On Christmas Eve Day

Ever since I caught my first trout over 20 inches on Christmas Eve Day in 2013, a spectacular wild brown I name Grandfather, I have fished my home river on either the 23rd or 24th every year since. Rain or shine, cold or warm, I was there. None of those trips were notably bad in terms of fishing, in fact this is a reliably productive time of year for numbers and size. But the conditions on the 24th this year didn't look great. Despite the recent warm spell, I knew a few days in the 40's wouldn't be enough to really warm up the water. My home water sits in some serious topography with a lot of hemlock, it doesn't get much sun. It takes a while to warm up. Iced in banks, cold water, bluebird skies were to be expected. I could deal with the ice, it wasn't really over the water, but the combination of high barometric pressure and cold water made it likely the fish would be in a funky mood. That was the reality of the situation, I caught five fish total over two miles of river covered thoroughly, and only one wild fish. For whatever reason the holdovers were more obliging, which was especially odd as up until this trip there had seemed to be none this fall.

I started out at the bridge pool, where I caught Grandfather six years prior, the first time I've fished it on this annual trip since then. I don't fish it as often as other parts of the stream for a variety of reasons, foremost of which being that it only occasionally holds wild trout. In fact, aside from Grandfather, I've only ever caught two other wild trout there, a brown and a brookie. Other wild fish, often completely unexpected ones like a pair of crappies I caught there one day, do show up there. But on this trip I got what a more typical bridge pool resident, a holdover rainbow.

All but one fish took a Walt's Worm. The outlier took a BHHESH. Typical. I might fish midges here next time, maybe that would have done better in that high pressure and could water. But I doubt it. I've fished Zebra Midges and WD40's plenty there and can count on one hand the number of fish they caught. It's mostly a caddis and stonefly game in the winter. But I've improved as a nympher in recent years so it is possible I'd be able to present small midges more effectively than I did in the past.

The one wild brown trout I caught wasn't at all big, but I was pleased about the way I caught her and she was an incredibly beautiful fish. It is all too easy on water you've fished hundreds of times before to think after a couple drifts through a lie you've been thorough enough, and I do fall into that more than I should. I made as many drifts through the lie as I normally would but felt I was missing something. I changed my position ever so slightly and altered my cast and I caught a fish because of that. Just as easily I could have moved on, as I have done many times before.

That moment was the high of the day, and I rounded the next bend thinking things may be on the up-swing.

That wasn't the case.

Instead, I walked right into a situation I didn't want to and wouldn't wish on anyone. I won't, I can't go into real detail. Suffice to say, I was forced to make the hardest decision I've ever made and I will never quite be the same for it. I think I made the right choice, but it will be a long time before I stop thinking about it. When you spend many or most of your days in the outdoors, you never know exactly what the world is going to throw at you.
 May you all have the strength to deal with anything you stumble into, and make the toughest decisions with the soundest judgment and kindest intention.

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, John, Elizabeth, Brandon, Christopher, and Shawn for supporting this blog on Patreon.

Holiday Giveaway

Happy Holidays everybody! Christmas is just days away and the year is almost over, man did it just fly by... I went on fewer long trips this year than I did last, only Florida, which barely counts as Noah and I had already been there a week before the 1st, Central PA for a few days to see Live The Stream the day before Joe's birthday, and Maine, which was just insanity. What happened on those trips and at home between those trips this year though really stands out. I'm proud of what I accomplished, and ready to renew my goals and bear down on those I didn't see through this year in 2020. I'm pleased that I've managed to drag this blog along through what really was a year of declining growth in viewership and make up for it with a few people actually financially supporting this endeavor. It is not a lot but it helps, and I can't thank my patrons enough. Nor any of you that have stuck with me.

If I could I'd send each and every one of you something to show my appreciation, but as small as my audience is that still might put me under... so I'll just have to pick one of you. To enter, comment on this post or, for those that can't comment on blogger, on the Facebook post at the Connecticut Fly Angler page that links to this post. All my patrons, regardless of tier, are each getting one entry whether or not you comment, or two if you do comment. On either the 1st or 2nd of January I'll announce the winner in my year rap-up post which will be titled "2019: The Places, The People, The Fish", so check there and get back to me by email and I will send you your gift. Whoever gets randomly selected will get a Connecticut Fly Angler sticker, 6 sz. 14 Royal Stimulators, and an original water color of an as-of-yet to be decided species of fish. Again, thank you all for helping keep this blog going. I wish you all happy holidays.

Not this one.... a different one.

Thank You!

I hope all of you that celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday and spent time with the people you care about, or maybe some time taking care of yourself too. I enjoyed a hike with my Mom and my brother, we had quite beautiful weather for it.

Photo Bombing the Berkshires

I'm feeling thankful for this little community lately. CT Fly Angler is no big deal. This month we just topped half a million total page views, which is what some less than viral Youtube videos get in a months time but whatever. I'm amazed I get an audience at all, frankly. That I have between 200 and 300 people coming here most days, a few frequent commentors, and a handful of people actually giving me money so I can keep doing this blows my mind. Thank you all! To express my gratitude I'm going to be getting a little more active as far as exclusive content on Patreon. Starting next week, I'll be posting one excerpt from my fishing log each week I can, with as little redaction as I feel comfortable sharing. This should give my patrons a good idea of how I collect and record data, which is very important to my own angling success, as well as little tidbits of valuable information about what conditions I look for to target certain species as well as little tidbits, funny stories, sketches, and photos that wouldn't ever see the light of day otherwise. Whether you give only a buck a month, 10, or more, you'll get access to a weekly or nearly weekly log write up. 

I'll also probably do a giveaway soon. I don't know what, probably some flies, some stickers, or maybe a print. I also don't know when but probably before the end of December. In any case, thank you all for sticking around. I appreciate the opportunities this blog, and by proxy all of you, have given me. 

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, john, Elizabeth, Chris, Brandon, and Christopher, for supporting this blog on Patreon.