Winter Small Stream Angling, and Dry Flies

After a few attempts to get together and fish a small stream Kirk, Mark, and myself pulled it off Friday. Upon arriving at the parking area the weather had a feel of winter. The sun was bright but a cold breeze was in the mix. The stream was clear and a bit low, but in good shape for this time of year. Many small brook trout could be seen scattering as we moved along, this is a good sign as to the health of the stream.

We had fished a variety of flies with some success. I consider success to be when a trout moves on a fly. It's not necessary to hold it, there's so much more to angling.

Mark fishing a long glassy pool. From time to time trout could be seen rising, but to "what".

Well it didn't take long. Mark took this wild jewel .

Kirk and I spent some time telling Mark a few stories about this stream. As we fished Kirk took a water temp...35 degrees...pretty cold. We continued to see sporadic rises, and small flies on the water.

Coming upon a pool that had a swift flow entering, then a bend that flattened out at the tail. There was a tree with a bunch of roots and a trout was rising near it. What to use? I tied on a small black caddis dry, It was tough getting the fly to float over the fish, but after several casts it was there.

The little caddis and 2wt did there job. I was fortunate to hold this wild brookie. Wild trout on the dry...in December.

We continued to fish and exchange stories. Mark fished small brook trout streams as a kid in Pennsylvania, and still enjoys it today. Kirk, fished for torut in his younger days but spent many years fishing the salt. It's been about a year now that he has returned to trout fishing and the small streams. They both have blogs. Kirk's is "Trout Quest Redux"...and Marks is "Fishing Small Streams"

Kirk is showing Mark a place where a few weeks earlier he had almost stepped on a good sized wild brown.

As that 2 hour window of opportunity started to close, and the fish stopped feeding we walked out and agreed it was a good outing.

Where we had parked, there was a pool. This pool was quite deep and I know it holds a trout or two especially this time of year. I said to Mark that I always wanted to fish a wooly bugger in that pool. He said that he tied some smaller buggers for just this type of stream. I said tie one on and have a go. On his second cast this beautiful rainbow hit the bugger. A quick photo and off he went.

A good ending, a good group of anglers, and perhaps the same results come New Years Day.

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"Bombers" and December Brookies

Small stream angling can be difficult this time of year. The water levels, stream temps and weather play big roles on the success of the outing. Such was the case with my few hours Sunday. New England weather can change like no where else on earth, and this weekend was a good example. Saturday was a cold blustery day that featured little sun, gray clouds and snow flurries. Fifteen hours later on Sunday it was still cloudy, but no wind and warming temps.

I arrived at the woods parking area. I noticed some patches of snow on the ground, but the ground was soft. The air temp seemed to be about fifty. I started fishing a wet fly and noticed how quick the brookies were to follow the fly and eventually take the offering. This same fly did well on the runs and pools along the stream. The sun never did make itself visible but did brighten the sky a bit. Later in the day I noticed some insect activity, they were small flies, but the fish could detect them and began rising.

It was in this long clear pool that I observed two brook trout rising. They were coming up every so often and taking the emerging flies, one even came up the pool to where I was standing and took a fly. So into the box I went and pulled out a "Bomber" and tied it on. I reached for the Gink and there was none, it was sitting at home in the garage. Luckily the Bomber is one of those dry flies that floats pretty well on its own. The Bomber was cast into the pool and allowed to drift to its likely target. Soon a beautiful brookie was at hand.

It was this quiet, clear pool that proved to be a hot spot. Along the bank where the three trees are to the woody debris in the stream, the trout were rising. They took the Bomber both floating and half sunk. Even as one was hooked and really disrupted the pool, it did not matter, and it did not put the others down.

A couple of brook trout that took the Bomber this day in December.

Beautifully colored and marked healthy wild brook trout. December in New England, on a small stream.

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