I was glad that he said he'd go this morning.  I let him show me the way, which I am very grateful for.  Although the fish were not overly active, I still managed to catch a few on both dry and wet flies.  I can't wait to see (i.e. fish) the Farmington when the fish are active.

A couple days worth

Yesterday and today I went to a few close brooks with the hope of seeing some of the residents.  It turned out to be a reasonably successful endeavor, with brookies falling for Picket Pins, Muddlers or Usuals at a few of the pools that I fished.  I tried fishing a section of a stream that I reckoned had seen very little pressure since the construction of an exit/entrance ramp to a nearby highway.  Low and behold a small native brookie took a dry fly near where I entered the stream and was photographed and released in short order.  Downstream I found a series of small waterfalls and in one pool at the base a fish grabbed a Bomber but quickly escaped.  The fish then went after a Picket Pin, but as before the hook wasn't set and it returned to its hiding place.  On my way home I stopped at the closest stream to my house, a beautiful cobbled brook, and was able to fool and land three healthy native brookies, one of which was nice sized (not as large as BRK TRT's recently blogged monster, though).

Yesterday at the farthest stream from my house.  Today I didn't even get a bump.

Below are some pictures of what may be a mostly neglected brook (except by people like us).

The closest and most beautiful (in my opinion) of the streams.

Late Saturday afternoon

I never tire of catching or looking at brookies, one of natures truly beautiful creatures.  Here are a couple more pictures of the same local streams.

Local stream

I went to a local stream yesterday, even though I know that most of it's residents may be stocked.  My most recent visit to the stream was less than encouraging, one brookie and a number of creek chub (one was big enough to be almost enjoyable).  As expected, my first fish was a chub which attacked a Bomber.  Rather than throw in the towel and go home I continued to fish and immediately caught a brookie.  Before I was done I had caught a few salmon parr and three browns.  One of the browns (pictured below) could more appropriately have been called a grey trout.  It was the largest fish I caught with an unusual color.  It fell for a medium dun Usual as I was retrieving it slowly upstream.

Birthday fish

In spite of the fact that I fished this morning with Alan (aka BRK TRT) and that today is my daughter's 22nd birthday, I weaseled another trip to the same stream that we started at for a late afternoon shot at some of it's beautiful resident brookies.  I convinced my wife, daughter and her boyfriend to go up to the area with our dogs for a walk in the woods, naturally while I fished.  The stream was not in a cooperative mood when Alan and I showed up this morning, but my second visit proved to be much more enjoyable.  At the same pool that Alan started at this morning I was able to catch one sizable brookie on a Picket Pin.  I lost two fish further downstream, but caught a second when the rain started falling.  I stopped at the initial pool on my way out and caught a second brookie, nice but not as big as the first.  Because of the rain I didn't photograph any of the fish I caught after the first one was landed.  On this trip I was using my daughter's camera and I didn't want to damage it.  I have given up on the new camera that I have and am returning it to Amazon tomorrow.  It's erratic at best and unable to properly meter images with sharp light/dark contrasts.  Now I have to find another affordable one that doesn't drive me crazy.

Wild or not?

I went to a local stream today to pursue it's resident brookies.  I've never caught more than one per visit, but this time I had much better luck.  I fooled 3 (pics of 2 are below) and had a few other strikes using a Better's Usual and a Gartside Sparrow.  It's actually a beautiful little stream, with a cobbled stream bed and some nice pools.  The thing that I just can't figure out is whether the larger brookies residing in this stream are wild or stocked.  Their coloration is rich, their bodies are thick and their fins are in very good shape.  Unlike other wild fish that I've caught these are large (~10 inches), which is why I'm not sure of their origin.  Either way, the brookies in this stream are beautiful and fun to pursue.