New water

After having no luck this afternoon fishing a small state forest stream that usually exhibits some life (wild brookies that is), I looked at the map and decided to drive to another nearby stream hoping that it would be accessible.  What I found was a stream that looked worth exploring, but unfortunately one side was posted upstream of the bridge that crossed it.  However, downstream there were no postings, so after having a fish strike a Bomber cast from the bridge I decided to head downstream and see if there were any nice pools or runs worth fishing.  At the pool pictured below I caught three brookies on the Bomber, one at he head, one in the riffle beside the rock and one a little downstream of the rock.  Now I'd really like to see what the upstream stretch has to offer, but it will require permission.

What a surprise

I returned to a small stream in a nearby state forest yesterday afternoon after hearing from BRK TRT that the fish were active and readily taking cream-colored dry flies.  Before heading upstream where Alan had been the day before, I fished a section downstream that lead to a large/deep pool that had previously given up some nice brookies.  I drifted a cream Ausable Bomber downstream into the pool and wasn't surprised when it was attacked.  What stunned me was what I found at the end of my tippet.  I knew they were in this stream, since I caught one last winter, but I never imagined that there would be one this large and colorful.

Alan was right about the fish being reactive to cream-colored flies.  I'm not surprised since there were a fair number of small similarly colored flies over the stream (yellow stoneflies or caddis).  I also saw in flight a beautiful yellow mayfly (sulphur?).  I had a good number of strikes (and lost fish) as I moved upstream.  Next time I'll bring a smaller dry fly (as Alan suggested, a cream parachute) and improve my odds of landing a few more of these wild fish.

Tough fishing today

In spite of the nice conditions, the fish at the stream I visited today were quite uncooperative.  On a few occasions the dry or wet fly would be struck at by one of the streams residents, but to no avail.  At the last pool I fished a brookie struck at a dry and then an emerger, but neither resulted in a hook-up.  I was finally able to snooker the fish using a Johnny Utah "Catchem" Flymph.  Just seeing one of these fish up close made up for the two previous hours of frustration.

Recent outings

Here are a few pictures of my recent visits to local streams.   While I think that the change in the weather (cooler at night and during the day) has lead to a decrease in the activity of the wild fish that I search for, I'm still able to catch a few of these beauties by being patient.  Dry flies, like the Bomber (traditional and parachute) and Adams (parachute) have fooled a few fish lately, some of which are pictured below.

Alan and I went to a small stream in a local state forest which has some beautiful brookies in residence (see my last post).  As I said, the cooler weather seems to have slowed things down and while we were together I had no luck.  After he left I went upstream from where we were and using a small yellow dry fly that I found in my box I was able to catch a couple of brookies, one of which is pictured below.  As I stood by this pool right next to the road, a fish darted up toward the head and amazingly struck twice at the fly near the upright rock.  I'm glad it did, as it turned out to the best catch of the day.  Of greater interest may be the observation that led to the choice of fly.  While we were fishing together a small yellow fly fluttered by us, appearing to be a caddis.  While searching online today I found the closest fly resembling what I had seen was a Sallfly, a small yellow stonefly.  If it was then it's a new one to me.  The insect life in and around a stream can be as interesting as the fish life.

In a stream that I fish quite often due to it's proximity to where I live, I drifted a cream-colored Usual down the riffle in the picture below and twice a fish came and struck at it.  I had seen a few similarly colored and sized mayflies above the stream and hence to choice of fly.  After giving it an alternative (Picket Pin) with no luck, I noticed a few small greyish mayflies and suddenly a light went on in my head and an Adams parachute was tied on.  Two drifts later the fish was on and posing for a picture.

The brook below flows into the stream in the last picture.  While I'm still hoping to talk to the nearest landowners about fishing more of it upstream, I went a short distance from the confluence and took a few casts in the pool pictured below.  Two or three small brookies readily took the Adams, leading me to believe that more may be present upstream.  By the way, the bridge over the pool is a long piece of carved rock.  It took a lot of muscle to get that chunk of stone placed spanning the brook.  The locals live in an absolutely beautiful setting.

Feeding my fishing addiction

If I get a chance to hit the water (stream or ocean) I usually take it.  Since the rain was very light this morning I went to a couple of streams to see if this week's influx of water had improved the fishing.  I can't say that there was a dramatic change, but I was still able to catch a couple of beautiful little brookies with the parachute Bomber.  As always, I never get tired of seeing these exquisite fish.

AM/PM

I fished with BRK TRT this morning and again in the afternoon on my way home from work.  In the morning the little brookies seemed to be the most active, with a few slightly larger ones occasionally taking the fly (mostly for Alan).  In the afternoon there were far fewer fish, but the one brookie that I caught was beautiful enough to make it a worthwhile stop.  Both afternoon fish fell for an Ausable Bomber tied parachute style, a twist that BRK TRT had suggested.  The good news is that this week's rain has raised the water levels.

AM:

PM:

We need rain

I went to two nearby streams late this afternoon and was unpleasantly surprised to see the water level in both significantly reduced.  These streams clearly need an influx of water to keep the residents healthy and happy.  Fortunately, the forecast is for some rain over the next few days.  Hopefully the weather service is accurate for a change.  At least a few of the fish were willing to strike the Ausable Bomber and pose for pictures.

The last few days

I fished the new stream on Friday afternoon and again late yesterday afternoon.  Below are some pictures of this beautiful brook and some of its residents.  Nothing very big, but the little brookies that live there have been quite aggressive.

I also stopped at another nearby stream on Friday that I know has some larger wild brookies and an occasional wild brown.  I wasn't disappointed.  Thanks to the presence of spinners (probably Hendricksons) dropping to the water's surface to release their eggs, the fish were more active than I've ever seen.  The result of my visit to the first section of the stream is pictured below, a beautiful native fish.  In one pool just downstream (the frothy run pictured below) I caught a small wild brown and surprisingly a large stocked brown.  In the same spot I hooked, played and lost a brookie that may well have been a foot long.  I've thought about that loss many times since Friday.  Fortunately, I was compensated for this in another downstream section I fished, catching and releasing the sizable brookie pictured below in the afternoon sunlight.