Friday, December 26, 2014

"Epitome"

Brook trout fishing, brook trout fishing in New England in particular may mean tossing a fly into those famed rivers in Maine, or perhaps a back country spring fed pond in Vermont that has been held a secret to a few over the years. There are the large lakes of New Hampshire, and Massachusetts where trolling a fly will bring a bend in the rod. Rhode Island, while not know for their brook trout, as they are for stripped bass, do have a few beautiful brookie streams.

My native state of Connecticut is gifted with many streams that hold and sustain wild brook trout. The Farmington River while not a small stream does have wild population of brook trout. To me this is fine and well accepted. But  the "epitome" of wild brook trout fishing is a small freestone stream.

These streams have been flowing this way for years. They were dammed at one time or another, perhaps sustained a man made mishap, and natural disasters that are countless. Still they survive as do the brook trout that call them home. It is on these streams that you'll find me. As a matter of fact they will be my choice for almost all of my fishing. I believe this to be because I have never experienced a bad day on them, not meaning in terms of catching brookies, because there are skunks out there, but the whole small stream experience.

The "Ausable Bomber". This fly is the creation of Fran Betters. In the back of Frans mind I believe he created it for small streams and wild brookies. These "Bombers" were tied from materials from Frans shop. "Bombers" have taken brook trout in every month of the year. The "Bomber" is the "epitome" of a small stream fly.


A small stream that I fished Monday. The fly used was the "Bomber" Letting it work in pool, riffle and run. There were lots of brookies rising to it and even a few to hand.







17 comments:

  1. Nice to see them still rising to bomber even this late in december! Fran sure had a winner with the Bomber.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mark,
      Thanks.
      That they are buddy. The man knew trout and what to feed them.

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  2. Replies
    1. Howard Levett,
      Thanks.
      No arguments from me Howard.

      Delete
  3. Very nice...fly & fish. Happy Holidays!

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  4. Even though winter brookies don't generally rise to dry flies in my neck of the woods, I too like to think of my little winter streams as offering the epitome of fly-fishing opportunities, as you do. Nice going.

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  5. Drew LooknFishy,
    Thanks.
    I appreciate your comment.

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  6. Alan, I will need to take some time and look up that fly pattern. I know those Fran Betters flies have been around forever. Just never tied any up. Looks simple enough!

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    Replies
    1. Mel,
      Thanks.
      It's a pretty simple fly Mel. And I can tell you this it "Really" works well.

      Delete
  7. I love the purple in the tail of that first brooky!

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    Replies
    1. RM Lytle,
      Thanks.
      That stream highlighted it well.

      Delete
  8. Great pic's Alan. Some how, thinking of brookies, I think of small streams - nearly intermittent in nature or those swampy flowages through beaver meadow's, and even beaver ponds. Some how, the toughness and resilience of those amazing little fish lives on in the most astonishing little spots.

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    Replies
    1. Hibernation,
      Thanks.
      Will I know of a beaver pond in Maine I fished several years ago that was probably the most overstocked place I ever tossed a fly. The brookies were all stunted but you had one on every cast.

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