Hex Hatch & Other Updates

 There's currently an exceptional hex hatch happening in the evening on one of the rivers I guide. It's an exceptional opportunity to get large warm-water fish on dries, an opportunity most CT fly anglers never experience, and I've got the right vessel and gear for it. The window is short, I expect little more than the next 4 nights. If you'd like to try this, it's a short two hour trip that I'd run at a discount, so reach out soon if you've got a free evening and want to try something extremely unique! If the hatch doesn't happen there's generally still very good fishing. Channel catfish, huge carp, mega white perch, and large bass are all eating the hex. This isn't something you'll get from any other guide in CT. 

In other news, Noah and I have started doing weekly report for The Fisherman, specifically about the more odd and off-the wall bites that are happening. Subscribe on Youtube to catch our take on what's happening each week. 

Last but not least, on Thursday, August 11th I'll be doing a talk at the Middle Haddam Public Library at 7:00pm, entitled CT's World Class Carp & How to Catch Them on The Fly. It'll cover the history of carp in CT, how I go about targeting them on the fly, and their impacts on the CT River ecosystem. I hope to see you all there! 

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, Franky, Geof, Luke, Noah, Justin, Sean, Tom, Mark, and Jake 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.

No Rhyme or Reason- Bowfin Sight Fishing

 Bowfin are characters. Their behavior is plenty distinguishable from other fish species but also different enough individual to individual to keep me guessing. That's a big part of what has made me infatuated with these fish. Each one presents me with a slightly different experience, and since I can generally see everything play out in extreme detail. It all happens at rod length, or at least close to. Close combat is so engaging. My heart rate increases, my excitement becomes palpable. But sometimes a fish doesn't give me any sign at all. Sometimes a bowfin seems like it won't even eat and then suddenly it does. 

I was putting in some scouting time on a new bank, simply a little further from a launch than I've looked for bowfin in a system I fish a lot. It had a lot of key features, though the vegetated area was less constricted to a channel than the other areas within that system that have good numbers of bowfin so I wasn't sure how it would fish. Essentially, they were there in good number but less condensed on the low tide. There were bowfin spread out through a whole flat. It actually made it a bit more interesting than the tight concentrations that occur in other parts of the same system.

I picked off one small fish and blew a shot at another before I found one layed up on clean sand. I sort of spooked it though, at least I pushed it off station and it headed off. I pursued, slowly but trying to keep up. I was hoping it would settle down and stop moving, but just kept going. I paused to make a cast, just in case. Well, she ate. There wasn't any leadup, she didn't even falter, pause, slow down, or divert her course. She just sucked in the Mr. Bow-Regard from the side mid-swim. I've cast at a lot of travelling bowfin. In my experience it's a 50/50 chance of them eating, and there's no way to tell before I make the shot. Some of the ones I really haven't expected to convince ate like crazy, others that I thought were going to take spooked abruptly. It seems like there's no rhyme or reason. 

There may actually be a way for me to know, though it currently doesn't feel like it. It would be so much easier to be able to rule out some cruising bowfin as viable targets and not waste the energy trying to present to them. There are definable ways to tell when other fish won't eat. A carp that's cruising at a fast steady pace hardly ever takes a fly. A trout sitting on the bottom with a curve to it's body is a fish primed to spook, and I never bother to cast at a fish sitting that way anymore. But with cruising bowfin I haven't yet found out the secret. That's part of the magic of sight fishing- you have to learn each fish's body language. Every species is a little different. It's so engaging. 

I've got opening for sight fishing bowfin and carp over the next few weeks. While everything else in freshwater becomes tricky during the day, these fish remain targetable. The prime windows are morning and evening. Contact me to book. There are opportunities for record class fish, particularly carp. 

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, Franky, Geof, Luke, Noah, Justin, Sean, Tom, Mark, and Jake 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.

My Best CT Brook Trout Yet

 My hunt for giant wild brook trout was going quite well this spring when I started to ply anew stretch of stream. I'd caught 11 fish between 12 and 14 inches already in two other streams, and this one had similar characteristics. It had everything I've learned to look for with one exception: it had brown trout. I was a bit worried this might be hamper the brook trout from reaching their potential. Generally, where brown trout exist, if brook trout persist they do so in a compromised state. They don't attain the sort of size that they could otherwise while they compete with the more piscivorous and more warm water tolerant browns. The result is often a somewhat stunted brook trout population. I had hope for this stream in spite of that, why I'm not exactly sure. 

On my first visits this spring I didn't even catch a brook trout. It was browns with a few large fallfish mixed in. A few of the browns were quite decent but the largest fish I caught on the second visit was a one pound fallfish. Each time I fished evening into dark, fishing down with streamers then back up with a small mouse pattern. The streamer fishing predictably outperformed, but I managed a few fish on the mouse as well. During those trips, the flow was moderate. I pinpointed a particular hole that I felt could really hold something special. It had all the right ingredients: cut bank, notable depth, a nice incoming run. I was surprised it didn't produce a fish on those first few attempts. 

On my fourth visit, the water was much lower and I was struggling to find the success I had hoped for. The brown trout were turned off and either darting for cover or already underneath, and just not receptive. I tried being extremely slow and cautious but it just wasn't working. Then I came to that hole, the one I had high expectations for. I tied on larger fly than I'd been using, switching from a #10 Ausable Ugly to a #4 Half Pint. This hole was, after all, multiple feet deeper than anywhere I'd yet fished and I felt I needed not only to get down but to have something fairly meaty on. In four casts, I came tight. A torpedo shaped salmonid came out of the water, leaping as spectacularly as a fish of such size possibly could. To my astonishment I could clearly see that this was a brook trout and an extraordinary one at that. It actually had some control for a few moments, taking nine and dogging towards the cut bank. That's not something I'm used to with CT brook trout. I was fishing a 5wt though, as well as 8lb tippet, and it couldn't win. When I got her in the net I uttered a low guttural laugh of astonishment and gratification. I'd put a lot of effort in over the late winter and spring after large salmonids, split between rogue brown trout and giant brookies. Now I had my heaviest CT brookie in my hands.

I know, of course, that there exist some wild char in CT that are even larger than this one. But for the summer, I think I'm mostly done with big brookies locally. It's been dry and hot. No need to over-pressure them. I may well end up of a bender again when the water starts to cool down, but I'm not sure. 

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, Franky, Geof, Luke, Noah, Justin, Sean, Tom, Mark, and Jake 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.

CT DEEP's Draft Bass Action Plan

 Yesterday morning I opened up an email from CT DEEP with the subject line "Announcing CT's Draft Bass Action Plan", and thought to myself, "Oh boy, here we go".

For context, largemouth and smallmouth bass are introduced species in CT, often fitting the descriptor invasive by colonizing previously uninhabited waters, disrupting native species, and generally proliferating to a high degree. Both species, though largemouth in particular, are doing plenty well in most CT waters. I personally very much enjoy fishing for both introduced black bass species but also recognize the damage they do, and in many cases I legally remove them from waters where they present a threat to sensitive natives like brook trout, slimy sculpin, bridle shiners, or banded sunfish, as well as non-fish endangered species. Black bass are also arguably the most popular game fish in the United States and are subsequently a notable economic driver and resource. Unfortunately, this puts them in line for management change ahead of native species that are often more or equally as impacted. 

In the introduction of the draft action plan, authored by Ed Machowski, Andrew Bade, Mike Beauchene, and Chris McDowell, a blatant falsehood is mixed into accurate statements: "The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), Fisheries Division recognizes that black bass (Largemouth Bass and Smallmouth Bass) are a tremendous natural resource that provides outstanding ecological, social and economic benefit to the state of Connecticut"(Connecticut's Bass Action Plan, 3)

Black bass are neither a natural resource nor something that provides an ecological benefit. Their presence in CT is entirely unnatural, and certainly an ecological net-negative as they disrupt the natural balance of the ecosystems they're added to. So any need to manage, restore, or protect bass and bass fisheries in CT shouldn't be leaning on any sense of preserving nature or doing environmental conservation. It is frustrating that this draft plan opens on that note, and for me it sets a tone that is predicated on a lie. The main driver for bass management is economic. Through sales tax, license purchases, and tournaments, bass fishing is a huge economic driver. It is also popular enough that if a lot of anglers don't like their experiences bass fishing in CT, they're going to make their voices heard about it. That's what drives this need to manage bass. Not ecology. The authors should remove such statements from the draft entirely as they are simply inaccurate and paint it in a light of environmental conservation when it is simply not. 

Moving away from that, the rest of the draft is long but concise, data rich, and in many ways well-intentioned. Though it still concerns me that it is clear a lot of resources are going to go to managing two abundant, extremely successful species, there are parts of the plan that I like. In particular, the plan addresses aquatic vegetation management. In CT there are two main methods of lake plant reduction, triploid grass carp and herbicide, and neither one is a good thing. They reduce habitat for a huge array of species, including many natives. Curbing both is an excellent idea and should be moved forward with regardless of its impact on black bass. A second plan I'm strongly in favor of is to work with water management companies to open up reservoirs to public fishing. Well regulated, there is no reason not to allow fishing in drinking water reservoirs. Minor restrictions on tackle and access (protecting important intake and outtake equipment, reducing contamination risk, etc.) are really all that would be necessary. Many reservoirs already permit access to surrounding land for passive recreation anyway, and providing more public fishing access to fisheries is something I'm generally in favor of, particularly strong sustainable fisheries like black bass that are under little to no threat of extirpation or depletion by angler pressure. 

My hope is that CT DEEP will move forward with this plan but remove any language that makes it seem like it provides any ecological benefit, it is absurd to suggest protecting introduced non-native fauna does any such thing. There are some decent ideas within, though it frustrates me that the same resources and effort aren't being put towards many of the states at-risk natives. I'm sure that, regardless of this plan, black bass will remain a very viable and productive fishery in CT for decades to come. They're almost unavoidable.

If you'd like to read and respond to the Bass Action Plan, visit this link: portal.ct.gov. 

I strongly recommend that as many of us as possible respond and demand more funds and attention be pushed towards imperiled native species and less towards stable non-native species. 

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, Franky, Geof, Luke, Noah, Justin, Sean, Tom, Mark, and Jake 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.

Lake Champlain with Drew Price

 It had been a long time since I'd last fished Lake Champlain when I went up to buy Drew Price's canoe. Noah and I made multiple trips some years back, finding success on our own. It was Drew's blog that had originally got me interested in Champlain and it's abundance of native, bowfin, gar, freshwater drum, as well as multiple introduced species that we'd not caught. The opportunity to fish the lake with the guy that really sparked my interest in it was something I was very excited for. 

Early the morning after my arrival, Drew thought we'd have a decent shot at lake trout. This was certainly something I was excited for, as it was a species I'd not yet had good opportunities to target. Drew warned me that it wouldn't likely be great fishing, but I didn't particularly mind. The idea of targeting lakers with fly tackle in deeper water and at a time when most anglers would troll or jig instead appealed to me. We went out to explore the possibilities on a couple humps Drew had been catching on in the weeks before. We fished heavy sinking lines and big heavy flies, plumbing the depths and hoping for a hard strike. Unfortunately it never came, though I did have a smallish lake follow the fly almost to the surface, something Drew had mentioned was possible. 

After a little while and no success, it was time to switch gears and re-launch further north. The rest of the day was to be devoted to a different game in the shallows. Lake Champlain is an incredible place to sight fish, with expansive weed flats and generally clear water occupied by such a broad variety of species it will make your head spin. After just a short run from the launch, we were in a spot Drew new held a large variety of fish. In no time at all we were looking at pumpkinseeds, bluegills, yellow perch, white perch, common carp, tench, rudd, bowfin, brown bullheads, and largemouth bass. Just  short ways down the sam shoreline we began to see pike, chain pickerel, and longnose gar. At one point we saw a giant channel catfish. If variety is the spice of life this place is heaven on earth for the freshwater angler. 

The first trophy of the day was a giant pumpkinseed. I'm a big fan of these extravagantly colored native sunfish. They were being fairly picky and particularly prone to spooking, something I'm not at all used to from this species. It actually took a while to get one, but when we did it was my personal best.

Even more abundant than large pumpkinseeds were the brown bullheads. I've never seen so many bullheads. They were everywhere, poking their heads out of nests they'd dug in the mud bottom. At times as many as six or seven of them were visible at once. One of the nice things about bullheads: generally, if you get a fly in front of their face, they are going to take it. They were much easier than the pumpkinseeds. They were easy enough that I caught more than one of them blind casting. That has certainly happened to me before, I've caught many bulheads on the fly over the years, probably more than most fly anglers could expect. But I'm not sure I've ever caught more than one blind casting in a day, and I got three this time on top of the small bunch I sight cast to. 

The highlight of the trip was a 25 minute time window in which we put some serious trophies on the boat, all on a Gamechanger Craw. Initially for that window, I was on the poling platform. We were looking for the giant channel catfish we'd seen earlier in the day, but not finding it. I spotted a good sized largemouth though, and Drew was able to drop the fly on it and it smoked it. It was an incredibly stout fish.

Seemingly just moments after releasing that fish we spotted a big bowfin. This was a fantastic opportunity for me to watch the bowfin master do what he does oh so well. I somehow managed to pole well and got the boat in a good position, and the fish followed the script. The eat was spectacular. The fight was spectacular. The fish was spectacular. 

Then I was up to bat, and we went to look for a huge bass we'd seen a bit before. When I laid eyes on her and saw that she was stationary and her body language was relaxed, I knew I had her. I sank the Changer Craw in front of her, letting it fall right to the bottom, then gave it one little move and she inhaled it. The fight was short, largemouth aren't exactly the strongest fish, but this was one of the largest black bass I'd caught in a long time. Ironically, after years of mostly catching largemouth incidentally rather than going out and targeting them, catching that fish has sparked a revival in my interest in the species and I've been specifically targeting them quite a bit lately. 

As the sun went down, we headed back toward the launch having put a ton a lot of fish in the boat and had just a fantastic time. I learned a lot from Drew, which I'd fully expected. It was great to finally get to fish with him, and I'm sure I will again before too long. 

If you're interested in experiencing what I did up there, that truly world class fishing, check out Drew's website and book a trip. There isn't a better guide up there. He's been in front of the curve the whole way. 

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, Franky, Geof, Luke, Noah, Justin, Sean, Tom, Mark, and Jake 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.