"400"

Well it's been a little over two years ago that I started this blog. Today marks the 400th post of "Small Stream Reflections". I have tried to keep this blog simple and enjoyable, just like the fishing I do as well as the simple but elegant pleasures that are associated with small streams.

In these photos that follow I hope to show you some of the simple and wonderful beauty associated with what I believe is the most rewarding type of fly angling.

I want to thank all of you who have and continue to read this blog. I will try to bring you more of the pleasures I have and hopefully will continue to have in the future.

Small Stream, solitude.

Simple flies.

Ham and cheese, with black coffee. A stream side lunch served on a moss covered rock. Simple but elegant as Filet Mignon and Merlot.

Wild brook trout taken from a small stream.

You don't have to fish a small stream to enjoy your day. Just look around.

A wild jewel. He is native to our New England waters.

A small stream wild brown. His beauty is a very close second to the brook trout.

Can you count the colors in this little piece of earth.

You don't need a large fly box for small streams. And usually a size 14 will work.

The end of a fine day of angling small streams. An "Apple Cider" donut and coffee.

One of the greatest pleasures I have is "Passing it On", to the future.

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Cabin Creek, Northern Lights and.....

We took a walk along Cabin Creek the other day just to see how things were holding up. The stream was at a level that was acceptable for this time of year. A well shaded stream with temps in the mid sixties. We observed several spooked streaks, and even a rise. In one very gnarly tangled mess where a deep pool was created I observed a brown of generous proportions lying in ambush. A fine prospect this fall should he decide to move from his security blanket.

The "Northern Lights" aka The Brook Trout.

Some work horses. These are trolling streamers. They are large flies that represent smelt. They can be trolled using a fly rod and sinking line, or with lead core line.

Some Items For That "List"

Christmas 2012, it doesn't feel much like it this last week of August with the exception of this fresh hot brewed Nantucket coffee beside me waiting to do its work. But Christmas Eve is just four months from today and I have a few ideas for your gift list.

Here are a couple of good books that I feel would make a fine gift, either for yourself or for someone on your list.

The first book is Fishing, Ghosts, and my Mother's Gray Hair, by Mark Kautz. Some of Mark's tales and experiences as told by him in a wonderful way that only Mark can tell.

Mark runs a fine blog, "Northern California Trout" and the book can be purchased at is blog.

The second is "Adirondack Flies" by J.P. Ross. This a fine book of flies from this region, with great color photos of the patterns. The patterns are old favorites and some created by Ross. This book can be purchased at his web site, http://www.jprossflyrods.com/

These are a few variations of a Ross fly pattern. I have not fished them, except for the yellow bodied one which produced a brown for me. I will fish these more as the cooler waters of autumn arrive.

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Tight Quarter Brown

There are many pages in the journal of the small streams in brook trout forest. Pages that tell of special fish and the ways these fish are fooled into taking a fly. This is one such story.

This stream is a tight one now. Its width has been reduced to a typical late summer flow. It remains cool and continues to provide protection for the residents.

A normal day will have me bring several brookies to the surface for dry fly offering and if I'm lucky one or two will come to hand. There are those times when a wild one of a different gene will take the fly and it's these times that make it memorable.

This was one such day. It was a day after a good rain. The woods were wet, and things seem to glisten as the sun made brief appearances. The TFO 2wt was waiting deployment in this tight quarter.

As the fly worked along a deep undercut towards a foam slick the flash of a trout was visible and a second later I felt the pull of a good fish. He tried desperately to reach the roots in the undercut but was turned back by the TFO.

As I lay my hand into the water to gently lift this wild brown he seemed to just lie there, knowing that soon he would be again free.

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