Monday, April 15, 2019

CT's Opener. Choosing The Right Stream, And The Tradition Continued.

Saturday was the Connecticut trout season opener. In days of past this was quite a tradition for most anglers. Trout rivers and lakes and ponds were stocked to the gills with trout and many fishers out there to take as many as allowed by law. The opening day tradition lost some wind when the state established TMA's and WTMA's which pretty much allowed trout fishing year round. Well we started a tradition several years ago. Every opening day a group of us gathered to fish a small wild trout stream. That tradition continued this year but there were only two of us. Mark, who drove down from MA. and myself. We chose a stream we were familiar with to be the first choice. We got there at 8 and were graced with a heavy downpour. Added to the heavy rains that happened all night and you guessed it "high water". We sat in Marks truck and discussed our plans. While talking we enjoyed hot coffee and muffins compliments of Mark. We decided to fish the stream....that did not last to long. The high water and swift currents made for impossible fishing. A second choice of stream was suggested and off we went.

Different stream and it looked as bad as the first. As you can see in the first photo this stream was out of control. We fished though and had a few takers but nothing to hand.


Mark still attired in full rain gear trying to present a fly. See that log jam....




This little pool, at normal flows is so docile and productive was almost impossible to fish. We continued upstream until we saw a small tributary. That little blue line was a gem. It's flow was nice and almost normal. It was in this tributary that the first trout came to hand.


Here Mark is taking a photo of a beautiful brookie. The fish was quite large for this stream and was beautifully colored. It was at this time we decided to fish a third stream, and it turned out to be the most productive blue line of the day.


As you can see the stream was flowing nicely. The residents were also playing nice and on my first cast a brookie rose to my fly.


A wild resident of "brook trout forest" he was strong and healthy and vanished into his watery home the moment he felt the cold water.


We continued to fish this stream, selecting pools and runs. The brookies were wonderful and this made for a great opening day.


My last fish of the day. Mark continued to fish further upstream. We shook hands on selecting this stream and on how we managed to get a A+ day out of it.












14 comments:

  1. Allan,
    Great looking fish. Way to make lemonade!
    JJ

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  2. As always, a pleasure to share your company to open the season!

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    1. MarkW
      Thanks
      It was an enjoyable day, and it was made better after that last little stream blessed us with some beautiful brookies.

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  3. Even the streams blown out with high water are beautiful to look at. Thanks for taking us along.

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    1. mike
      Thanks
      Mike some of the logs that were moved by that little stream are unreal...the brookies held on though.

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  4. Well done, fellas! Great call fishing that third stream tributary where the trout cooperated within more normal flow. Lots more rain fell today which sure beats a drought.

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    1. Sam
      Thanks
      Sam I'll not complain about the rains. The last two years have been outstanding in rainfall totals and the brookies have come back strong.

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  5. Hi Alan
    Looks like you plucked an opening day victory from the jaws of defeat with that 3rd blue line..... Those are some nicely coloured and conditioned bookies.
    I missed the opening day fishing for the first time in 8 years this year and only had my first trout outing on Sunday! Nothing spectacular 1 trout around 10" & 1 grayling around 8" but it was nice to be out on my own local blue line. As the Easter weekend approaches, I am hoping to be back out again a couple more times!
    Thanks
    Alistair

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    1. Anonymous
      Thanks
      Alistair first off even though you missed the opening at least you made up for it. A trout and a grayling no matter the size is always worth the effort. Time on the waters is so precious.

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  6. Local knowledge + persistence = awesome day on a little blue line.

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    1. Bill Shuck
      Thanks
      Bill that last stream has been one of our little gems over the years and it came through for us again. Small streams rise fast and recede pretty quick.

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  7. Alan
    Glad the weather didn't dampen you guys opening day---that last stream was a gem for sure. Thanks for sharing

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    Replies
    1. Bill Trussell
      Thanks
      Bill we were there and that's half the battle, and we had plenty of coffee.
      That last stream has been one of our favorites over the years.

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