Thursday, May 2, 2019

On the first of May

For the last week or so the weather here has been less then stellar. Being spring one expects changes and for the most part I can live with change with one exception and that exception is when it fouls up my fishing. With rainy nights and cool days it seems that the fish have been turned off. With the prospect of my better producing streams not coming through for me I have chosen to fish a few that I have not visited in years. This stream is in fact one I have not fished in five years. I had an overcast sky when I pulled of the road to park. The parking area as well as the stream flow through state land. I noticed one other car parked a bit further down and I assumed it was a hiker, it had to be a hiker because no one else fishes this stream. Then the other possibility came into my thoughts and that was maybe a turkey hunter. Not knowing if the season was open I chose to don my orange cap.

The stream is not tough to access. While the usual laurel and thorn bushes are there they really don't crowd you and casting is actually pretty good. The stream itself has a good population of brook trout and usually I can get a few to go along with me and bite the fly...not today. It was lockjaw. I fished for 3 hours and had 1 hit and one to hand. I blamed it on the weather.


There were a few flowering trees mixed in with the laurel and hardwoods. The blossoms were beautiful. This leads me to my fly selection. Why not use a fly the same color as the flower blossoms....in the book Trout Flies and Flowers the authors suggest doing just that.


Into the box I looked and this is what I pulled out. On the second cast I was greeted by a splashy rise and a beautiful little brookie.


I continued to fish the little white fly and caught a few more. It was in this flat slow pool that I encountered what I never would have thought would be there. A brook trout slammed the little fly, he fought like heck and even caused the silty sand to cloud the stream.


As I brought the fish to hand I noticed it was a beautiful female. From the size of the fish it was apparent she was in the stream a number of years and no question she spawned quite a few times. She was gently released back into her stream to continue what she has been doing for years.


As I was compiling what had happened on this outing I came to a conclusion...experts are not always right. A few lines in the song "We don't know what the North Pond Hermit Knows" say "we're loosing touch with nature and we don't know how it flows"....









22 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Mark Kautz
      Thanks
      Mark I don't think I'll wait another five years again to fish that stream.

      Delete
  2. What amazing coloration on that brookie Alan!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hibernation
      Thanks
      Will as beautiful a fish as that was I caught one even more impressive yesterday. Stay tuned buddy.

      Delete
  3. The fly you used is as beautiful as the fish it caught. Nice to see pictures of a stream in spring. Weather here is warming up and the ice will be out by next week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mike
      Thanks
      Mike sometimes it pays to dig through your fly box and experiment. It's also great that brookies are always hungry. I'm glad that spring is making it to the north land.

      Delete
  4. They just keep coming Alan! What a fish! The stream and woods look so fresh to.

    Thanks

    Alistair

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alistair
      Thanks
      It's has been a very good spring so far both in the quality of fish and the life in the forest. Loving it.

      Delete
  5. Can't keep a good man down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Matthew Harding
      Thanks
      Matt I sure hope your angling ventures are what you want.

      Delete
  6. Hello Alan, I like to see the spring season arrive in your town and see when the fishing season begins, here, on the contrary, we are closing the fishing season and starting the winter season ... what a pity ..! Very good woodcock and claret fly. , Congratulations .!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Armando Milosevic
      Thanks
      Armando it is so beautiful when life begins anew...spring is really busting out and each day something new is seen.
      Winter is a season that really tests us all.

      Delete
  7. Alan
    So impressed with the markings on the females back; like the fly selection as well. Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill she was beautiful, so natural. I met another yesterday that was an equal if not more beautiful.

      Delete
  8. Keep posting Alan. Tore my rotator cuff and I'm out of commission for a good long while.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. billp
      Thanks
      Bill keep reading...SSR's is good therapy. And the price is right.

      Delete
    2. The best therapy. Your web site is a gem.

      Delete
  9. Beautiful brookies Alan! I was also surprised to see mountain laurel blossoms so early.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NJpatbee
      Thanks
      Pat those blossoms were on a tree, perhaps a crab apple.
      mountain laurel for CT usually peaks in June.

      Delete
    2. They fooled me. What a great time of year!

      Delete
  10. What a beautifully colored chunky brook trout. How old do you figure a trout that size is? Man, you are catching some big brook trout this year Alan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sam
      Thanks
      Sam I would guess 5 years, maybe older.
      My outing on the third of May produced an even more spectacular brook trout. Report today.

      Delete