RIP Alan

The world lost a very special man on February 19, 2022.  Alan was one of the most passionate fisherman that I have ever known.  He was as patient and diligent about his fishing as one can be, standing at the head of a pool and methodically testing its waters with various fly patterns until it either gave up a fish or he was convinced that none was present.  He was also as gracious as any fisherman that I have ever met, sharing his accumulated knowledge freely with anyone that had the great pleasure of fishing with him.  I was extremely fortunate to have met Alan many years ago, first through emailing him questions about small stream trout fishing in CT and then by finally running into him on the Tankerhoosen River and introducing myself.  I will never forget the numerous hours spent fishing with him in Brook Trout Forest and learning each and every time how to read the water and fool one of nature's most beautiful creatures.

I will miss him dearly and never forget his contribution to the quality of my own life.

RIP Alan

Cold fish

Just a few pictures of some recently observed wild brookies.  The rains have raised the water levels in these small brooks and rendered them a little more fishable (less ice, better flow).  I have been using the net to keep them in the water as much as possible.  The pictures end up less attractive, but if it minimizes hooking-related mortality then it's the least I can do.

December fish

It's taken a while to get back into the swing of small stream fishing after a couple of months of saltwater fishing.  One big adjustment is having to constantly remove ticks from my clothing and body.  Lovely little creatures.  Hopefully the recent snow will finally end the tick season.  Below are a few of the beautiful brookies I've seen in the last week or so.  It's great to be exploring these tiny streams again.

Recent outings

 Some pictures from recent outings.  Note the darkness of the brown.  It was caught in the same stream that produced the last two brookies.

Day 1, 2017

Our annual first of the year fishing meeting was conducted in fairly remarkable winter conditions.  Reasonable air temp (in the 40s) and good stream flows provided us the opportunity to spend many hours outside pursuing our favorite pastime.  While the water was cold, its beautiful inhabitants were still willing to reveal themselves, at least on occasion.  I only landed a few, but have no complaints.

It makes you wonder

I was told about this place by a friend and since I was nearby I decided to check it out.  When I got to the site the fish that inhabited the pool were rising to invisible emerging insects.  I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I caught 5 or 6 wild brookies in this one pool, using the pink worm, an elk hair caddis and even a wet fly.  While I caught nothing downstream of this pool, I did spook one fish that was lurking in the fairly shallow riffles I passed by.  Maybe under better conditions (i.e. more water) additional brookies would be observed inhabiting this small stream.

It does not surprise me that so many fish were present in this one pool, since it was clearly the deepest pool available in the section of the stream that I fished.  However, it just makes me wonder how many culvert pools exist in CT that are inhabited by these magnificent fish.

Why September and October are saltwater time for me

In my world, the beauty of brook trout is matched by only one other fish that I pursue, the little tunny.  These fish are why I concentrate on saltwater fishing in September and October.  Their speed and power is breathtaking.