Down in Char's Ravine

 There's a stream in Eastern Connecticut that I've fished a handful of times. It's character intrigued me from the first visit. This stream's gradient is very steep, and though it is a very tiny drainage, years have given it the time to cut itself a deep and treacherous ravine. Moss covered ledge encapsulate the stream's course, sheltering it from intruders. Fishing this stream requires rock climbing and squeezing around boulders. Remaining stealthy is paramount, because the species that dominate this ravine are shy and easily disturbed. Connecticut's last surviving native salmonid finds this dark and secluded habitat to their liking. This is brook trout habitat. Because Salvelinus fontinalis are the dominant of the three fish species found in this stretch of tumbling water (blacknose and longnose dace being the other two), I chose to name this place Char's Ravine. 

Salvelinus: char

fontinalis: living in springs

In need of tranquility one mild December afternoon, I found myself scrambling into Char's Ravine with a fly rod in my hand and just one small fly box in my bag. This was all I needed to catch a brook trout here and most other places brook trout live. The fly on the end of my tippet was predictable... the Ausable Ugly would get down into the deep plunges where the brook trout here hold. It's undulating grizzly hackle and muskrat tail also provide an attraction factor that fish feeding on macroinvertebrates and small fish find very appealing.

As I made my way upstream fishing each plunge pool, the place seemed dead. I wasn't spooking any fish that I could see, and certainly not catching any. I'd almost forgotten that this was normal here, that I'd never caught anything below a certain small water fall. These fish exist in genetic isolation. There is little opportunity for new fish to enter the gene pool from another stream in the watershed. This could be a problem over an extended period of time.

I was starting to get worried that this stream's population could have disappeared when I finally caught one. Small but vibrantly colored, this little char will live its whole short life in the ravine. It may never exceed 8 inches, and if it were to attain that size it would likely be in its fifth or sixth and final year of life. In such a stream, 8 to 10 inch brook trout are rarer than a 20 inch brown trout in the Farmington. 

I continued fishing up the ravine until I'd brought my third brookie to hand. I was satisfied with that number and had potential snake habitat to scout out in the area, so I waved goodbye to Char's Ravine.

As this winter has progressed, I've been getting back to my roots a bit. I'm taking the chance to explore new small streams and visit old ones that I haven't been to in a while. It feels good to get back to basics... small water, small gear, small wild fish. This embodies so much of what got me into fly fishing. I've still not fished even a tenth of the small streams with wild trout potential in this state. Let's see how many I can get to before year's end.

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, and Geof for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version. 

Edited by Cheyenne Terrien