January 2022 was, for the most part, very cold. There were a few moderately warm days mixed in but on the whole it was ice, ice, and more ice. The first client I had in 2022 got the best weather. Eric wanted to fish a small stream for wild trout, and I had him on one of CT's Class 1 WTMA's. The day started out slow but quickly picked up in the stretch I go to if nowhere else is producing. Eric caught his first brown trout and a couple others to go along with it. The Ausable Ugly was, unsurprisingly, the productive fly.
The next trip was far less fruitful, though on paper it should have been good from the start. A quick warm up killed the shelf ice and I had my client Jon on some water that had been producing loads of tiger trout along with some giant holdover browns in the weeks leading up. The water was up a bit, which I didn't think should have an impact. Perhaps the disrupting factor was a significant wind and bright sky. It had been forecast to be cloudy, and that probably would have been much better. I had another client who wanted tiger trout the next weekend, so I had to pick a plan B. Luckily I had one, Central CT TMA that for some reason never gets any shelf ice and receives a lot of tigers most stockings. I knew this fall plenty went in, so I hoped I'd have no trouble getting my client on one. The kicker, the conditions were far worse than the previous trip. It was bright, sunny, high pressure, very cold. I was still confident I could get Mike on a trout, and we found one in relatively short order. It wasn't a tiger, but I was happy not to be dealt another skunking.
Luckily, February looks like it will feature much milder temperatures. The snow from the previous big storm has already started to thaw out big time with the rain the last two days, though some of it was replenished with hard sleet. The melt-off will keep the rivers from warming up appreciably, so I don't expect hatch activity or rising trout to be a common occurrence for at least another week and a half.
Streamer fishing and nymphing, on the other hand, should produce fish. It'll be quantity over quality on the trout rivers for a little while, so if you're interested in learning strategies that focus on larger caliber trout (fish over 14" in small streams and fish over 18" in larger waters) now is a great time.
Salmon fishing on the Shetucket River should also pick up again after the water warms, until the first trout stocking which for whatever reason seems to scare the salmon off.
If things get really warm in late February, I'll open the calendar for some very early carp and trophy largemouth trips. It usually only takes a thaw and a day or two in the high 40's to get some of the big fish moving onto mud flats. I'll be watching the forecast like a hawk and I'll post on Instagram and Facebook if a window opens up, if you want to book you'll need to do so quickly as it may only be a one or two day window. This can be an exceptionally exciting type of fishing as it sometimes features quite clear water in places that are often very muddy, requires exceptional stealth and precise, delicate casts, and over the years has produced some large carp for me as well as largemouth from 4 to 6 pounds on quite small flies.
Thanks to the clients I had in January, it was a mostly tough month and I thank you for bearing with the conditions and I hope to see you all again over the coming seasons!
Until next time,
Looks like your clients (and you) had a lot of fun out there!
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