Wild Trout and a Big Scene

This morning I met RI brook trout to fish a small wild trout stream, hoping to catch a blue quill hatch. We did. In some spots fish were looking up. In others they were not. But regardless we both got some gorgeous wild brown trout, some on dries. In fact RI bt's best of the day was a stunning wild brown that came up for an Ausable Bomber. It was a beautiful warm day, the mayflies danced, and the fish rose to meet dry flies dancing on the surface of the pools. It lead us to stay just a little too long... when we were on our way back we discovered that the state rangers and troopers were looking for us. Obviously we didn't plan appropriately, but all's well that ends well. We both certainly apologize for those we inconvenienced.
Next time we'll coordinate a little better, huh?

Assorted Wanderings

Late this morning and afternoon I fished a WTMA with fellow fly fisher David Gallipoli. We moved a few big browns, but failed to hook up. The only fish of the day was a little native caught by David. There was a tremendous amount of bug life. Midges, caddis, blue quills, and tons of little stoneflies.

I couldn't handle not catching anything today, so I wen out to throw a clouser in hopes of a smallmouth bass the size of a truck. That isn't what I got. But I was perfectly happy with this slim little missile.

Good stuff is going to happen soon. I can feel it and smell it in the air. 

Two Warm Water Days

Yesterday:
Not all that extraordinary. Small bass, pumpkinseed, bluegill, and crappie were caught on various flies. Fun but very typical.

Today:

It was different. I tied on a little Clouser Minnow and started working it through the weeds. The amount of little bass I took was just ridiculous. But then I got something bigger to take:

After that first good bass of the season, I moved on to catch some slab crappies on the same fly. They don't fight very well, but they are beautiful and the takes are very cool to watch. 

After that I set out to find a way to get bullheads to take the fly. I came to a conclusion that it would be nearly impossible to get one without seeing it if there was no sent or taste appeal to my fly, so I stuck a small red worm on the point of the Clouser, just like a trailer for a jig. I then cast out and slowly dragged the fly along the bottom. It worked! So what I had to use a worm on the fly. No doubt it was not up to the worm alone, the flash and movement of the streamer played a part in fooling the catfish. The little fragment of worm just sealed the deal. Those fish were a heck of a lot of fun on the 3 weight. 

Home!

It has been months since I last fished my home stream. I just had to go out to see how it's wild browns and brookies had fared the frigid winter of 2015. The breaking ice and flood water had resulted in some significant changes in the stream bed. Whole boulders of at least 100lbs. had traveled significant distances. Logs went even farther. The log I had to stand on to gain access to a good pool last year was fifty feet downstream, and the pool was now wide open. Lucky for me, but not so lucky for the gorgeous wild browns that live in it!
I threw stimulators around for a little while, and actually caught some nice big salmon smolts, just about ready for their long and perilous trip south. It took me a while to get the first brown, but boy was I glad to see him. I ended up getting three. The last was the best. It hit the nymph in a deep riffle, a solid bar of gold that jumped and ran like any wild brown should. God was I glad to be back!

A Streamer Day

Today was an even better day for throwing articulated streamers than the last time! I nailed into some pretty good fish on big articulated flies. The hits were ridiculous, particularly when you could see them. I watched a big brooky come out from under a rock to t-bone the fly. Another came strait in from behind and inhaled the whole fly. The biggest rainbow of the day grabbed the fly off the surface with an impressive slash.  Just remembering those takes makes me want to go back out there...
One of the best evidences of a trout's predatory habit came in the form of a ten inch brooky. When I landed him I realized he had a fallfish in his mouth. He was having a hard time getting that down, yet he came and whacked the streamer. Then, three hours later and twenty feet downstream I caught that same fish again, on the same fly. Pretty crazy!

I think I was probably the only one on the river today throwing giant streamers with and 8 weight rod with a fighting but, and it probably looked a little odd, but boy am I glad I did it. What a day.