Of Sore Backs, Scraped Elbows, And Knee Deep Bogs, A Day In Brook Trout Forest

This was an adventure into "brook trout forest"..an area located in northwest Connecticut. I have been fishing this stream for over 25 years and it's had it's fluctuations both in fish size and quantity. The one constant has been there is no development, other than a large beaver population. I have enjoyed this stream and it's wild surroundings and now I have other areas in which to try my hand at namely the beaver ponds that have been created.

The first beaver pond I came upon was quite beautiful. The sun was working through the dense hemlock forest that dominates the area. The waters are dark and well stained with tannin. I new that dry flies were not going to work very well here at least not from the start. I have a few nymphs I carry and that's what I chose to tie on.

On my second cast into the pond I felt a hard strike, "brookie on", not so. This beautiful fellow came to hand. His colors were as beautiful as any brook trout and I was thrilled that I took a fish before I snagged the nymph on the bottom. I continued to fish that pond hoping for a brook trout but all that responded to the nymph were several dace.

I moved further up the beaver pond until I was near to where the stream enters. The dace were many but there were also a few substantial hits that told me there are other fish here.

My thoughts were proven right when I fooled my first brookie of the day. She was a dark specimen and even the sunlight did little to brighten her up. I was to take several more brookies here and slightly upstream until I stepped into a very boggy area and found myself in knee deep nasty mud. Very slow and very cautious moves finally freed me from the mess.

The stream while small has it's nice deep pools, pardon, nice "dark" deep pools. In this one I found several willing natives to brighten the day.

A Connecticut wild one. The fly may look a bit odd, I'm sure Mark can identify it. It was the fly of the day.

I took several stream temps and found 48-50 degree water through out.

Sun spot on a tannin stream. Needless to say this stream winds through acres of hemlocks. What is it with hemlocks and brook trout. I guess they're buddies for life.

The brookies seemed to get more beautiful as I worked upstream. Each pocket or plunge held one.

I did fish a dry fly from time to time but received a cold response from the natives.

These jewels preferred there food below the surface. A few soft-hackles also brought some action.

This was the last beaver pond of the outing. It looked good but not a cast was made. That will remain so until I visit "brook trout forest" again.

Small Stream Journal 9-4-17

Labor day presented itself as a good opportunity to fish a nice little stream. There had been some rainfall the previous night and I know it had brought the stream up to where the brookies would move about. The day started wet, the foliage was wet and glistened in the sun light. The stream had many inviting little runs with a few pockets and undercuts.

I moved along the bank fishing a dry fly and found some willing players. The fly I used was beat and was loosing hair, but it still looked like food and they hit it repeatedly.

One of the better brookies that morning. He was the last fish to be taken on that beat up fly.

I was busy enjoying life along the stream when someone said Hi, I looked to my left and saw Mark. His blog "Fishing Small Streams" is also recounting our outing. He told me of his success and we both fished the stream together for a few hours

It was a very enjoyable morning, and the "Bomber" helped.

Iconic New England And The Gray Ghost

Iconic New England, I'm aware that other parts of this great country of ours also hold claim to being iconic areas and I agree, but in this post I'll be highlighting New England. The apples are a big part of the region, and not only are they a big money crop they are also the best fruit for countless recipes that can make one almost give up their first born for a taste. As this is a fly fishing related site I'm going to delve into another of New England's Icons.

A whole bunch of materials, kind of looks like mess. But when certain items are selected and placed on a iron hook they will turn into probably the most recognized fly ever tied.

The "Gray Ghost"...Carrie Stevens Iconic Streamer. She tied this back in 1924, and since then I'll guess more fish have been taken on it than any other pattern. Mrs Stevens tied many patterns over the years but the Gray Ghost is my personal favorite. Mrs. Stevens was from Maine but part of the story behind the Gray Ghost has its roots in Connecticut. A fellow named "Shang" Wheeler played a big part in Gray Ghost history.

Here is my "Gray Ghost"...while not an overly difficult streamer to tie, it does have it's problem areas. One in particular is the tying in of the golden pheasant crests. They can be very brittle and problematic in getting them to set properly in place.

But when it all comes together the streamer is with out question a very beautiful part of New England.

It Is Almost Here

Small Stream Reflections

The page of the calendar changed Friday, September moved in and the last day of summer was placed back in the memory column. With the change in months there also came a feeling of joy for the up coming season. Autumn is without a question the finest season for the angler, especially the small stream angler. It is a time of cool days and colored leaves. A time of shorter days and flannel shirts. It is when brook trout start moving to their spawning grounds and are their most colorful. These are my days folks.

I spent the first day of September here, a beloved brook trout stream. You can see the reflections of a changing scene in the slick pools. These are what small stream angling is about.

This is a favorite pool, it will bring a strike almost all of the time, that strike coming from anywhere along its course. This day was no different except for the trout that took the fly.

Instead of the usual brookie that I hook here I tangled with this very strong brown. She took a bomber and used every inch and obstruction in that pool to gain her freedom. The Cane and Silk fiberglass 2weight did its job and she was at hand. I observed how dark she was and how well conditioned she was. A quick photo and back in the water she was.

September 1st was a fine day and a great start to that "Glorious Season" that is near.