Wednesday, August 3, 2016

A Small Stream, All's Well

After several weeks of fishing the Farmington the urge was there to find some solitude among the wild trout of my favorite small stream. Yesterday I was out in the rain checking on it. The flow was OK and the water temp was 60. Sunrise today found me having coffee and oatmeal and trying to decide where I was going to start. There is an upper stream and an outback stream, the latter can be rough, the former much more friendly. I chose the friendly section.



The sun coming through the trees and flooding the fields with such glorious light...the day was a success already and a fly never touched the water.


This stream has been a good friend to me for years, and this day that friendship continued.


To say I was astonished at this fish would be an understatement. I was in utter awe. The true beauty of this wild brown cannot be realized in a photo.


I moved along and continued to find willing fish.


This stream also holds a few brook trout, and I was fortunate to take a few.


The flies of the day..I would have bet the car that dries would have dominated.


These small stream brookies have some beautiful colors.

A morning on a small stream, I am refreshed, faith restored and now its time to heal the sore knees.


19 comments:

  1. Holy cow! What a brown trout out of that small stream. I would have never imagined a trout like that would be living there. Beautiful brookies too! I am so happy that small stream is flowing so well and the water temp is a healthy 60 degrees. That is great news, Alan. Beautiful pictures as always.

    Regards, Sam

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    Replies
    1. Parachute Adams
      Thanks
      Sam, that stream has given up many like him. It's one of CT's better small streams for wild browns. There is a brookie mix but it varies from year to year. I'm sure the water will remain constant but the flow may drop.

      Delete
  2. Gem of a stream. You're a lucky man.

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    1. FullChoke
      Thanks
      Yes sir you are right on both.

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  3. Outstanding Brk Trt!! That brown is a beauty. I bet it was a welcome suprise!

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    1. TROUTI
      Thanks
      Pete he sure did. I've taken some nice browns in that stream and this one is near the top.

      Delete
  4. That is quite a stunning brown. I never would have expected you to be fishing a frenchie though!

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    1. RM Lytle
      Thanks
      Rowan I prefer to call it a Paris soft-hackle.
      I tie a turn of starling behind the bead.
      I've got a new hook in which to tie these on and the first few look good. Mat have to have Pete test them for me.

      Delete
  5. From the size of that Brown, I'd say the stream is just fine.

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    1. Mark Kautz-Shoreman
      Thanks
      Mark that stream appears to be just that. We would like a little more water flowing through it though.

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  6. Nice job Alan! I think I caught that brown last year when the water was done. Check out this picture and see if you think it's the same fish! https://fishingsmallstreams.blogspot.com/2015_07_01_archive.html

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    Replies
    1. Mark Wittman
      Thanks
      Mark the brown pictured here has a more pronounced jaw, and appears to be a male. Yours might also be a male, but the jaw looks different. Nice fish both of them.

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  7. Looks like you found the predator and few of his favorite foods. Nice yellow shades with those blue halos!

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    1. Fading Angler
      Thanks
      Chris I'll bet that brown consumes those halos.
      All part of it.

      Delete
  8. Glad your favorite stream is holding up alright. Another rain would certainly do it some good. That's one heck of a brown! Glad some brookies made their way into the mix too. Always good to see.

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    1. RI brook trout
      Thanks
      Jon it was good that day, but so much more rain is needed. It's funny some day's the brookies are there and suddenly they're gone. The browns are always there.

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  9. Hi Alan, stories and photos are as great as ever. Inspired as I was I went and relived a childhood memory. My first fly line was a 30 ft length of nylon cord, my first fly reel was a cheap aluminium centre-pin and my first fly rod was a 5ft long solid fibre glass thing in bright blue with a white plastic handle and a couple of garish red plastic end caps - it was not pretty. The nylon cord I greased with Vaseline to make it float - it did and my flies I bought. Red spinners, Greenwells glory, whickhams fancies, black gnats pheasant tailed nymphs and so on. So this week end I removed the fly line from my reel replaced it with level nylon cord, bought a small tub of Vaseline and greased it, you know what it worked as well as ever, two fish and two missed, beautiful little brownies from the headwaters of the River Taff here in Wales, No way I am using solid glass fly rod again though!

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