Brookies in the snow

We weren't going to let a little snow deter us, so off we went to the woods to see if we could stir up a few wild brookies.  Although the fish were not very active, a few hit the fly we offered, including the Hemingway caddis dry fly.

December 23rd in CT

Being unable to resist going fishing (when given the chance), I returned to my favorite stream to see what effect the recent rain had on the stream and its residents.  With more water flowing it seemed that some of the larger brookies were willing to make an appearance.  While a few times fish struck at a caddis dry fly, it was the Picket Pin fished slowly upstream that proved to be the most effective on this day.  Happy Holidays to all the beautiful brookies (and browns) that inhabit this remarkable little stream.

Last trip before Christmas

Alan, Mark and I returned to the woods for another shot at catching some wild brookies before the weather change and Christmas.  With the water temperature up by 3-4 degrees, compared to our last visit, the fish seemed to be somewhat more cooperative during their midday burst of activity.  All of us caught, landed and photographed a number of beautiful little brookies during their lunch period.  Caddis patterns (EC caddis and Henryville Special) proved to be quite effective, particularly for many of the stream's small residents.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Nice December day

Alan and I met at a favorite brook on Tuesday and took advantage of some nice early winter weather.  Lately the fish have seemed to exhibit a burst of activity from late morning to early afternoon, undoubtedly a result of a slight increase in water temperature around midday.  Since that is when we were on the water we were fortunate to catch a fair number of fish, using both wet flies (e.g. Picket Pin and orange heads) and dry flies (e.g. EC caddis and woodchuck caddis).  As you'll see at Alan's blog (Small Stream Reflections), if there is a low abundance resident he'll usually find and catch it.  On this day I was the one to catch that critter, a rainbow that was in a nice pool at a 90 degree bend in the brook just downstream from where he caught his rainbow when he last visited the stream.  As is always the case, the resident brookies appeared healthy and beautiful, although maybe a little lean.