Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Headwaters, "Hemlock Creek"

This is another one of those streams that I have fished several times. I usually go so far up and have been satisfied with the results. This day I was determined to fish the headwaters of this tea colored blue line. I picked a good day to do the exploration. This part of the state had received some pretty hefty rains, along with the area of the Massachusetts Berkshires so the stream was really flowing. The weather was almost perfect with sunshine and cool temps for this end of July. To compliment this there was also a nice breeze which kept the insects at bay.

This stream has hemlocks, both along the stream and the surrounding forest for miles. I could say that this is as heavy an area for these evergreens of any stream I've fished. With all that tannin the stream is as truly "dark tea stained". Did you know that hemlock bark was used in the process of leather tanning..I didn't until the other day.


Well back to fishing. I found brookies in almost every place I tossed a fly. These fish were very aggressive, so much so that most did not hookup, but the brookies that came to hand were gorgeous.
I continued upstream for hours, one pool and one run at a time.


Wild....a "Hemlock Creek" brook trout.

I took so many photos of this stream. Now it's hard to select which ones to show you.


There were a few rising trout in this pool. The only surface activity viewed this day.




Hot coffee at the end of my day. A welcome feeling this day in late July.










23 comments:

  1. Glad you were able to enjoy the pleasant pre-fall weather! Looks like a wonderful time exploring. Wondering what's around the next bend or above the next riffle is what makes small stream fishing so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark,
      Thanks.
      The air was so refreshing. That stream needs further exploration Mark, I should put a full day up there.

      Delete
  2. Man, what a stream Brk Trt. Nothing like a hemlock shaded, tea colored, ribbon to walk, enjoy, and fish. Beautiful!

    Will

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  3. Alan
    What impresses me about all the streams you fish aside from their beauty, is the shade one has to work with the majority of the time. I know you are extra careful maneuvering through the rocks, I have turned my ankle a couple of times on our tailrace in all the rocks. Beautiful colors on the brooks. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell,
      Thanks.
      Some of the waters can become dark at times, even in sunshine. Slow and lots of caution is my approach. You get hurt and healing does not happen to swiftly.

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. TexWisGirl,
      Thanks.
      You would love it out there.

      Delete
  5. That's a nice little stream and those brookies are quite dark in coloration.

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    Replies
    1. Kiwi,
      Thanks.
      Must be the streams waters that cause this. I have some old 35mm photos somewhere that show brookies from this stream that almost appear black.

      Delete
  6. Thanks Alan. In some parts of the country those speckled natives were referred to as "hemlock trout."
    And yes, hemlock bark was the main ingrediant for the tanning industry in this region back in pioneering days.

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    Replies
    1. rivertoprambles,
      Thanks.
      Walt I remember reading about 'hemlock trout". As we both know when there's hemlocks there's brook trout.
      New York state had quite a large tanning industry.

      Delete
  7. Wow! The water is almost red in color! Gorgeous. The fish mirror it's beauty too.

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  8. Beautiful little stream. Good to see some wild Browns hanging out there, too.................................

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    Replies
    1. Pond Stalker,
      Thanks.
      Mel, I believe you wanted to brook instead of brown.
      Anyway it was beautiful.

      Delete
    2. Yes, indeed I did. Yes, it is a most beautiful Brookie!
      Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Alan.

      Delete
  9. I'm getting the impression that there are a lot of small streams in your neck of the woods. Each one is prettier than the last. Thanks for another look Alan.

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    Replies
    1. Howard Levett,
      Thanks.
      More than I'll fish in my lifetime....but I'm going to try.

      Delete
  10. With the tail on those little guys, must have been one heck of a fight.

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    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz,
      Thanks.
      Ah, another angler noticed the tails. Mark they were scrappy indeed especially on the 5' 2wt.

      Delete
  11. Beautiful fish and setting. I love creeks and small stream fishing.

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    Replies
    1. riverwalker34,
      Thanks.
      You have come to right place. Small streams is our passion.

      Delete