Mid June Update

Man, this season is just rushing by. I had a good spring with clients. It mostly trout trips which are nice and easy, but I'd have liked a bunch more carp, bass, and bowfin trips as those are, frankly, much more engaging. I got one client out for the magical flood plain carp fishery. The window for that generally lasts just a couple weeks but man is it ever glorious. My client Jim got two carp to hand as well as a nice largemouth and had a shot at a pair of bowfin too. Of course, once the water dropped out the fishing didn't actually get any worse, just different. The Connecticut River and its backwater truly are a world class fishery. We've got some of the largest wild carp in the world right here. It's a shame they do a lot of damage, but they aren't going anywhere so we may as well have some fun and pull on them. There isn't another guide in CT who is as well equipped to get you on giant carp on the fly, so if its a game you'd like to learn you ought to book a trip. I can promise you shots, and probably shots at extremely big carp. Record chasers, take note. 

The trout trips all went well, some so well my clients immediately booked second trips. The dry fly action was minimal most of the days I had trips, but nymphing and streamers produced an excess of  fish. Jim and Trein had two very memorable days, first each hooking large holdover salmon and catching loads of rainbows, then putting the hammer down on copious amounts of trout and big fallfish.

A week ago I took a step forward that will take both me and my clients to new places. I've followed guide and angler Drew Price of Vermont for years, he's had a large influence on my interest in non-traditional targets like bowfin, gar, and freshwater drum. For the better part of a decade I've admired from afar the rig he guided from an fished, a sweet 14' Indian River canoe that he rigged up to suit his needs. When I started thinking of getting a small boat to guide motor-less in CT River backwaters, coastal flats, and marshes, and with a motor on CT's many "non-navigable" lakes, ponds, and swamps, I reached out to Drew for advise. We became fast friends, and when he bought Chris Willen's Towee Skiff and wasn't sure he wanted to keep the canoe I said I'd take it. So it was that I was driving up to Vermont last week to get myself a boat. 

With the "Champlain Stealth II" now under my possession and command, I'm ready to open the can of worms that is the Central CT multi-species fishery wide open. There are so many species and options here that are so far have remained untapped by fly anglers. I've got the experience and know how, and now I've got the boat. Monster bowfin, 35 pound carp, giant channel catfish, monster bass and pike... it's time to take my guide business up a notch. 

The first fish on the canoe under my ownership was caught by my mother, her first fish on the fly believe it or not. The second was a good channel catfish caught by me. A good sign of things to come, I'd say!

Until I've got here fully registered (expect by the end of the month) I'll run just man-powered trios on the CT River backwaters for carp, bowfin, catfish, and top water bass. It's been good lately, I've been catching all four, often in the same trip. Once it's registered I'll start running trips on the bass , walleye, and carp lakes where I cut my teeth: Pocotopaug, Moodus Reservoir, Gardner Lake, and others. 

It's going to be an exciting new chapter! I hope to see a lot of new faces and put you on some incredible fish very soon! 

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