Trouting About in Vermont (Pt. 1)

 Back in mid September, with some rains bringing rivers back to life and temperatures on the fall, the trout itch started to need scratching. With the Farmington still too low to be of particular interest in daylight, Garth and I set our sights further afield. The Rangeley region seemed like one decent choice, it had been a while since I'd tangled with large brook trout. Night fishing in the Catskills also didn't seem like a bad plan. We settled on an area between the two, and one I'd not spent as much time exploring. Though I'd fished Vermont many times, rarely ever have trout been the target. With input from Drew Price of Masterclass Angling, a lot of research trough USGS data, satellite imagery, and the limited available fishery data, I created a hit-list of rivers and specific spots within rivers. I packed up the 4Runner and picked up Garth after he got home from work one evening and we headed north. 

The plan was simple: car camp, fish, and explore. We had a few days and nights to work with on some of the prettiest trout waters in the Northeast. The Green Mountains have a rich trout and fly fishing history; being home to Orvis's headquarters, the famed and fickle Battenkill, and some exceptionally beautiful and large wild salmonidae. It is a stronghold of native brook trout, though some of the Green's streams are now dominated by nonnative brown trout and in some cases, rainbows as well. We hoped to catch all three species in some beautiful and at times quite remote waters. 

We arrived in the dark and caught some rest near the stream I wanted to fish first. It was the most remote of them and a totally blank slate for us. It was going to be cold and there'd be trout in it, we just didn't know how many, what species, or how big. When I first got a look at the river I liked what I saw. Flows were strong, the water was a little tanic, and the surrounding woods were beautiful mixed forest dripping with moss. Spring seeps poured out of the hills and the river valley itself was spotted with beaver meadows. Varied habitat makes the best habitat, and this felt like a clean and healthy ecosystem. I was getting pretty excited. 

This environment may actually have had the highest density of Eastern newts I'd ever encountered. The wetland areas, be they active beaver ponds or the remnants of abandoned ones, were crawling with hundreds upon hundreds of the aquatic form. Walking through the woods we turned up the bright orange terrestrial form as well, know as red efts. 

Also occupying the beaver ponds were creek chubs and a variety of dragonfly species. The stream itself was cold and fast and seemed fairly sterile, harboring caddis and midges but very little in the way of mayflies as far as I could tell. It seemed a bit too "clean" and nutrient deficient to be brown trout habitat- remember that point - and out initial visit seemed to indicate that the stream was very rich with brook trout and hardly any other fish of any kind. These fish were beautiful, dark specimens averaging 6 inches. Some exceeded that mark, but it didn't feel like encountering one much in excess of 10 inches was likely. They were quite numerous though. I fished the ever reliable Ausable Ugly, and it produced handsome fontinalis one after another for a few hours. 

After months of fishing urban, industrial, and suburban habitats almost exclusively, it was a relief to get away from people and signs of people. Unfortunately some of this was an illusion. Neither the forest itself nor the stream were in a fully natural state. The land it was contained within was is fact, in essence, a protected tree farm open to recreation. It was timber in reserve. We passed patch cuts on the long dirt road in. But at the very least signs of human presence were limited down in the river valley. There weren't angler foot paths. The fish didn't have the injuries so common in pressured fisheries where trout are caught and released repetitively throughout their lives. Trash wasn't merely scarce, there was none. It was rejuvenating. 

I can only catch so many small brook trout in a day, though, before I feel bad for disrupting their natural rhythms. Garth and I then decided to go disrupt the rhythm of some non-natives. It was time to look for a big brown trout. Though not a widely known big trutta destination, Garth and I had a bit of intel to act on. Perhaps we'd stop somewhere along the way that we knew nothing about as well. This was an exploratory mission after all.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Franky, Geof, Luke, Noah, Justin, Sean, Tom, Mark, Jake, Chris, and Oliver for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.

A Lone Tiger in the Bridge Pool

Cheyenne and I walked down to the Bridge Pool one dull, chilly November day. This was the first time she'd ever been to my home river with me, which made it special. Few places have had such a significant impact on my life. The Bridge Pool is pretty much the epicenter of my fly fishing world. It was quite a playground for a fly fishing obsessed teenager; a stream stolen from the Rockies and hidden in CT, just a short bike ride from home and hidden from view. 

The Bridge Pool has changed a lot over the years, but was especially different this time as the old cart bridge that was the pool's name sake was gone. The pool is still there but the bridge is gone. That was a bit sad, as I can remember many years ago going on hikes with my mother and younger brother and walking across that bridge. I can remember looking down at that pool and wondering what sort of creatures might be hiding in its depths. 

I've had a whole lot of years and chances since then to figure out exactly the sort of things that swim in that pool. I'd caught everything from crappies to 22 inch wild brown trout in there, and a whole lot in between. Today, though, the Bridge Pool would give up a fish I'd never caught within its confines before. Kneeling on the bank, with Cheyenne behind me, I cast an Ausable Ugly under an indicator into the heart of the pool. On the fifth cast, the bobber dropped and I set the hook into a substantial trout. It wasn't a trout, actually. It was a trout char hybrid; a big holdover tiger. I'd caught rogue holdover tigers and even a few wild ones out of my home water before, but never out of the bridge pool. It was a handsome specimen, though one that I didn't feel should be permitted to live there any longer. Stocked tigers are ravenous predators that can have a notable individual impact in a small system like this one.

Cheyenne and I ate that fish that night, along with a rainbow I'd caught at another river later in the day, baked wrapped in tinfoil with lemon and spices. There was a time I would have released that fish and scoffed at another angler for deciding to take it. 

I've grown a lot since I first cast a fly into the Bridge Pool.

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, Streamer Swinger, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.

Autumn Char Stalking

 I was sitting on my tailgate peeling off wet waders when a local stopped with his window rolled down and asked "how'd you do?"

"Just got here" I replied. 

Seeing that I was clearly removing waders that had very recently been fished in, he gave me a sideways look before moving on. He probably thought I was being an asshole, but I wasn't lying. I'd left my waders on while driving between streams and really had no need for them here. More and more these days I enjoy fishing a small brook trout streams in just my boots and jeans. I don't feel that tromping through the water is in the best interest of the fish, especially between late October and mid March when the next generation of char are still growing in the gravel. But I've also come to relish the challenge of getting into position without getting my feet wet. Wading up the middle of these tiny streams is a short-cut that keeps me from learning important skills, be it casting, stalking techniques, or just the skill of sitting and watching, either unnoticed by my query or just still for long enough that they'd forgotten I was there. 

Brook trout get to be their most spectacular in autumn, and that revolves around their spawn. The males are particularly stunning, and to me it has nothing to do with elegance. Late winter, spring, and summer brook trout are elegant. In the fall these char ugly up, especially the males. They turn into little demons with dark bellies and mouths, red fins and lower flanks, big teeth, and bad attitude. I personally find it spectacular when fish ugly-up, regardless of the reason. Most fish ugly-up to spawn, especially the males, and to me that's often when they look really really cool. I was sneaking around this stream where the fish had probably just quit spawning a week or two prior hoping to find some gnarly looking males. It isn't that hard to find those guys, they're trying to bulk back up for winter. 

Appropriately, I caught the first dozen fish this day on the Ausable Ugly. Ugly eats ugly, I suppose. After a spell the urge to use something a tiny bit more elegant arose. I switched Adirondack tyers from Garfield to Betters, and though Betters' style could perhaps best be described as messy, the Ausable Bomber is a lovely little fly. It ended up taking the best fish of the day.

Noah and I were talking a little while ago about just how large brook trout's mouths are. This is no more evident than in the late fall when most of the fish's mouths are enlarged for the purpose of biting each other. An 8 inch male brookie might have a mouth the same size as a foot long smallmouth bass, loaded with much larger teeth. Those large mouths can fit a lot of food, too. Autumn char really are aggressive little eating machines at their most impressive.

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, Streamer Swinger, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.

Freestone Wild Brown Trout Redemption Day

 It had been a good long while since I last poked around some new freestones to look for wild trout. A preoccupation with bigger fish had held my attention for a while, but it was inevitable that I'd need to get back out on some boulder strewn creeks to make sure I could, in fact, still catch trout. Sometimes it feels like I've lost a lot of my muscle memory when it comes to trout fishing. I certainly do it far less than I used to. Of course it doesn't help at all that a lot of the small streams I used to fish are a mere shadow of what they used to be like, with far fewer and much smaller fish on average. CT wild trout has seemed to be in the downswing over the last 5 years especially, with some historically productive wild brown trout streams that produced very large fish being almost wiped out. I watched the collapse of my favorite brown trout river, and my home water as well. Fewer fish certainly makes it feel like I've gotten worse at fishing. Thankfully when I actually do fish areas that remain strongholds, I'm reminded that I've still got the touch. 

Such was the case where I went one day last week. I dropped Cheyenne off at work and headed to a stream I'd fished before but to a stretch I'd not been on. The flow was moderate, the water lightly stained. The stream was structurally very similar to my home water. It was a classic New England freestone. The gradient was steep and the substrate was mostly boulders with some cobble and gravel. 

I knew wild brown and brook trout were present here though I wasn't sure of their abundance. I was very quickly catching fish though... so evidently they were pretty numerous. They were mostly small wild browns with some stocked fish mixed in. There was a fish everywhere there should have been one, too. If I dropped my Ausable Ugly into a prime lie, it got eaten. 

I took a mental note of where I got takes, looking back upstream (I was working down) as I went and memorizing each spot I'd missed or hooked a trout. This is something I do a lot, I think its every bit as important as knowing how to present flies well, matching forage, or knowing when the conditions are best. Remembering where you hooked fish allows an angler to draw comparisons: trout don't act any differently anywhere in the world, really. If you see a the same sort of holding or feeding lie you've caught a trout out of before and the conditions and time of year are similar, there will probably be a trout there, whether you're fishing in Argentina, Montana, or Massachusetts. 

Such was the case with this stream. Though I'd never stepped foot there before I wasn't fishing unfamiliar water. I fished pockets, runs, troughs, and plunges I knew and had fished before. I'd seen that back eddy before, and caught that brown trout next to the log- they weren't the same, but they kind of were. Do you know what I mean? 

I picked pockets with a big grin on my face, happy to feel very much at home. Everything was familiar, simple, and wonderful. The fish were gorgeous and the habitat was perfect. I was pulling on trout with regularity and tallying them in my head. By the time I left, I'd caught 38 fish. One was a fallfish, two were substantial holdovers, and the rest were a mix of wild fish and fish stocked as fingerling.

I wasn't done fishing that day, but I'll save that for another post. For now, I'll leave you with a suggestion: fish thoughtfully and thoroughly. Sometimes I find myself rushing along, especially on new water, sure that there must be better water somewhere ahead. Don't assume that. Work what's in front of you first. Analyze it, fish it in a way the has produced fish for you before in a similar spot. then, if that doesn't work, do something new to you. 

I've been very much enjoying the videos put out by Jensen Fly Fishing. They are perhaps the best proponent out there right now of methodical, well thought-out approaches to trout fishing. Watching their videos has made me rethink why I've been successful in the past and what I need to do in the future. There's always more to learn. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, Streamer Swinger, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version.

A Brief Jaunt Through The Catskills

 While driving back home from Maryland, I found myself quite sick of being in the car any longer. I was not far from the New York border in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and a certain Catskills trout stream was only a short distance out of my way. It was still early in the day, so I went. I was sure I wouldn't be that close to it anytime soon and it was a stream I'd wanted to fish for a while. Take opportunities when they come. 

This stream is one known for big wild browns and some exceptional brook trout as well. It is also a bit less trafficked and harder to get to. Automatically it had a pretty big appeal. I like wild fish, I LOVE native fish, and I adore water with less fishing pressure. So I found myself winding down back roads that eventually turned to dirt before I found myself at the access point. Then I had to hike in a bit, but in no time I was standing in a very pretty river. 

The sun was harsh, the water unfamiliar. I sensed I was in with a bit of a challenge, and that did turn out to be the case.  The fish were distributed unevenly throughout the mile and a half I covered, and though I didn't find it surprising where I did find fish, quite a bit of water seemed barren without much reason. 

My fly choice was impeccable... the Ausable Ugly. Why fish anything else in a trout stream? The fish liked it, but the bright sunny hot conditions had them taking and dropping very quickly and getting good hook sets was a tall order. Often I'd see a fish shoot out, presumably eat then spit the fly in a fraction of a second, then dart back to cover just as fast. Sometimes I felt the take, sometimes not. It took me a while to get on the board and the fish wasn't a salmonid at all, but it was something I'd call a trophy: a big ol' fallfish. 

I finally got a trout not long after that gorgeous native fallfish, a smallish brown. I ended up getting quite a few browns of that size class from a relatively small area. It was quite fast fishing, actually. However, I was hoping for something a bit larger. 

Eventually I came to a stretch were the boulders were just a bit bigger, the pockets a bit deeper, and the aquatic vegetation a bit more green and lush. And suddenly it was a hit a cast. I was still struggling to get fish to hand, but I did land some gorgeous wild browns. These fish fought exceptionally hard too, it was fun. 

Unfortunately I then felt the constraints of time tightening and decided to hike out. That was my only venture in the Catskills this spring, though I may go again as the waters cool again in the fall. It is one of my favorite places to fish. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version. I truly would not be able to keep this going without you wonderful folks!

Undercut Dwellers

Meadow streams often provide minimal shade for the fish residing between their banks. The banks themselves though are sometimes a life saver. Where a stream twists and turns, its current gouges out dirt and rocks form beneath sod, and a refuge is created. A well versed angler knows that brown trout gravitate to these undercuts, especially on sunny days, and also knows ways to draw them out. My own strategy typically involves an Ausable Ugly and a tuck cast. The big, buggy fly is appealing to a trout's eyes and it's lateral line as it enters the water with a plop. I've spent days worth of hours fishing in this manor with hundreds of trout to hand. It is just about fool-proof, though having good water to do it in helps. 

One stream I fish is a particularly good example of the sort of a stream where undercuts are key. It weaves in and out of woodland and meadow and wherever the water isn't shaded by trees, the fish are just about all tucked deep under the banks. I payed it a visit this spring, and found things going as they typically do. The fishing wasn't outstanding but it certainly wasn't bad either. 

Takes on this day were far more numerous than hookups. Part of that was the average fish size. This stream has an abundance of spawning habitat and food, so there's a bumper crop of small fish each year and they grow quickly. These little guys hit repeatedly and hard but don't usually get hooked. Weeding through them to find some slightly larger fish can at times be a chore. 

When a larger trutta does come out to grab the Ugly, it is usually a pretty violent hit. The fish comes out quickly, grabs the fly, and turns to go back under the bank. If its an especially large fish, it probably hooks itself. A smaller one might drop the fly so quickly you never have a chance to get a hook set. I really haven't figured out a formula for getting every one of these fish that hits. I know that isn't possible, but I'd at least like to improve my ratio a bit.

As the current heat wave proceeds, please be sure to have the health of the fish you are targeting in mind. Carry a thermometer, and don't fish for wild trout in water temperatures exceeding 68 degrees. Fish dawn after cool nights and pay attention to the weather. A cool rain could spur excellent conditions. And, if you want to learn the tactics I've described in this post, book a trip before it gets too hot! 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version. 

Edited by Cheyenne Terrien

The Ugly Takes One: Post-Frontal Wild Brown Trout

 We needed rain here in CT, and suddenly we got a whole bunch of it this past week. Having not done all that much trout fishing lately I decided it was time to take a drive and look for some sizable wild brown trout in small water. The rain had certainly given the flow a nice big boost, which was fantastic. The stream I was on tends to fish very poorly in most other conditions. With bright fresh foliage providing shade and the flow and turbidity perfect, my hopes were high. This seemed like idea streamer fishing conditions. 

Two hours later, I was wading upstream dejected, irritated, and completely vexed. I'd had a couple half-assed flashes- fish that never even touched the fly -but that was it. I switched to a two nymph rig for a while and that did nothing either. Then I put on the Ausable Ugly and wham: on the first cast a 17-18 inch wild brown trout took and went airborne. The fish had eaten the Ugly high-sticked, as I often fish it in high and murky water conditions. The fish put up a hell of a battle with a few more leaps and some serious digging. Usually I get some of my best trout fights at this time of year. The fish are well fed and the water temperature is ideal. 

Thinking that was the start of a hot tighlining bite, I proceeded to carefully work every likely high-water spot. I missed one more fish, but that was it. The fish I had caught was a stunner but it kind of mirrored the rest of my local wild trout fishing this spring: tedious and frustrating, and lacking in both numbers and size. A few friends and I have compared notes, and things seem pretty dismal. A lot of once thriving wild brown trout streams in Connecticut are just trashed now. Angler pressure increases due to covid, as well as multiple consecutive bad water years are definitely huge factors. 

It has been very frustrating to watch the deterioration of many of the fisheries I've spent hours on over the years. It's even sadder to see that the anglers that are actually vigilant enough to notice these problems are in the minority. I really wish that more fisherman would engage constructively in their sport. If that doesn't happen, so much of what we love will continue to be lost. Spots will close, fish populations will crash, regulations will become more strict... this is all already happening. Be a good steward. Pick up trash, don't publicize spots, and treat the fish and their habitats with respect and cautiousness. Please. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, Geof, Luke, and Noah for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version. 

Regained Mojo

 The very evening after my atrocious performance on a sandy lowland stream, I got a short opportunity for redemption. The water I'd be fishing was also small but far more rocky and fast flowing. Additionally, it was much less urban. This stream is dominated by brown trout though it has a far more robust brook trout population. I was still a bit frustrated by my prior performance, but determined to at least catch a couple fish. Time and daylight were limited. I'd need to fish with an efficiency I'd lacked just hours prior. All it takes to do that is to stop, take a breath, and get out of my own way. When I'm on, I'm really on. Everything comes naturally. When I'm too unfocused, or sometimes too focused, I overthink things and get physically more aggressive: I put more power into casts than necessary, I walk more forcefully, I make changes in fly selection or presentation that aren't necessary. There's a happy medium of focus, and when I'm in it I'm a pretty decent angler.

The fly I chose was, of course, the Ausable Ugly; my ultimate small stream brown trout confidence fly. I'd not doubt the effectiveness of the fly as it was one well proven. As I worked upstream through a set of good plunge pools and runs, I wasn't getting the action I'd hoped for. Knowing this stream sees more pressure than many of those I fish, I wasn't concerned that my angling was at fault. Someone else could well have just fished this very water an hour prior and the trout could still be on edge. Finding undisturbed fish would take a little time, perhaps, but wasn't impossible. Eventually I came to the piece of water in the photo below.

A place like this has multiple good lies for trout to use and on occasion, each one will be occupied by an active fish. The first obvious seem runs along the right side of that fast current tongue. Slower water flowing from the right meets that fast water on the left side of the photo. There is enough depth there, and the converging currents both deliver food and create a soft cushion of slower water where they meet. This is a prime feeding lie and that's where I caught the first fish. 

To the right of that current seam but less visible in the photo since part of it is in shadow under the log, is another prime lie where two currents of equivalent speed meet at a 45 degree angle. I dropped the Ugly in the V and it was taken on the drop. Another wild Salmo trutta of similar size came to hand.

This wasn't the only time this little piece of water produced multiple fish while other parts of the stream under performed. Notably, right around Christmas 2017, I caught four browns out of this stretch of stream on an egg. There are some stretches of river that are simply better for holding trout- whether they are easier places to catch them is another story. 

I felt good... finally. I'd fished well. Two beautiful wild trout were fooled and both came to hand.  I'd regained my mojo. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, and Geof for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version. 

Edited by Cheyenne Terrien

Winter Exploration for Wild Trout

Spurred on by the experiences I had on New Year’s Day, I decided January 2nd should be another day devoted to fishing streams I’d either never fished or had only been to once or twice. Winter is not the best time for small stream exploration simply because the fish are less aggressive, more skittish without tree canopy shade, and often more oddly distributed in the stream. However come spring I’ll have other things on my mind and less urge to spend good weather days of that oh so short season on a “maybe.” Because every new small stream is a big “maybe;” I never know what exactly I can expect. 

I initially made my way to the stream that had given up my first trout of the year the night before. I knew I was doing basically the same thing I’d done when I discovered the stream: I’d caught one fat wild brown out of the same plunge pool, revisited it the very next day, then found every other pool seemingly troutless. This trip was an exact repeat. Try as I might, I simply could not find another fish. I suspect they are either very sparsely populated here or simply moving in and out from the river the stream empties into. 

The next stream held some promise with one old record of brook trout from the 2000’s. I’d gotten one big take the first time I fished this stream. This time around it was unfortunately even less productive. The water looks very good though so I am fully intent on returning to this one in the spring. 

Then I was back on the stream where I’d found the motherload of fallfish the day before. Those were still there, fortunately. However I also wanted to see if the big grab I’d thought felt very trout-like indeed was, and if so I wanted to find more of that fish’s brethren. I made my way to the bend run where I’d had that take without any trouty encounters, but when I stripped my Ausable Ugly through that same spot it was stopped by a solid fish. I set the hook and to the surface rose an angry behemoth, a brook trout well over a foot in length and so girthy it must have been dining on the same fallfish I’d been catching. The hook came unbuttoned and my heart sank. I don’t think that was a holdover fish. I think it was wild. And he was so big. Fallfish aside, this stream had become very interesting.

Downstream, I missed another fish I was sure was a brookie, then finally caught the first of the day. This stream has been an exciting discovery. It isn’t loaded, but it clearly has some large brook trout.

After spending a little time in the headwater of that stream and finding it a little shallow for my liking, I drove over a ridge to a stream in the next watershed over. It was clear and had a high gradient. It reminded me of brook trout waters I’ve fished in the Berkshires and White Mountains. Rumor had it there were large wild trout. Unfortunately access was spotty. I found three access points though, two of which held promise. I didn’t catch or see any fish. I am convinced they were there though. 

The fifth and final stream was a tiny drainage I’d seen brook trout in over the spring and summer while visiting a copperhead population. It was so incredibly small that I’d have a very difficult time fishing it, but I knew for a fact that it had fish so I couldn’t resist. I scaled down the ravine with blackberry and raspberry bushes and greenbrier cling to every bit of clothing they touched, trying to find a pool I could get a cast into. Eventually, I was able to drop my fly into a plunge pool and a little brook trout darted out and took. 

This was probably the smallest permanent stream I’d caught brook trout from in CT. The handful of smaller streams I’ve done well in are seasonal and the brookies come and go from the streams they flow into just as the water comes and goes with the seasons. This stream emptied directly from the hillside into the Connecticut River, so these fish had to be year-round inhabitants. 

Small stream exploration has always been one of the most exciting things in fly fishing for me. I haven’t dedicated as much time to it in the last couple years. 2021 should be the year I get back on that horse.

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, Shawn, Mike, Sara, Leo, C, Franky, and Geof for making Connecticut Fly Angler possible. If you want to support this blog, look for the Patreon link at the top of the right side-bar in web version. 

Edited by Cheyenne Terrien