Carpmouth Bass

I know, you want to know what the reason or the title is. Just be patient.

I was planning to go shad fishing today, but unfortunately that didn't happen. My backup plan was carp and bass in my favorite pond. The wind was a little bit stronger than I wanted but the lighting was good and I could see anything big moving on the flats. Right away I got a couple shots at a cruiser but the flat vacated and eventually I went to a better spot for bass. With a big streamer on, I was casting parallel to the shore and received an awesome show as a good pickerel came out and SLAMMED the fly. Completely visible, absolutely brutal.

There are other predators in there...

So after that pickerel I messed around for just a bit longer before I headed back to the flat. There were a few carp there mudding. I put one good cast in front of a pair. I did one strip and the closer of the two fish came absolutely unglued. It was just like a bass take. That fish moved a good ways and just nailed the brown bugger I had on. Ridiculous. Even better, this one took off faster than I was expecting, and was into the backing in a matter of seconds. But that run tired him out so it was a short fight by comparison. It was a good fish, fat as heck but not that long.

After releasing that fish I struck around for a few more hours hoping for another one. That didn't happen but I'm glad I stayed because I nailed into this awesome bass!

The Evening Yesterday

Meh. Something changed. There was a bit of a sporadic rise, nothing was really on. The water must have warmed up enough during the day to mess thing up. I caught on, missed one on dries. Then I missed a beast on the streamer. We really weren't feeling it.

Playing Hooky for Trout

It's better than the reasons most teens play hooky, right?

Today, with my mother's permission of course, I skipped school and fished the Salmon with David Gallipoli. We crushed them. He caught some on streamers, some on dries, and one on a nymph, while I stuck to the big heavy stuff. Articulated streamers moved some beasts today. In the morning I caught some brookies and a bass, and I lost a HUGE tiger trout that will stick in my mind for  long while. As the day wore on it got warmer and brighter and the fishing got slower, but was by no means bad or even mediocre. Late in the trip I took a big Rainbow, he rose in a slick to meet the streamer and tore down through the currant. We had such a good time we plan to go back for the evening rise tonight.

The Native Salmonids

There are two species of salmonid  native to CT waters, as most of you know: Salvalinus fontinalis (Brook Trout) and Salmo salar (Atlantic Salmon). Of the two, only brook trout are still present in consistently wild populations. My favorite fish can be found in some absolutely gorgeous places, in fact, rarely are the found in garbage filled urban streams. Today I visited one such place. It hosts three water falls. Bellow the first are a mix of stream resident brookies, suckers, fall fish, and the rarest: salters and sea run browns. I happened to see a young sea run brown today. Unfortunately I have not caught one yet.

I talked to the gentleman that allows me to fish this water today. We had a very nice conversation about native fish, sea run fish, and catch and release. It was a good conversation and I look forward to our next.

The fishing was stunning. Fish were rising in every pool. On the way up I fished the bomber and did very well. On the way back down I fished a little calf tail streamer and caught the ones I missed. Each was stunning and there were a lot of them.

Sudden Realization

Something occurred to me this evening as I stood very comfortably in the shallows casting my fly for bluegills and perch. It is really happening now! The air is warm. The water is warm. There are bugs. The fish are on. The trees are in leaf. Everything is just right. This is the time of year when stuff gets crazy. The spawn is around the corner (bass, I mean). Hendricksons are on. The runs are starting. It's gonna me a good few months boys, put on your waders and get to work. The right work, not the slavery under florescent lighting.

Today was Just gorgeous. The bluegills were big and the perch were feisty. It was a heck of a lot of fun. The fly I used was called the Black Ops (Missouri flies) and it was taken vigorously and often. No big brawls with carp today, just plain old relaxation and panfish. And on the way home I crossed paths with a raccoon. Very cool