Four Streams and Three Trout Species

 Once a month during the spring, summer, and fall I do a really long long bike ride to fish some of my favorite streams. Today was to be my first of those this year. It was a fun ride, I do back roads and trails that take me through some of CT's prettiest country. All the better is the anticipation of visiting my secret spring creek to see how its resident brook trout are doing.

The water level was higher than I ever saw it in late summer and fall last year, and the fish were clearly in different lies because I didn't see a single one of those big monsters I saw last year. However, there were still a crap load of brookies around, and I caught a lot of them.

I caught a lot of the amazing and gorgeous natives on soft hackles, but a few also went for a Royal Stimulator.

One of the most amazing things about this watershed is the ease of sight fishing. The bottom is light colored sand or gravel so the fish stand out from a distance it also makes them ultra spooky. I spotted a nice brookie in the tail of the pool bellow. I made a long cast past the fish and stripped the fly by it to get its attention, and it came up and ate the soft hackle on the surface.

I moved on to the next stream hoping to find some big fall fish and wild browns. The first fish to take the Soft Hackle HE was a little chub in spawning dress. I caught a few little fall fish but nothing special, then moved downstream.

I caught my first true trout by drifting the Ausable Ugly under the overhang, right by the sunken log. The fish took with a strong pull and started flying all over the pool! It was a beautiful holdover rainbow.

The next fish was a little smaller but fought even harder! This fall fish took the fly in deep water right as the fly went under a log, though not the same one the rainbow was hiding under.

Upstream from the bridge I was able to sight fish to rainbows sitting in the deep lies. The ones that ate the Ugly, which were most of them, fought like demons. I love rainbows, and I really am looking forward to fishing for wild ones, especially considering how hard a holdover fights!

I cross over this tiny little creek every time I fish in this area and I have seen brookies there, so I went for it. I landed one brooky, hooked and lost a couple, and even a lost a little wild brown. Another stream crossed off the list.

The freestone stretch of the bigger stream held some promise for some bigger rainbows and wild browns, and it delivered. The Ugly was eaten over and over, and each fish went airborne and ran with reckless abandon. A few managed to make an early escape. I still caught about 20. It was a crazy good day of nymphing. Some of the bows are likely to be holdovers, and one in particular was colored up and looked almost wild.

The fourth stream I fished is one I haven't given much attention for a while, which is a shame because it deserves some. My dad and I fished it one opening day and he landed about an 11-12 inch brookie. I didn't get one of those but I did get some nice ones and it is just a gorgeous stream.

I made one last stop at the end of the outing looking for a few more rainbows and it delivered. I caught two on a SHHE and a downstream presentation. Upstream from the bridge I caught a brookie, the first one I have ever caught out of this stream.

The ride home was beautiful. the moon is full and the sun was setting. It was beautiful in the woods and even more beautiful in the farmland. I almost hit a deer. I hit a chipmunk once, but a deer would be a whole different story as I have a feeling the deer would be the one walking away in that circumstance. The North America's most common ungulates were out in force tonight, I saw almost a dozen.