Memorial Day weekend

I wanted to fish and test a new camera (Canon ELPH 100 HS) before the lousy weather comes in so I got up this morning and headed to a favorite brook.  While the water temp of the stream was still reasonable (60 deg F), it was clear that it is was desperately in need of replenishment (i.e. rain).  I started fishing with a slightly modified version of Alan's red Picket Pin (bright orange thread) and had a fair number of strikes, but only landed a couple small brookies.  I switched to the Bomber and Usual dry flies to try something different but found that only the smaller residents of the brook showed any interest.  On the walk back downstream I tied on the simple emerger/dry pattern that I've mentioned before and with that I was able to fool the larger brookie pictured below.  Not a bad day on the water, but an influx of new water would certainly help perk up the residents.

A little luck before the downpour

Traveling around looking for river herring for the DEEP has, not surprisingly, enabled me to observe other fish that inhabit the streams to which these anadromous species return for spawning.  On occasion I see one of our favorite little denizens (trout) and make a mental note to return there some day and see if any are willing to be caught and photographed.  I finally went to one of those streams and was able to catch and release two sizable brookies using BRK TRT's red Picket Pin.  Although they are probably stocked fish, at least they cooperated and provided some excitement just before the late afternoon downpour.  This stream is smack dab in the middle of a beautiful CT River town and clearly has a few fish in it.

Brookies of a different color

As BRK TRT (Small Stream Reflections) recently posted, the fish in this stream are quite dark due to the tannin content of the water that they live in.  While I caught a reasonable number of fish today while I was at the stream, I am only posting the two largest brookies.  One fell for a modified Gartside Sparrow, while the other pounced on an emerger/dry fly pattern that I recently saw online.  Both fish were caught in the same pool (picture 3).  The second fish was missing part of the operculum on both sides.  I have no idea what the cause was, but the fish was very healthy and spunky.

I have dropped my camera in the water twice this spring and in spite of my resuscitating it with dessicant each time I think that the metering system is no longer functional.  I shot these pictures with the camera set on vivid, and quite frankly, they stink.

More Class 1 fun

Since the weather forecasters were wrong again, I headed to the country to fish a Class 1 stream.  Although he turned down my offer to meet and fish, I wasn't surprised when Alan arrived at our usual starting point.  After a few minutes of tempting the residents in a deep bridge pool, Alan hooked what may have been the largest wild brown that I have ever seen (at least since returning to freshwater fishing).  To help him out he handed me his rod to get off the bridge and as bad luck would have it the fish escaped as I moved to a spot at the edge of the pool.  It was a sickening feeling when the line shot back over my shoulder and the fish vanished into the depths of the pool unphotographed.  At the very least I can attest to the beauty of that fish and I'm very sorry that it escaped while under my watch.  We left that pool and headed downstream, but the best we could muster was a couple of strikes.  Moving on to another stretch of stream we were finally able to hook and land a couple of browns and brookies on Mr. BRK TRT's favorite fly, the "Bomber".  After Alan left, at another bridge pool I was finally able to hook and catch a pesky fish that had earlier shown some interest in the Bomber.  It took a Kaufmann's Stimulator to fool it.  Compared to Alan's earlier monster brown this fish looked lifeless.  I guess beggars can't be choosers.

More Class 1 fish and water

A few pictures from today's trip to a Class 1 stream.  I caught and landed three fish and had a few other strikes, all with a reversed parachute emerger.  BRK TRT has got me using this pattern and I am very impressed with the results.  Here is the link to a video by Roy Christie demonstrating his very ingenious method of tying this pattern ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79CIUD2n0gE )

No more early retirement

The good news is that I have accepted a seasonal position with the CT DEEP in the Diadramous Fisheries Program.  I'll be working with the DEEP for 6 months and be based in my home town, Old Lyme.  Considering I was intending to go into marine biology from the time a took a summer school oceanography class at the end of 4th grade all the way through college, I am excited to finally get the chance to work in a field that has always interested me.

To take advantage of my last day of temporary "early" retirement, I went to the nearest Class 1 stream to see if the great weather would give me the chance to see a few more of its beautiful wild residents.  Unfortunately, mother nature was not that kind to me.  The water level was quite low and the pools that I would have expected to produce fish did not.  After switching from the Ausable Bomber to the Picket Pin I finally had a nice strike.  After a quick battle and photo the brown was on its way back into the depths.  Although I fished a considerable section of a nearby Class 1 stream, the best I could do was a short but losing battle with a fish in a nice pool that I have never had any luck in and one other strike.  On a positive note, the fly that produced those strikes was one that I had recently discovered online and have found to be trout enticing.  It is a slight modification of the CDC Cluster Midge (i.e. my version includes a small wing of white Z-Lon so that I can see the fly on the water).  In spite of all of the insect activity and in some pools fish rising, the day was really not very rewarding (except for the time spent outside doing what I truly love to do).

The end of February

Yesterday's visit to this remarkable brook marks the end of my fishing in February.  A slow beginning gave way as the day progressed to fish enthusiastically taking small dry flies.  I thoroughly enjoyed fishing this stream with Alan and am going to miss it's sights and sounds for the next month and a half.  I can't wait to see this gem when spring arrives and the surrounding forest begins to green up.