Two Beautiful New Streams

I'd heard Alan and Kirk talk about a stream I had never heard of before. Conveniently it isn't far from another wild trout stream I had not fished before. Today Kirk and Alan were kind enough to show me around these two waters. The first is a terrific little brook trout stream, although it was clearly hurting and needs more water. The clarity was remarkable and there is still a thriving population of wild brookies, some browns, and rainbows that wander in from a stocked pond. There were tons of bugs around: caddis, stoneflies, and midges; and there were plenty of fish willing to eat. I even got a few to eat a big yellow Humpy. The best flies were the Ausable Ugly and the Crazy Shrimp. That first little brook gave me quite a few fish, but no big ones. Not that I didn't have my shots....

The second stream is bigger and holds more browns than brookies. It is a WTMA, and though the fish are legally protected they definitely get some pressure. There was a deep pool right above the road that held some big wild browns, and when we crossed it there was a rise. But I just couldn't get them to commit to a fly. In a nice pool upstream I did get a fish to go for one of my flies. A big brown slammed my Ugly in a beautiful pool. I missed it but it was there long enough for me to see and feel it. It was no small fish. In fact it was pretty big. I even missed it again on the way back downstream.

Kirk lands a wild brown

 I got a few more chances on a stretch near what Alan calls "The Outback". In some of the deep pools there I could see schools I eventually identified as fallfish. Interestingly, there were trout hiding in those schools. Working those deep pools got me a beautiful brown.

First Fallfish or the Year

Mixed in with a different school of fallfish were brookies. I was totally surprised that I was able to catch them, they were only about five feet away from me in slow, clear water in the sunlight. I saw the three that I caught come up off the bottom and grab my fly.

Once again I greatly enjoyed a great day of wild trout, beautiful streams, good food made by Alan, and just a terrific day with two other small stream junkies.