A Hike....

One day last week we took a little hike into a quiet peaceful state forest. I have been here before during the winter and found moving about a bit difficult. But today it was about perfect. The trail is fairly easy to walk and in some areas it is actually an old road, remnants of asphalt can be seen along with barriers that would prevent autos from sliding down the embankment to the stream. The stream itself was in fair condition considering the tight rainfall of the previous weeks. Thunderstorms can put down a lot of rain and some ares really benefit. The forest is well shaded and the water temps were at 62 degrees.

Parts of this stream were a series of riffles and plunges with a few larger pools. Brookies were seen moving very swiftly as they saw my movement.

Jeanette and camera and fly box and water and snacks. Always there and always ready.

Me and Tiny Ten trying to coax a brookie.

Dark waters, perhaps I'll find a willing one here.

I did find one and the bomber with Tiny Ten took care of matters.

After a great outing like that we had a wonderful meal. A stuffed Cornish hen and....

Summer Fare And An Answer To Bill Trussell's Question

Zucchini Pancakes

One of the most common summer vegetables is the Zucchini squash. When it's hot these long green beauties can be found on sale in markets and farm stands everywhere. The price can be cheap and I for one take advantage of it. A simple way of fixing zucchini is one that I make often, it includes garlic, tomatoes, onions and zucchini. All baked together. Another way is fried zucchini, this includes sliced squash, bread crumbs, eggs and grated cheese. The squash is fried in oil until golden brown. The issue with this form of preparation is the amount of oil the squash absorbs.

Zucchini pancakes is a better way to fix this squash. It starts with the squash being grated, a bit of baking powder, 2 eggs, salt and pepper, grated cheese and enough flour to help absorb the liquid. If you take the time to drain and squeeze the squash the less flour you'll use. The mixture is placed in a fry pan and cooked until golden brown. Prepared this way the amount of oil is less then half the amount used in typical fried zucchini.

Native pickling cukes, sliced red onions, olive oil, salt and pepper. Everyday lunch for me. Simple and light and really tasty.

Awhile back frequent contributor Bill Trussell asked me a question. He asked do you see many snakes while fishing those small streams. My answer was yes, but I pass many more that I don't see. Here is one that I almost put my hand on while climbing up a stream bank. A water snake, non venomous but very aggressive and they will bite. This one was quite still and very wet. In his mouth was a brook trout he had just taken from the stream.

The Farmington 7-2020

My first visit to the Farmington river happened last week. It had been a long time coming and with the lack of rain in the area it was now time to give the big river a try. I did not get to the the river very early, choosing to arrive about 10. The sky was a half and half mix and the air temperature was in the eighties. I expected to find the river with lots of anglers but I was surprised to see it was actually quite sparse. The river is probably just right as most anglers would agree, for me it was somewhat high. Fishing small streams can put a different perspective on high and low water flow. I gazed at the river while putting on my waders and tossed around in my head just what fly I was going to start off with. A streamer, or a soft-hackle, well the streamer was chosen.

The first spot was not friendly so off I went to a "side channel" and switched flies to a soft hackle. It was not long before I had my first Farmington river trout of this year.

A wild brookie took the soft hackle right where I thought he would be. That "side channel" produced several more brookies.

Moving back to the deeper area I found some nice settled water. Although the flow was strong the surface was smooth. I could see rising fish and I went after them. A mix of rainbows and browns.

This rainbow was quite nice. It was a stocked fish, but it might have been a hold over. It's fins were in beautiful shape as was the tail. The fish took a parachute Adams.

Bill P. you see that rod. It's a great small stream rod but it can also handle big water fish. I'll bet your really glad you purchased one.

Primrose, The House And The Rangeley Streamer

There's an older home in the town where I live. This home we have driven by a thousand times over the years and we have commented on how we like it so much. There's no particular reason on  why we like it but there's just something about it. Well the other day it inspired me to create a streamer fly. The main thought was to incorporate the color "primrose" into the fly. Going through my materials I found that I could use a beautiful primrose yarn I have but the wing was another story.

The yellow saddle hackle I had was much to bright, it was sort of "hard" for a lack of a better word. So what I came up with was to use it along with a white saddle hackle feather. Using the white feather first and placing the yellow feather over it I came very close to primrose.

Hook, Martinek Rangeley Streamer..Body, Light Yellow Yarn..Rib, Gold Tinsel..Throat, Red Hackle..Cheeks, Jungle Cock..Head, Red Ostrich Herl

"Primrose"