The Farmington River And Yellow Sally

Early morning as I walk down the bank. The sun is doing it's best to burn off the chill and make an anglers bones feel good. The Farmington river is flowing at just my speed. The MDC has just increased the flow and hopefully the change in flow will turn on the fish. The rules are such that a high water push turns on the trout, but the trout don't always follow the rules. I had tied up some Yellow Sally's The other day and was anxious to give them a test. Large elk hair caddis have always worked for me at this time of year. The Yellow Sally looks like a big caddis but is in fact a stonefly. Large stimulators also work as a good stonefly. I remember some fantastic days in Maine in late September using stimulators. So on went a size 12 Sally. I fished that fly for a long time and there was no response. Off came Sally and on went Tomah Joe. Third cast and "bam" a nice hit. Several more casts and fish on.

A beautifully spotted wild brook trout. The wet flies produced several more brookies to hand.

So I moved to another location and I tied on the Yellow Sally hoping for better results. It worked, it floated nice and it brought a fish to the surface and that was it. So I changed to a soft-hackle, a yellow bodied pheasant feather soft-hackle. I stayed with that fly for the next hour and was happy.

Yellow Sally did not work, but Yellow Sal did. My next outing on the Farmington will find me fishing side channels. It's been a long time since last I fished these places.

A scrambled egg, fried red peppers, toast and coffee...good morning friends.

Sage Rod, Yellow Sallies And A Spider

For close to ten years this Sage rod has sat in my rod rack. It's a splendid piece, and I fished it for several hours yesterday. The rod is a 7' 2 piece for a 3wt line. It has a copper finish which I think is beautiful. The cork handle is flawless and very comfortable. While it can be fished on small streams I purchased the rod to fish on the Farmington river where I fished it yesterday. It did everything I asked of it.

Yellow Sallies...waiting to give these a workout. Tied on size 12 and 14 hooks.

A "spider"....

Still at it......

Over the last week we have been visiting a few of our haunts both fishing and walking. The days have been warm and the skies sunny and clear for the most part. This time of year is so sweet to be outdoors. The change in scenery, the animal movements, and for some reason the Hummingbirds have been so visible this year. It seems they are everywhere. The streams depending on where you are can be low or normal. Some of them were quite nice in their flows and the brookies are active. A key factor in the small streams is that they all have been very cool.

You know how much I love fishing places like this. I can usually find one or two willing fish here.

As you can see dry flies are the bread and butter selection now.

The "never fail run"...and it lived up to it's name this day.

Lovely little creature. I never get tired of catching jewels like this.

"Mossy Pool" one of the most problematic places to drift a fly.

A small stream wild brook trout. The day's ahead are full of promise.

"Asters" Along The Farmington

The New England Aster, a most beautiful flower. About this time of year these wild flowers make their debut along the streams I fish. Their dainty petals in a muted purple color are an attraction I find hard to pass. I find that photographs of this flower are like photographs of brook trout do no justice to either one. A trek along a river the other day I found many of the Asters growing in clumps, each flower prettier than the other. I am told the Aster is edible and that the roots were used at one time as medicine. I know when I observe them and spend some time looking at them I get a comforting feeling.

Some where between Barkhamsted and Collinsville....so beautiful.

Low water conditions made for difficult fishing...in the end it turned out just fine.

Maybe I should have fished this fly?