Yesterday I visited a stretch of river rumored to have some large sea run brown trout, hoping I would find some fall runners. I worked down to the lowest public stretch. I wished I could have gone down even further, and I may try to find a way down there for the spring.
I fished nymphs and streamers predominately and discovered an issue fairly quickly. DEEP stocks this stream with juvenile brown trout and evidently they had just recently done so... I had to work around tons of these little ugly things hoping to find a big wild fish.
I also ran into good numbers of fallfish, including a couple decent sized ones like this guy:
And a good sign for the future: trout redds!
Unfortunately I only caught one trout over 10 inches (just barely) and it was a stocker. I have caught wild browns in this stream before. It drives me batty that more often than not I can't find them.
So the big browns did not show at all. I'm not surprised really. This stream is one of the prettiest ones I fish though, it runs through an incredibly steep valley that makes it seem remote despite the hustle and bustle going on not half a mile away.
Although I love my Rocky Mountains, I have to say that your part of the country amazes me for it's beautiful. Those small fish are trophies to me.
ReplyDeleteOnce you get out of town it's nice. But then again what part of the world doesn't fit that description?
DeleteThat is a good looking stream and should hold some sea runs. There isn't much color on those stalkers, but fun to catch anyway.
ReplyDeleteTie, fish, write and photo on...
I will fish for stockers all day if and only if there are at least SOME bigger that 10 inches long! Big stockers still don't come close to how fun wild trout are either.
DeleteYour posts offer such variety in subject matter and setting. Always worthwhile to have a peek at what you are up to. And I enjoy learning from your growing store of nature lore; you are becoming quite the raconteur, Rowan.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteA pretty stream in some of those photos. Very nice. And those small juveniles that they stock , some grown into bigger browns, but for now may provide some sport.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pete,
DeleteI have to say that despite the proximity to "the urban jungle" this stream may be the prettiest in the state.
I will ask the open question I always ask: if there are wild fish in a river, why do DECs insist on stocking in such numbers or at all? Is it back to the old cultural catch and release issue of here in the East vs West?
ReplyDeleteYeah that's part of it. There are too many people here and not enough wild trout. If it were up to me any stretch of river in CT that is proven to hold sustainable wild trout populations would be catch and release only.
DeleteI'm a local, that stretch of the river gets hammered by anglers given it's close proximity to roads and trails, you need to walk farther up the stream to bigger pools to find better fish.
ReplyDeleteI've fished the entire length of that stream, I know all of those big pools and have caught some decent fish up there but on this day I was hoping to run into some sea run fish on the lower river. I did go up late in the day, but no fish were caught in those deep deep holes unfortunately.
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