A Little Saturday "Tonic"

Saturday Jeanette and I took a nice drive into northwest Connecticut. There are some lovely little towns along route 7 that have some interesting shops. One of Connecticut's premier trout rivers flows through this area, the Housatonic. We stopped and walked a stretch of it admiring the beauty. And no I did not bring a fly rod, although I wish I had. The river looked to be in good shape as compared to the Farmington. One of the towns we walked around was West Cornwall.

The Wandering Moose was pretty packed for lunch.

An interesting little barn.

Downstream from the covered bridge were a couple of fly fishers. At this time of year I suspect they were fishing for smallmouth bass as opposed to trout. The Housatonic is prime water for both.

Simply charming.

We saw this in a field. We were far away from it and it really stood out. We tried to figure out what it was but of everything we guessed we were wrong.

Creative. And thanks.

The "West Branch"

Dry weather issues this summer have found me fishing more lakes than usual. While the Farmington river has produced some great outings the lack of rain has put even that river on hold for me. So yesterday I chose to fish the reservoir that is the start of the west branch tailwater. I have fished here many times and can say it is one of Connecticut's most peaceful places. The beauty is almost unmatched and to sit along it's banks and take it all in is a complete day.

While I would not classify this area as a wilderness I would say it's pretty wild. I have seen bear, deer,turkey, and evidence of moose. The sound of nothing is a pleasure to the ear. "Looks full".

I love this cove, but then who wouldn't. I was able to fish this one area for the morning and take a variety of fish both on the surface and below.

While these smallmouth bass are not huge they are impressive. They do not stop battling, and they are gorgeous in their color as well as their camo patterns make them the top predator in the cove.

The next two photos are some of the best so far this year. The two fish are in the water, and what stands out is the clarity of that water.

This photo of a smallie with a "big dry fly in mouth" is as good as it gets.

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.

August First...A Fine Start

Today is August 1st, we have moved into another summer month, I hope it's much kinder than July was. We have received some much needed rain over the last few days. Some areas of the state did very well while most did OK. The air temps have dropped to the 70's to near 80, all to the better for our trout. On the way to the river this morning I passed over a couple of small streams, look there is water flowing, a good sign. This day would feature some clouds and some sun, I prefer the clouds but you can't have it all. The thermometer went into the water and it said 63 degrees, all's fine.

With a few fish rising I put on a dry and proceeded to have a ball. They were not bashful about taking on the surface. There's nothing nicer than a trout rising to the fly.

Salmon parr were very aggressive. I knew there were other fish there only the salmon seemed to grab the fly first.

In the mix were a few super fast brook trout.

This dry fly was a champ this day.

The dry fly action slowed and a variety of wet flies and soft-hackles were called to duty.

This nice rainbow could not let the Liesenring Spider drift past him.

This fine wild brook trout found Pete Hidy's work also hard to let slide without taking a whack at it.

Overall a good start to August...I hope it continues.