Concentrated Sweetness.....

As you can see the fall foliage is getting better. The rain has helped to bring out some deeper colors but with the wind associated with the rain took down a lot of leaves. This weekend should be a great one to get out and view what is so beautiful. Keep in mind it is a short season.

We have been blessed with some much needed rain. I'm optimistic about the next month as far as continued rain is concerned. I visited a couple of streams yesterday and found they were doing well as far as flows are concerned.

 

 

This is a scene you'll be seeing a lot of in the next couple of months. I love apples, small streams and bamboo. The crop here in CT. has been great, but the lack of rain during the growing season has given us smaller fruit. But by being smaller they are great deal sweeter....small in size equals concentrated sweetness, just like small stream wild brook trout.

A fly that has been working...orange silk wrapped with peacock herl with gray partridge. I'll be out over the weekend, most likely in Massachusetts. Be safe......

 

That Season...That "Glorious Season"

This is the last day of September, the skies have opened up and gave us a much needed drink. I have not seen an actual rainfall number but from my not so sophisticated rain gauge I make it 2 inches. From radar views the state may have exceeded 3 inches. This influx of water will have an impact on the small streams and bring some movement in wild trout.

The scene above is the start of the "glorious season"...that magical time when nature paints the New England area. The colors that come forth this time of year are nothing shy of incomparable. The season refreshes both mind and soul and gives us thought to the fact that there is something greater and this is just one way of showing us.

 

Both the brown trout and the brook trout choose this time to start the process of renewing their  species.
 

The colors of these fish will increase as time arrives to spawn.
 

Scenes like this are fully underway in Connecticut.
 

Autumn's colors are represented in this simple box of flies. I believe that these will serve me well for he next couple of months.
 

 

Flies Of The Season

I wrote a post a few days ago and where it went to is anybody's guess. I am not the most proficient user of anything technical. Well now I shall give it another shot. A recap on that post and what I tried to convey was the fact that I could never be a commercial fly tyer. When I sit down to tie a fly my thoughts are of what that fly is going to do and mean to the angler that actually fishes it. So while I wrap thread and hair and dubbing I am in thought as to how the final product will perform.

A favorite pattern of mine is the Partridge and Orange, it works well all year but it takes on special meaning during the fall season. It's color alone is representative of the season. Well yesterday I took a few of these flies, the Cabela's CGR , and Jeanette and I visited a lake.

The lake visit was more of an early foliage check which I may say was pretty nice. I guess we are about a week or so away from peak.

The time spent fishing the lake gave me a half dozen of these guys. Big time jumpers these smallies.

The surprise was this rainbow. I know there are trout in the lake but I have never caught one this early in the fall season. November is action time here for trout. Both the small mouth and the rainbow were all taken on the Partridge and Orange.

Maybe some Partridge and Yellow, along with Partridge and Red on the next trip.

 

Frosty Morning.....

Last week  Bill Trussell asked me when we here in Connecticut would receive our first frost. Normally the northwestern part of the state gets it first and that's usually the last week of September. Where I live in central CT. it's generally mid October. Well Bill we got a frost yesterday morning, and one this morning. I gauge cold mornings by the way my coffee cup feels when I reach for it in the morning. I lift it off the counter and if it feels cold and hot water is needed to warm it up before I fix my coffee then it's a frosty morning.

I fished yesterday and found the stream very much to my liking. The leaves are starting to thin so sections that were shaded are now open to more sun. Naturally this leads to more cautious trout.

My thermometer was called into action and a sample temp was taken...kind of cool wouldn't you say?

I noticed some of these, I think they are edible. Help needed on a ID.

A lovely little run/pool. Places like this almost certainly hold trout, but where would they be? I took a guess they would be at the tail of the pool. The fly was cast about mid pool and allowed to drift. It's completion went untouched. Several more casts brought the same result. I then cast the fly to the very head of the pool into the broken water. The fly hung up on a stone, as I pulled the fly free I saw a fish move towards it. Lifting it up and casting again I got the fly to float freely and the fish hit it again.

This feisty little guy was in his "close to spawn" autumn colors. A beautiful sight this frosty morning.