Tuesday, October 21, 2014

A Thin Blue Line 10-20-14

Several years ago while thumbing through the Connecticut Atlas I found an interesting looking small blue line. The stream was not a far drive from home and from the maps showing it looked to be a not to bad of a walk to access the brook. The stream flows through parts of public land and parts of private land. So yesterday I decided to do some further exploration of this little stream.

After coffee I left my house around 9 and was at the parking area at 10. The parking area is shared with hikers and walkers. I was geared up in a few minutes and off to check it out. One thing I picked up on was the surrounding woods were mostly of hemlock and stands of mountain laurel. There were a few hardwoods in the mix and they were located on the ridge. The stream was flowing with ample water. I placed my hand into it and could tell it was cold. This freestone stream has a gentle gradient and access to the water along its course was pretty easy.


As you can see the the stream is not brushy and casting with my 7 footer was not a problem. By the way some of the hemlocks here have been around many years. Some of them were quite impressive in size.


The stream is a series of pools, some of which are quite deep, and runs and riffles. The bottom is covered with mostly stone with a few large boulders. Some of the pools were silted and leaf filled.


The first series of riffles answered the question "are there any trout in this stream". The wet fly stopped its swing and the brook trout was on. This little spotted wild jewel was the first of many.


There were no prime locations, fish were in almost every part.


Fine spots, glorious reds, and blue halos dominate, as does the large squared tail.


I came upon a few of these waterfalls. They emptied into some beautiful pools.


In some of the pools were brook trout as these.




A mini gorge. Looks part of natures creativity and perhaps part mans. The water was very deep and the currents a bit tricky. The fly did strange things, and that brought a strike or two.


I only fished a quarter of this streams length. I was very happy what I had found. Further exploration is planned.



24 comments:

  1. Impressive!!! You always manage to find the hidden jewels!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TROUT1,
      Thanks.
      They are there Pete. Some pan out some don't.

      Delete
  2. Nice job finding yet another stream with wild brook trout!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark,
      Thanks.
      And one that's pretty easy to fish.

      Delete
  3. One day I will get to the states and catch a brookie......

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nice big tails. Should have been some good fights. Another beautiful area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark Kautz,
      Thanks.
      They were strong little guys.

      Delete
  5. love all the colors of autumn, from grays to browns to brighter shades.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TexWisGirl,
      Thanks.
      The colored leaves when the fall to the bottom of the stream are awesome.

      Delete
  6. Looks a lovely stream as do the Brookies.

    ReplyDelete
  7. That stream is a beauty and I'm getting a little jealous of all those gems. I'm pulling out my atlas tonight to see if I'm missing something here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Howard Levett,
      Thanks.
      You just might be missing them. Most people do, but probably by choice.
      The Colorado Atlas has got to be loaded with small blue lines.

      Delete
  8. Kudos, Alan, for doing the work necessary to find another gem, it appears. Don't you just love the experience when it calls for continued research and development of a plan of action...............................

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mel Moore,
      Thanks.
      Mel as you know, the work can be as rewarding as the result. More R&D, love it.

      Delete
  9. Good stuff! The picture of the colored up male in the water is a stunner. What a great little stream.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RM Lytle,
      Thanks.
      I hit it right both with the fish sort of posing, and the sun hitting the water.

      Delete
  10. Very nice. Not that thin a blue line. Great find.

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    Replies
    1. RKM,
      Thanks.
      Kirk it was a wide stream in places, and some deep pools.
      There's a lot of it left to explore.

      Delete
  11. Look a the colors on those brookies....wow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LQN,
      Thanks.
      They sure dress fancy this time of year.

      Delete
  12. Love that large male and the huge tails on those brookies! Hope I discover a stream as beautiful as that some day.

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    Replies
    1. RI brook trout,
      Thanks.
      He was a gem.
      I'm sure you'll have many days on such a stream.

      Delete