Exploring in Search of Wild Trout

Today RI Brook Trout and I fished a number of different streams, a few of which were new ones with the possibility of being brook trout habitats. One was a stream that is known to hold big brown, a place were I occasionally have luck, and another the special spring creek I discovered a month ago. The last place was a good spot form smallmouth and redbreast sunfish.

The first stream keeps good flows year round, but it is one of the most hit or miss stream I have ever fished. Either its on or its off, and today it was off. I hooked and lost one brown on a streamer and RI caught some sunfish, but we quickly moved on to a distant valley in which lies the best brook trout stream I have ever seen in CT.

We both caught wild brook trout on the special stream. It was my best trip here yet, and I even had a chance at one of the really big ones, a fat brooky probably one foot in length. This stream requires a downstream presentation, and as I sneaked up on one good hole I spotted a few big brookies shifting around and nipping at drifting bugs. I put my Prince Nymph over the sweat spot and the biggest one came up and nailed it. With little room to set the hook, I failed to hook the fish on it's first three takes. On the forth I got some leverage and the brightest colored living thing I have ever seen went airborne before throwing the hook. That image will be burned into my mind until I catch one of this stream's Moby Dicks. I did manage to get some good fish though, including my biggest so far from this stream. The technique that worked best was drifting a small nymph or wet past the numerous forms of structure that these wild gems live in. Grass, watercress, woody debris, and bushes prevent the success of many other techniques, small dries won't bring up the big fish, and the clarity and calmness of the water mean big dries are likely to spook fish. But twitch a subsurface pattern past the grass and a hungry beast is liable to dart out and nail it.  

The fish this stream has are some of the prettiest I have ever seen, with bright red tails and fins, extremely vibrant spots, and blue mouthes.

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After exploring more of the secret river that I hadn't looked at yet we went to scout out some new spots. Neither that we went to looked like they would be all that good...

   

So we went after smallmouth. We both caught some good bass and sunfish on dries, and RI landed one fairly nice one on an Ausable Bomber. 

Today was a breath of fresh air compared to yesterday. Not spectacular, but some gorgeous fish were caught and some amazing places were visited. As far as this week's fishing goes, I'm planning on doing some carping, and over the weekend some bluefish action is predicted, so be ready for some more cool stuff!

Week of Mouse: Day 6

I quit.

Today was rough. For starters, I forgot my hat. May as week have left the reel or something else at home, without the hat the trip was bound to be a unsuccessful. I had gone too far to quit though, so I jept my game face on. The river was gorgeous. Fog made me feel like things might work out. Then the first ten fish I hooked either came loose or broke me off. That is ridiculous. I landed a 35 lb carp on the same tippet and same knot before, how were a bunch of smallies coming unbuttoned? I worked my butt off for a couple of little bass and panfish. I honestly did not have fun. I could have been throwing streamers and big dries on lighter gear and killing it, but I wasn't I decided to cut my losses. I'm cutting Week of Mouse short. I may use some mice tomorrow, but I'm not spending all day doing it. Frankly I want to do a bit of nymphing and streamer chucking, not to mention some brooky-ing.
I guess the biggest takeaway this week was that mice work, but there is a time and a place to use them. Only one day this week really made it worth doing, the day I slammed the really nice chain pickerel. I could have had a much better week if I was carrying even just one other fly pattern. That's the biggest takeaway, really. Don't limit yourself too much. And if I ever try a stunt like this again, I'm using an articulated streamer of some sort!

Trico Spinner Fall

Week of Mouse: Day 5

Panfish on Mice

Tonight was rather interesting. I spent a while catching absolutely nothing. Then, when it got completely dark, the spillway of the dam I was fishing became a hive of activity as panfish began gorging on whatever was there to gorge on. For whatever reason the bluegills in this pond are abnormally aggressive. When I spin fished regularly I often caught them on big top-water plugs, so it was no surprise to catch them on a big mouse. The surprise I did get was a crappie! Every once in a while I've had them come up on foam spiders or poppers, but I was not expecting one on a mouse. It was big enough to undo my knot (it's easier to make mistakes in the dark) but fortunately he landed on the ground and I got both fish and fly back. That about sums it up. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for the mice, I'm planning on covering some mileage and fishing a few different rivers.

I messed around with the camera for a while and managed to get some interesting photos.

A RARE CT MOOSE

A moose was recently spotted in the Church Pool on the Farmington River. In CT that is a very odd sight! See a cellphone picture and read a bit more here: http://riverreport.farmingtonriver.com/2015/09/friday-91815-report-moose-sighting.html

Week of Mouse: Day 4

Kayak Smallmouth

My goal today was to get one smallmouth on a mouse. If you set your goal disappointingly low, expect not to have a spectacular trip. Here is my one fish of the trip:

I did nearly catch a fish that nobody would ever guess would eat a mouse pattern: I spotted a pair of really big carp tailing in close to shore (a sight I haven't seen for weeks) and, even though I had a perfectly good damsel nymph in my hat, I decided not to cheat. I tied on the smallest mouse pattern I had and got it saturated enough to sink an inch bellow the surface. I dropped it in front of the bigger of the two and lost my mind when it ate! I should have let it chew on it a bit, but I didn't and because of that I can't add carp to the Week of Mouse species list.