It's No Use

We got another inch or so of rain in the last 36 hours. It brought up the stream flows by only a couple of cfs. We're still running on a 16 inch rain deficit since 2015, the Farmington is about to drop down to 60 cfs, the Salmon is setting record low flows, and I haven't even LOOKED at my home river because I'm scared to see it in a state of disaster. I fished for bass yesterday and continued to be amazed by how low the stream was. I remember four years ago when there were still trout holding in some of these pools at this time of year. Right now the water is so warm even the bass are sluggish.

Five or six years ago I fished my home river all through the summer and caught big wild browns (10-18 inches) on a weekly basis. I'm seeing a trend here, and I don't like it. If things don't change soon there aren't going to be any healthy trout populations left in Connecticut. While a major portion of the politicians who are inexplicably allowed to control environmental legislation deny science, we sit here in a record breaking drought watching the actual effects of a changing climate. I'm tired of this.

Sorry I had to go on a rant there... Just can't wait to get out of this state and go somewhere that isn't in such a severe drought that the fish are suffering potential extinction.

Here are some photos from my fishing yesterday. Enjoy, it is a beautiful spot even when there is half as much water as there should be.

A Predator Trifecta

There are a few species that I often catch a lot of each year that I have just not caught nearly enough of this year. Pickerel, rudd, and any catfish species are the main ones I can think of. Considering the number of cats I accidentally caught this year I was actually somewhat offended that I hadn't caught any so far in 2016. I've caught some pickerel but not really anything large and no good numbers days. And only a few tiny rudd. Today I fixed two of those; or perhaps mildly improved is a better way to put it....
Yesterday I thought I would go brook trout fishing today. Then today it was well past noon and where was I? Home. Once I had finished doing some chores and just being lazy I decided to just put a few hours in at the Bell Pond. When I hit it in the afternoon or evening for meat eating fish I like to start out with big flies, I'd say usually 5-8 inches. Today I tied on a gnarly triple articulated pattern I haven't come up with a name for yet. It got eaten pretty much immediately.

After about a half hour of screwing around with that fly it became clear that was the only fish that wanted to eat it so I downsized to a little fly I call a "minnow bugger". After one bluegill I began catching a whole pile of crappies. Every now and then a big bass would come up and start harassing a crappie I was bringing in. One big bass that must have been about six pounds actually managed to swallow a whole 8 inch crappie. I should have let it eat it so I could catch the bass but I felt bad for the crappie and pulled it away. 

Finally after that crap load of crappies I finally got a grab from a more powerful fish. It's amazing how much stronger a pickerel that is barely touching the 20 inch mark than pretty much any other fish I regularly target. They don't have that much weight to throw around so it seems like they just throw around someone else's weight. Freaky strong toothy beasties.

After some more crappies, a fly change and some sunnies I got a take that felt characteristic of a kitty cat... YES! Brown bullhead. It took most of the year to kill that skunk but much like last year I did it, and I did it completely by accident.

Hardcore Carp

Today was a truly awesome day on the water. Without a doubt one of my best days of carpin' yet.

Anyone who has fished with me to any extent knows that I am a total carp geek. I did the European thing for a while, made my own boilies and ground bait and learned how to tie bolt rigs and hair rigs... I never got to the level of some carpers with their bite alarms and rod holders and the many five gallon buckets full of ground bait, but I was into it and I caught some nice carp on bait and spinning rods. Then three years ago I quite the spinning game entirely and started to hone my fly carpin' skills. The first carp I ever caught was on the fly, and every carp I caught on bait after that only made me want to catch more on the fly. I could go over exactly why I love carp fishing in the same way I have for SO many posts on this blog but instead I'll tell you about today, because I've never caught more than two in an outing and today I got four, and they were all stunning specimens!

Today was the perfect day for me to break that rather pesky two fish day limit so I set out with the goal of catching four. The wind would be calm until well after noon. Glassy lake surfaces mean excellent carping, and the cool night time temperatures increase the chances that carp will remain active well into the afternoon. I got an early start, both to the fishing and the catching. The first carp I put the fly in front of ate and took of in a hurry with line in tow. It wasn't a big fish but still very strong and it would not let me tail it... It took longer to land than many larger carp I've caught. One down, three to go.

The next fish I put the fly in front of may or may not have eaten... the line twitched a bit so I set the hook but only spooked the fish. The next few fish I spotted did not result in good shots, but eventually I found one that was bubbling away in three feet of water. I could tell it was a big fish. The big ones make a massive bubble patch. It is sometimes hard to tell whether or not it is a turtle. But this was not a turtle. I downsized to 15 lb backing recently so I would be ready for any opportunities at albies. I have 200 yards of backing on that spool and that fish melted it away like nothing. I felt under armed with my 8 wt. I probably should have buttoned down the drag more. This time of year there are lots of heavy weeds and I suspect that was my downfall with this fish. Unfortunately it broke off mid run. I ended up loosing a second giant a little while later that popped off 15 feet in front of me.

The second fish I caught was very generous. I missed it on the first  go and it spooked, but came right back a minute later and this time I stuck it. Into the backing it went!

And then it was time to head out on the kayak. I was actually surprised with how long it took me to find active fish. But once I did... it was on! I found a few fish feeding in over a sandy bottom with interspersed weeds. They were making tiny sporadic bubble patched. I hooked the second one I saw. I had a hard time getting the kayak beached as the fish didn't really seem to want to leave the my shadow. I had to go where it went for a while. Eventually it tired out and I was able to get it over to a pair of large truck tires someone put in the water for kids to play on. They turned out to be the perfect carp holding pens!

No more than a couple hundred yards down the shore I spotted three carp tailing in a shallow flat. Of course I went for the big one. I cast my fly to to the right and a foot in front of the big one and watched it move over and grab it. I set the hook and the fish dumped into the backing without a second thought. I found a big rock out in about six feet of water to get up on to fight the fish. I was multi tasking: fighting a big fish, trying to keep the kayak from floating off, trying to photograph the fight, and avoiding falling off the rock. It must have been a ridiculous show. It was totally worth it. I ended the outing on a really nice fish. I wish all of my carp outing were as productive! It's all about putting in the time. The more fish I put my fly in front of during the day, the more I catch. That goes for any species. 

Skunked at a New Pond

I fished briefly at a pond today that I have wanted to work a fly through for quite a few years now. It has a reputation for producing big pickerel and yellow perch. I didn't catch squat. It was a gorgeous pond though, and I'd bet anything it would be a very productive in late fall and early winter.

To make up for that failed attempt I fished the Bell Pond for a little while this evening. I've been hitting it consistently in the evening all summer without the success I had last year and tonight once again did not produce. I'll have to leave it up to that November pickerel, perch, and walleye bite to get some of this ponds monsters. 

Fall: The Second Best Carp Season

When it comes to carp, spring is king. The fish are feeding and bulking up to prepare for the spawn, they are well fed and eager and strong. Winter is tough in New England but any time there is decent open water you can find carp that are willing to take a fly, and summer can be very productive but the fish are not in the best condition and though it may be easy to find fish they seem to be more picky. Once it starts to cool off again things start improving dramatically. Once the night time temperatures start dipping bellow 60 the average size of the carp I catch in my local waters tends to start going up. Yesterday I was out on the lake for a little while in the morning hoping to capitalize on the continued good water levels (as soon as they begin the fall draw-down the carp go deep) and I caught one of the better carp of the year. Not a true giant but a substantial carp. It was in good shape scale wise but it had some possibly boat collision related issues, more than half of its tail was gone. That meant the fight was not nearly as good as I would have liked. I kind of felt bad for that fish, I'd rather not catch fish that already have a handicap. I told it thank for the fight and was glad to see it swim off strongly.