Proposed Bill No. 6248 & The Housatonic Problem

 During the January session, CT's 33rd district representative Brandon Chafee introduced Proposed Bill No. 6248, referenced to the Committee on Environment. It is titled "and act establishing a moratorium on fishing for striped bass in the lower Housatonic River", and reads "That the general statutes be amended to establish a moratorium on fishing for striped bass in the lower Housatonic River until the populations of striped bass recovers". 

I commend Rep. Chafee for making an attempt at bringing this issue into legislation, because the Housatonic and especially it's holdover striped bass are a source of problem and controversy. Poaching is rife there, as a plethora of undersized male stripers make their way up the river in December and spend the winter, filtering back out in March and April. There are some large fish and some females that come in as well, but it is known mostly as a place to go in the winter and do what I often call "beating up toddlers". With a spinning rod and paddle tail on a jighead  you can, many days, catch as many 14-20" striped bass as you like, with people bragging about catching into the triple digits. I did it once too, and it left a sour taste in my mouth as soon as I really thought about it. It's gratuitous and unnecessary, and frankly isn't even all that fun after a while. But the real problem is the sort of poaching these easy targets encourage. Just this December CT EnCon officers and their K9, Luna, sniffed out a haul of 34 undersized bass. 

This isn't an isolated incident, as many anglers that have spent time on the Housatonic will tell you. It's enough of a problem that legislating a solution makes sense, but what of Bill 6248? Would that work? 

I'd argue that no, it will not. One problem is that "striped bass fishing" is not legally defined. This means that all one needs to do to be legal is simply not be in possession of a striped bass. Boats illegally targeting striped bass in the EEZ, where it is illegal to do so, routinely play that game. As long as they don't have a striper on board, they aren't likely to be prosecuted. To make that moratorium on striper fishing work effectively, legal definitions would need to be drawn up.  I'm not against that, necessarily, but it does leave wiggle room and wouldn't be any easier to enforce than the current situation. 

Arguably, a better strategy would be a full blown closure, and ideally a seasonal one. The problem time is typically from December to March, and the problem area is from the Derby Dam to Washington Bridge. A total closure of fishing, regardless of species, in that time frame and stretch of river. This has precedent. When we had trout seasons (and I personally really wish we still did) most rivers were closed for a month and a half or so. Under this case, anybody fishing for the vulnerable holdover bass, and that's really all that's worth fishing for down there that time of year, would be breaking the law, regardless of tackle choice. There isn't a way to sneak around the legal definitions and pretend you're targeting something else. 

Another strategy, and one that would have benefits outside of the Housatonic, would be hiring new EnCon Officers and increasing the fines for environmental infractions. As it stands, the fines and ramifications can often be equated to a slap on the wrist, and judges have tended not to take them seriously. This is a system failure, in my opinion. We should be placing higher value on our resources, and penalizing higher when people abuse them. These actions could take significant strides towards reducing the poaching problem and fishing mortality that occurs on the lower Housatonic. We can push for this, and we should. Find your representative here: Find Your Legislators- CGA, and email or call them to encourage a more enforceable, stronger version of Proposed Bill No. 6248, with emphasis on a closed winter season for fishing the lower Housatonic, and increasing fines for poaching infractions. 

Using Crayfish for Trophy Smallmouth

 After a really good day of hammering smallmouth, Noah and I became about as tired of catching them the way we had been as is possible. At a point it was no longer that engaging. It was also slowly becoming less effective. After spending a while just swimming, I started catching crayfish and got an idea. I threaded one on a jig to see just how effective they were at getting finicky fish. I suspected very. Last fall Noah, Jake, and I watched three fisherman using live crayfish catch more smallmouth than we realized were present in a creek we were fishing in Western PA. I wasn't quite sure it would work as well here, as I'd be fishing water we'd just been swimming in moments prior. I was mistaken.

The crayfish worked best threaded on the hook tail first, and drifted along the bottom as slowly as possible. The takes weren't particularly violent, but the fish I caught on live crayfish were all big. One was the largest bass I caught all day.

We didn't even fish much longer, but the proof is in the pudding. I'd never fished for bass with bait much even when I primarily fished spinning gear. Its pretty ironic that I now that I only own fly gear, I'm far more interested in fishing live bluegills or live crayfish than I ever was before.

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. 

Housatonic Smallmouth Bass Beatdown

 Back before all the rain brought the river up to atypical summer levels, Noah and I hit the Housatonic looking for as many smallmouth as we could catch. That is precisely what we encountered. 

The conditions were ideal for both numbers and size. It was hot and humid, and thunderstorms were predicted that afternoon. The water temperature was in the low 70's. The flow was down enough that we could wade just about anywhere we wanted. The fish were appropriately fired up. Actually, it was just downright crazy. It was the best day of smallmouth fishing I'd ever had.

We hooked fish after fish in each hole we plied. Noah fished small jigs with soft plastics, I fished streamers. The most productive fly, far and away, was the Half Pint. I think it does a decent job of looking like, well, food. It looks kind of like a crayfish, a lot like a darter, a bit like a bluntnose minnow, and quite a bit like a yearling smallmouth. Whatever it looks like, smallmouth like it.

The average size was phenomenal. The fish above is typically the average- and sometimes a bit above average -on the 'tonic. On this day small fish, bass under 11", were a notable minority. Fish averaged about 13", with a noteworthy quantity well in excess of that number. 

Noah and I both managed to lose fish in excess of 18" though. That was painful, as many go a long, long time without seeing a true Housatonic 18". 

Noah's 18" ate in a deep, fast run. It performed a single jump then shook off. Mine ate in even faster water. It was an extremely visual eat. The fly had been riding deep in the slow crease beyond a very fast current tongue, and when I could no longer manage slack and the line came tight, it quickly rose towards the surface and began to swing. The fish followed it up and ate it in full view in a quite violent fashion. It was nuts. And of course she somehow managed to shake off well into the fight.

Aside from those two moments of heartbreak it was as good a day of bass fishing as one could hope to have on this water. Truly crazy, nonstop, absolute chaos. 

Eventually Noah actually started to get tired of it. We'd exceeded 45 smallmouth apiece by that point, so it was at least a bit understandable. We tried to shift gears a bit. What followed will be the subject of a different post. 

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

Slamming Housatonic Smallmouth

 The Housatonic is the most well known place in CT to fly fish for smallmouth, and mostly because its an exceptional numbers river. 18 inch and larger bass are fairly rare, but it is very possible to catch 40 fish averaging 9 inches in a day there. I'm a bigger fan of less well known rivers and lakes where there are are some 16-20 inch bass but fewer fish overall. The Housatonic is still fun though, and I try to make it out there at least a few times each year. Last week I drove to Northwest CT to storm chase and found myself with quite a bit of time before storms fired. I had enough time to climb up to a rattlesnake population in particularly rough terrain, then rig up the 5 weight and seek some Housatonic smallmouth bass. I walked in to my favorite spot and promptly started catching bass averaging far bigger than I'm used to catching on this river, and lots of them. 

A white Woolly Bugger was all I needed, and it seemed everywhere I cast it it was intercepted by a 10-15 inch smallmouth. The combination of aggressive mid/post spawn behavior, hot and muggy weather, and incoming cold front really had the fish going wild. Eventually I found a really nice one too,  a rare Housatonic 18 incher, and it put up one of the best smallmouth fights I've ever had featuring a blistering downstream run and half dozen jumps. 

As the day progressed the bass just kept coming. By 4:00 I had a ridiculous tally of  47 smallmouth, with an average size of 13 inches. It was an absurdly fun day, and I was one fish right up until the end, when I took a moment to check the developing weather situation and immediately had to move into chase mode. 

Just minutes after I released the last fish, I was barreling towards a line of severe thunderstorms in my 4Runner. For the rest of the evening, I had ample opportunity to intercept gnarly and sometimes quite photogenic storms. I chased them from the NY line all the way to the CT River. It was a phenomenal day, to say the least. 

Smallmouth bass are one of the species I'm most interested in guiding clients to during the summer months, on the Housatonic and other systems throughout the state. My knowledge base for targeting trophy bass dates back to well before I'd ever caught a trout, so I've got quite a lot of smallmouth experience under my belt. It you're interested, email me at brwntroutangler@gmail.com.

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. 

Some Housatonic Smallmouth

A while back, my friend Rick, his grandson and I made an afternoon and evening trip to the Housatonic after smallmouth bass. I don't get to the Housy often so it was a nice change of pace from the more local freestones which have much lower densities of those acrobatic brown bass. Of course, passing a bridge pool on the way down to our first stop, I couldn't help but deviate from the plan and catch a beautiful wild brookie to start out.

The first spot turned out to be about dead. Despite seeing a few fish roll, which may actually have been carp, none of us got so much as a bump there. This really surprised me, as this had been an exceptionally productive spot the last time I'd fished it. We moved upriver, and our second stop wasn't any more productive. Third time's the charm though... fast pocket water in the shade gave up a couple small fish of crazyfish imitations tied on jig heads.

Following that pattern, we moved to a fourth spot, which also featured pocket water but was above a large deep hole. Bigger bass like the cover deep water provides and the food the fast water provides, so in the evening they are likely to slide up into the pocket water to feed. This proved to be the most fruitful fishing of the day. I took one half decent sized bass as well as a number of smaller ones, as did Rick. Nick got bit off by a pike!

The jiggy crayfish remained the most productive tool through the evening.

I thought things would really kick up late, especially if we got a hatch. We did, and some bass were rising, but poppers nor good mayfly imitations got the job done, and neither did wet flies or streamers. Overall, the catching was mediocre... I've done much better, I've done much worse. But it did just go to show how good the Housatonic is for bass. A steady pick of small fish over a couple hours is slow there. That river is just full of fish!

Until next time.

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

 If you enjoy what I'm doing here, please share and comment. It is increasingly difficult to maintain this blog under dwindling readership. What best keeps me going so is knowing that I am engaging people and getting them interested in different aspects of fly fishing, the natural world, and art. Follow, like on Facebook, share wherever, comment wherever. Also, consider supporting me on Patreon (link at the top of the bar to the right of your screen, on web version). Every little bit is appreciated! Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, john,Elizabeth, and Christopher, for supporting this blog.

Hunting for New Species, A Monster Brown Trout, and Tons of Smalllmouth

On Monday, Noah and I headed west to search for some new species. We fished some water Neither of us had ever fished and some that only Noah hadn't, but I'd only been to once or twice. The initial river we fished contained cutlips minnows, a species I had caught but Noah hadn't. We utterly failed to find targetable micros in most the water we fished, but didn't fail to find trout. There were stocked rainbows and browns everywhere.

Salmo trutta

Onchorynchus mykiss

After slogging through piles of planter trout myself, and Noah not finding anything willing to eat a chunk of nightcrawler, he turned around and headed back to the car. I pressed on just a little bit farther and, surprise surprise, found a huge school of mixed micros. I called Noah. he came back down and started to weed through the mess of common shiners and yellow perch and eventually got his lifer cutlips minnow. I started to specifically target the micros as well even though I knew there wasn't likely to be a new species in the mix. I did want a better specimen of a longnose dace or a cutlips minnow to photograph though, my current ones aren't great. I didn't find either, but I did catch one handsome male common shiner out of all the run of the mill, dull looking ones that were absolutely everywhere. 

Luxilus cornutus

Noah did catch a creek chub or two and this very strange dark common shiner that had us going for a little while thinking it might be something else.

We moved on to a body of water that has some tench, an introduced invasive from Europe. We were a bit in over our heads there. I've got no experience fishing for tench, and despite doing tons of research on both fly and conventional tactics for the species, I had no idea how well they could be applied the huge lake we were fishing, especially giving iffy shore access. We were stuck with a few public boat launches and parks. We found no tench, but numerous other species did make an appearance.

Perca flavescens

Lepomis gibosus 

Lepomis auritus

Lepomis macrochirus

Fundulus diaphanus

Ambloplites rupestris

We ditched and went in search of bluntnose minnows. Spoiler alert, we didn't find any. Just blacknose dace and brook trout in the small streams...

Rhinichthys atratulus

Salvelinus fontinalis

... and smallmouth bass in the big river, the Housatonic. I rarely ever get to fish this area, so new species or not it was worth it, especially to just hammer on smallmouth constantly. Small though the bulk of them were they fought incredibly hard, which all smallmouth do, but compared to the smallmouth in my home waters... well, these ones had a lot more current to fight against to build muscle mass. 

Micropterus dolomieu

10 inch smallmouth are awfully easy to find though. But something that isn't easy to find in these part is a 26 inch brown sticking his big noggin up, somehow both recklessly and slowly eating a slurry of duns, spinners, and spent caddis. It was a classic scenario. the fish was within 4 feet of the bank, sitting right on the shelf, in a seem of current behind a boulder and submerged log. I saw him while scanning the tailout of the pool. He was exactly where such a fish should be, but I don't expect to see such a fish in CT and so wasn't looking for him. I was expecting to see some ripples and rings, made by the to-be-expected 14-18" Housatonic browns, and I didn't see any. But out of the corner of my eye I saw this monster's prehistoric looking head cut through the film, mouth open, close on a march brown dun, then slide back down, making almost no discernible disturbance to the water's surface. The fish's mouth alone looked about 6 inches long. I'm not going to lie, this fish scared me a little. It has been a couple years since I've seen a head like that sucking down a floating insect, and I was not at all mentally prepared to deal with the situation. I sat back and watched, trying to gather as much information as I could before making an approach. I re-tapered my leader to fish a dry. The cast and presentation were going to be easy enough. I could see that the fish was eating virtually every bug that cam through his slot, and was making about a 10ft loop of the spot, primarily rising on his way back upstream and primarily taking things to his left. I tied on a size 18 spent caddis. When a trout is clearly taking a broad mix of insects on the surface, I will always opt to present it a caddis, even if there are more mayflies on the water than caddis. I pulled out my camera and tried to get some decent shots of his big noggin. I never got a really good rise out of him when I had the camera on, just sips. 

I had the space to make more than one presentation, and that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to slowly close in on the fish, rather than drop it right in his lane, because he was moving a long way and I knew if I got him to move two feet to his left he'd be all the more likely to take. In practice, this was great, but I hadn't taken into account that it would guarantee a complex rise (as described in Gary Borger's "Presentation"). I've not needed to set a size 18 hook on a 26 inch wild brown facing straight downstream, well, ever. And I blew it. The take was so perfect. The fish didn't hesitate at all. It was glorious, seeing that mouth close. And I did wait, just not long enough. I didn't give the fish time to turn. I felt nothing. And for a bit, I didn't think the fish possibly could have sensed any foul play. There was no harsh reaction at all. I fully expected to see it come back up. 

It never did. We even left and came back for the evening rise. That fish never showed itself again. I even sent Mark Phillipe the spot yesterday so he might catch it for me, and he sent me photos of a great fish, but it wasn't the one I saw. I have to wonder how long that fish has been in the river and how much experience it has had with angling pressure. It may well have picked up shop and moved some serious distance after it knew someone was after it. I have a feeling I missed a very rare opportunity. The river spoon-fed me an excellent shot at a very large, smart fish, and I screwed the pooch. So... yeah. The image of that fish is burned into my brain forever. It was every bit the size of my largest dry fly brown. 

Time to drown my sorrows in smallmouth bass and giant fallfish. If smallmouth every other cast and 16 inch fallfish don't make you smile, what's the point anymore?

Semotilus corporalis

Add a creek chub to my species total for the day was 14. That was pretty good. But in 14, not one new one. And no monster dry fly eating browns. There is always room to improve. Always. 

If you enjoy what I'm doing here, please share and comment. It is increasingly difficult to maintain this blog under dwindling readership. What best keeps me going so is knowing that I am engaging people and getting them interested in different aspects of fly fishing, the natural world, and art. Follow, like on Facebook, share wherever, comment wherever. Also, consider supporting me on Patreon (link at the top of the bar to the right of your screen, on web version). Every little bit is appreciated! Thank you to my Patrons; Erin, David, john, and Christopher, for supporting this blog.