A few more

Including an immature eagle, with scraggly feathers.

No fish, just eagles

After the striped bass kill that occurred last week in the Black Hall River in Old Lyme, a good number of eagles were spotted soaring over the estuary.  My son was able to get a few good pictures of this spectacular bird with my camera (300 mm lens).  Although we're not positive, it appears that a nest is also in the area so we may be treated to many more sightings in the future.

1 Jan 2014

I met Alan, Mark, John and Pete mid-morning for the annual first of the year fishing trip.  This year we were deprived of snow, but the cold temperature more than made up for it.  After a bit of a calamitous start to the outing, most of us were able to hit the water for some pre-lunch fishing.  Mark and Pete headed upstream, while John and I headed downstream at the first stream we decided to fish.  While the action was very slow (to non-existent), I was able to catch one brown on the pink worm fly.  After a delicious lunch of venison chili and chicken noodle soup, we headed to a second nearby stream for some afternoon fishing.  While Alan worked a deep pool near where we started, I took his advice and went to a great corner pool that usually offers up a decent brookie.  Once again, the pink worm worked its magic and a beautiful brookie came to hand, was photographed and released.  I roamed downstream a bit, but was viciously attacked by the pricker-bushes that line the stream (preventing easy access to many stretches of water).  Rather than fight the offending flora, I got away from the stream and walked around looking for Alan.  I figured that he had moved downstream to a major pool, but seeing that he wasn't there I returned upstream and found that he had already called it a day.  It was a reasonable decision, a good time to get out of the cold.  This was a great way to start 2014.  I look forward to fishing with everyone many more times this year.

Thank you Alan and Mark for providing the hot food. 

Local water

I took advantage (again) of this beautiful winter weather and went to a nearby stream to see if the residents were willing to reveal themselves.  The stream was in good shape, with very reasonable water flow.  Using the "pinkie" I was able to fool a few of the natives, two of which were large enough to warrant a photo.  While I've never caught anything that I'd call large here, the beauty of this stream and the woods through which it flows makes it a great place to visit.

Winter respite

What a difference two days makes.  From complete snow cover on Friday, to almost no snow on the ground today.  I couldn't let a day like today pass without fishing so mid-morning I headed out to a small brook that I love to visit.  The water level was finally respectable and the fish were quite cooperative.  I had a good number of hook-ups with Alan's "pinkie" the worm and Matt Grobert's "eggs over easy" pattern.  The presence of some winter stoneflies over the stream inspired me to try a Hemingway caddis dry, which also proved to be effective.  Thank you mother nature for the break in the winter weather.

Stream time with Alan and Mark

As was the case when I went out with Alan after Thanksgiving, I was able to entice a number of small brookies with a couple of different wet fly patterns but none of the stream's larger inhabitants.  At the second stop of our outing I was able to fool the brookie below using an emerger.  This was the "monster" of the day for me.  At least the streams are in much better shape than they were a few weeks ago.  The rain has certainly been beneficial.

Some recent activity

The lack of rain this fall has really put a damper on my fishing for wild trout in CT's small streams.  While I've been out a few times in the last month, invariably I've found very low water levels and little activity.  In spite of this, I've still managed to catch a few fish and enjoy the time in the woods.  The day after Thanksgiving, however, the water level in the stream that Alan and I went to was finally up (although not completely) and at least the smaller residents were willing to take the my fly.