Some thoughts, plans, and a simple streamer.

Good morning folks..........He's back. These last days have been what New England Spring is all about. Warm sunny days with temps near 70, streams in pristine condition, flowers sprouting, and even a trout or two rising to the dry fly. Well that changed rapidly last night. A cold front passed and this AM we were greeted with temps around 30, snow and a strong wind. But this is New England and it will change, the weather that is and all the winter crap will be gone.

Saturday is the opening day of trout season in Connecticut. The major trout rivers, as well as lakes and ponds have been stocked and are waiting for the onslaught of fishermen. As for Mark and I and probably a few others we will not be there. We have decided to fish a few wild trout streams. These lovely little streams with those wonderful 5 inch wild trout. There will be no combat fishing here, and as Mark says, NO "white bucket" fishermen.

Pristine wild trout water. A few wild jewels lurk here.

Peacock and Pheasant streamer.

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"Complicated and Extremely Elegant"

Yesterday was a challenging as well as a rewarding day on the stream. Weather conditions were top notch for mid April. The water was just about perfect, and there were insects about. Kirk and I started fishing wet flies, but that changed and soon every pattern was fair game. I had tied on a very complicated, and extremely elegant dry fly with the hopes of taking my first trout on a dry for April. In a very promising looking pool I drifted the complicated, elegant dry fly along the riffle leading to the pool and "bam" a fish rose and missed. I continued to fish the riffle and the fish kept rising to this complicated, extremely elegant dry fly. At one point I believe he got pricked and was on, but that was not to be. I moved on down stream and Kirk moved into the riffle pool. He worked a Picket Pin through and suddenly I picked up a noise in the woods along the stream. It was Kirk, he could not believe the fish that whacked his fly. That fish is still there.

We continued to fish, and I was not able to bring one to hand. Kirk on the other hand had a pretty good day for himself, he scored a brown, brookie and that special fish a wild Tiger, his first.

The very complicated, extremely elegant dry fly

I fished the dry fly for some time with trout rising to it. Finally the fly made its final hookup of the day. It succumbed to the root ball of a fine hemlock.

So with time running out on this outing I worked a few last runs. I cast the fly and allowed it to drift to the bend just at the end of the fallen log. As I started to retrieve the fly the brookie struck, and my first and only fish was at hand.

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Early Spring Angling

I had the pleasure of fishing a beautiful little stream on Thursday. The weather could not have been nicer. With air temps in the high fifties and a brilliant sun which made it feel so much warmer. The sparseness of the early April foliage and the clarity of the water made for some very slow stalking. Movement in a stealthy manner was the hot tip of the day. I started fishing wet flies and pretty much stayed with those through the outing. I was soon greeted by a feisty small brown at the very edge of a plunge pool, an odd place to find browns at this time of year.

I continued my trek downstream and was rewarded with another small brown. There are places along this stream that are so well protected by nature, that they might never be fished. The thorns are of such size that they could be recorded as not of this earth.

As I reached this nice run, a spot that has a prime undercut, I drifted the fly towards it. The fly was swinging through about mid stream when the fish hit. As I laid my hand in the water and lifted a fine female brown to photograph I realized it to was in a odd location also.

A hen in prime condition. A sign that the condition of the stream during this winter was satisfactory.

This section has always given up a nice brookie or two over the years. It's usually a mass of tangles and woody debris, but this time it was pretty open and very clear. I let the soft hackle drift to the clump of wood in the stream. I saw the fish come for the fly and back off. A few more casts later as the fly hung in the current he struck again. This fish had a lot of fight in it, even going airborne a time or two. In the end the 3wt won out.

The prize of the day, a wild handsome healthy male brown, beautifully spotted and the color of gold. He was released into the clear stream and vanished.

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CFFA Fly Tyers Gathering

Last evening I had the pleasure of tying at the annual Connecticut Fly Fisherman's Association fly tyers roundtable. The event is held in East Hartford at the clubs meeting location. The evening started with a dinner provided by the CFFA to all who tied at the event. Then it was down to business of tying and meeting. There were many people in attendance. People I had the pleasure of finally meeting, after years of talking to on various forums as well as fellow bloggers, some of which made the trip from as far a Greenfield, Massachusetts. There were also some old buddies, those I have fished with and those who I will fish with.

There were tyers crafting flies for salt water, fresh water, and salmon flies. And I believe everyone found something to their liking.

I would like to thank the members of the CFFA for putting this function on and bringing fly tying to so many who attended. And thanks to all those who stopped by my table to watch me tie and talk for a spell. I appreciate it.

These are a couple of patterns I tied at last nights function.

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