Small Stream Reflections: September brookies

Monday, September 2, 2013

Septembers First Outing

A spooky early morning stream

Sunday morning was to be my first outing of September. A new month and the beginning of the new season, unofficially that is. I chose to fish a small stream located deep in a forest. This stream holds a good population of wild brookies and generally runs cold even through out the warmer months. The night before some parts of the state received heavy rains which is welcomed at least by us small stream guys. As I pulled off the road and onto the dirt service road I could tell that this area got rocked with rain. The pot holes were full of water and the trees were still dripping.

The streams access point is about a mile or so back into the hemlock and hardwood forest. It seemed a bit spooky driving through the woods on this misty, foggy and somewhat dark morning. Nearing the stream I could hear water rushing. I said to myself that can't be the stream. The closer I got to it the louder the sound was. As I pulled off the road to park I got my first look at the stream. I could not believe what I saw. This little mountain freestone brook was ripping. Seeing this I knew I had a tough outing ahead.

I figured with water as such my choice would be to fish the slower pockets with a wet fly, and that's what I did. After many casts and several spots without a response I thought to myself this is going to be one of those days when I would earn my fish. Then on one cast that veered off course into some very heavy current a trout grabbed the fly. He was on a brief time then departed. I cast the fly in a similar current and it was taken.

Early Autumn Colors

My first brook trout to hand on this day was beautiful. This fish was in almost full spawn colors. Perhaps with the higher flows of the stream he was moving upstream to the place where he would start the next generation.