I never get tired of fishing

I went back to the beautiful little brook that I have previously posted pictures of, hoping that the weekend's cold spell hadn't slowed the residents down.  I was greeted with brookies that were still willing to snatch elk and deer hair caddises and bombers (grizzly variation) from the surface.  Some were also moved to attack the always productive Picket Pin subsurface.  At one point I watched a brookie hanging at the edge of the current seemingly feeding.  I spent 20 minutes drifting various flies by it (Picket Pin, EH caddis, hot pink midge, pumpkin midge, Adams parachute) and failed to draw even a hint of interest.  This fish was unlike many of its neighbors, not being fooled by any of my shenanigans.  I was certainly relieved to find that the brook's native inhabitants were still active and in some cases even rising to an unknown natural food.

Unfortunately just hiking

My wife and I went for a hike today at a beautiful piece of land overseen by the Nature Conservancy.  Burnham Brook Preserve is a chunk of land (~1122 acres) that "protects the watersheds of Burnham Brook, Strong Brook, and the Eightmile River".  While it is a great place to hike, no fishing is allowed, probably because "Burnham Brook Preserve protects a classic Atlantic salmon habitat in nearly pristine condition".  We hiked right along Burnham Brook (pictures below).  The stream is small and mostly shallow, although I did see some very nice pools.  Maybe it's the Eightmile River that is being referred to as pristine salmon habitat.

Just when I was ready to give up....

and head home, I drifted a Picket Pin downstream under a tree (and daringly over a submerged branch) to run it along a bank that I had seen a nice fish near a few weeks ago.  As I drew the fly upstream it stopped near the submerged branch and I figured the fly was lost.  However, when I lifted the rod to try to free the fly I felt a tug.  I quickly drew the fish upstream past the branch and was truly surprised to see what was at the end of the leader.  The stream is home to wild browns and brookies, so catching a 14 or so inch rainbow was not what I was expecting.  I couldn't even figure out how to hold it to get a good picture.  After very limited luck elsewhere on the stream, unlike Alan who was still getting fish to hit dry flies, I really can't complain.  The six degree drop in water temperature since Monday probably explains the lack of enthusiasm exhibited by the streams residents today.

Is this really Februrary?

I spent some time fishing a small brook with Alan (Small Stream Reflections) on Monday and was once again treated to some great weather and beautiful brookies.  Since I had already established that the fish would attack Picket Pins, I followed his lead and tied on a dry fly.  Both size 16 elk hair caddis and Garcia's Mini Hot patterns were too much for the fish to resist.  After ending up catching a few on dry flies I am now a convert (although not full-time).  Clearly there's method to his madness (and he's quite good at applying it).  If February was always like this I'd probably learn to enjoy winter again.

Window shop or fish?

I had two hours to kill today before picking my wife up at work so I had to make a choice between using the time window shopping or going to a nearby stream and fish.  As you can guess, I opted for the latter.  Although not the most attractive brook, it is known to harbor some native brookies.  Once again the Picket Pin proved to be too much to resist and a few of the inhabitants came to hand for a quick photo and release.  While most were small, as you can see one was actually a decent little fish that made its home in the pool just past the fence crossing the brook in the last photo.  All in all it was a far superior way to spend two hours than window shopping.

Winter brookie heaven

I had the great pleasure of visiting a beautiful brook today with BRK TRT, home to many wild brook trout.  I could attempt to wax poetic about the experience, but I'd prefer to let the pictures do the talking.  To say that this was a banner winter fishing day for me would be an understatement.  I caught brookies on hot pink midge, Pumpkin Head midge and Picket Pin flies, with the last pattern being the most productive.  BRK TRT was even getting them to snatch dries.  The shocker was the larger brookie with the gigantic mouth.  Many thanks to BRK TRT for accompanying, guiding and advising me.  His is a true gentleman fisherman.

Same frustration, but this time a brookie

I returned to the same brook from the last post and once again was greeted by fish with lockjaw.  Even my new friend BRK TRT was stymied by the residents of the stream, in spite of the great weather and his superior small stream fishing skills.  These fish simply did not want to be good sports.  As I mentioned in the previous post, I ultimately hooked one brookie but lost it while getting my camera out.  When I fished the pool this time I once again hooked a brookie on a hot pink worm/midge.  As you can see, I was much more adept at landing and photographing the fish my second time at this nice pool.  Salvelinus fontinalis is simply one of nature's most beautiful creatures and an absolute joy to behold.  My emotional response to witnessing one of these fish up close is the same now as it was 40 years or so ago when I first started fly fishing - complete awe.  These fish bring a smile to my face regardless of their size.