We have all had the experience of seeing and fishing a hatch it can be productive to fish but they only last so long. About 12 years ago I was doing some stream sampling for a water quality survey on a local river. I had fish there the day before and had gotten into a good Hendrickson hatch with some sized 18 blue winged olives mixed in. It had only lasted about an hour or so but the fish seemed to be active even for an early part of the year. When I did my kick surveys I found that about 60 to 70 % of the nymphs I picked up were of the two species that were to hatch later that day. I guess that is when the light went off and I have been fishing hatches “bottom to top “ever since. The next day I would fish the “Complete” hatch. Having studied aquatic bugs for some time I knew the type of water the nymphs would be living in so I put on a pheasant tail nymph size 18 and a larger brown colored nymph. I fished the heads of pools and the transition from riffles for about an hour and a half before the hatch was to happen. I did not make more than 3 drift when I hooked and landed a nice rainbow and managed a bunch more before the trout started to rise and key in on emergers.

 Armed with a little bit of knowledge of the bugs to be hatching and type of water the nymphs inhabit can make for a good day. I now carry boxes with nymph, emerger, dun and spinner for most all the hatches. So if your on a favorite stream or even a new place try to find out if anything has been hatching and then try fishing from the bottom up. 

One big thing to remember is that when nymphs are getting ready to hatch they are not some inanimate object just floating in the current they will move and swim to get to were they want to go. Some of the large stones will let go of the bottom and tumble into a pool to slower water and crawl to the bank. For year I tried to imitate them crawling along the bottom with little success. So I then changed my attention to the point at which they are tumbling thus the “Riffle stone” pattern was born and boy it can be a killer at times. So just don’t sit around a wait for the hatch to begin fish the unseen hatch below. 

the Great debate heard in fly shops online and on the water is what is most important the fly or the presentation. This debate can go on endlessly but to be completely honest both sides are wrong. While you can fish a perfect match of the fish are feeding on with a poor presentation and catch some fish or conversely fish the completely wrong fly with a perfect presentation yes you will catch some fish. If that is what you want and some people are satisfied with that it's ok. If you truly want to be in the 10% of anglers that catch 75% of the fish then put them together you will catch 5 times the number of fish you do now. 

Some people with go on and on able how the fly is not important as so and so catches all their fish on a size 14 Adams dry fly or so and so nymph. yes they may catch all their fish on them but how many are they missing because they are in the wrong current seam or fishing a dry when the water temp is 40 degrees and there hasn't been a hatch in 4 months. There a 5 or so things to consider when you are choosing what fly you are going to use. \

1) what are they easting? look for bugs in the are, on the water or in the bushes.

2) silhouette of what they are eating is next. Mayflies, stoneflies , caddis and midges all have different body / wing types in both larval and adult form.

3) size what size bug are they easting, there is a bigger difference than you may realize in a size 12 to 14 natural, the trout will get locked into a curtain size bug with an extended hatch. 

4)  finally proper color is also important especially during hatches like the Hendrickson and again during the Sulphur hatches later in the spring. it dose not have to be exact but close.

 where are the majority of trout feeding surface, film , mid current or bottom. once you determine that. how are they feed , flashes, bulging rises, splashy rises, slow head to tail rise or head bobs. These will tell you best where to start. 

Now you know what they want not you need to present it to the fish correctly, it may sound easy but sometimes it can be maddening. if they are feeding subsurface depth control is the number one thing to manage. If they are feeding up to emergers or adults then you have to get the fly to the lane the fish is feeding in. at that point control of your leader and tippet are A#1 to manage. Any drag will cause the fly to act out of the ordinary so it may put a fish down or cause a refusal. 

These above hold true no matter the technique you are using streamer fishing, swinging wets, dries or nymphing. So next time you are on the water try to put these together to see if it helps.

  

 

 I am back after almost 10 years I am back to writing as well as doing my own thing again. Many changes have happened in this time but the largest is that my eyes have been opened to what my fly fishing should be all about. For the last 16 years I have been living someone else's idea of what fly fishing should be. In may I had to walk away from what I was doing to get back to my roots. I am doing what I truly love to do fly fish and help others get batter at it. 

This spring I will be going back to guiding and will start to offer my many signature patterns for sale on a limited basis as well some custom orders for close friends , old customers. In addition I will be doing several tying classes this winter location to be decided in November. I plan on weekly blog posts going forward with info on all of our local water and some destination info. After working in fly and tackle shops for more than half my life I am going to pass on some knowledge that will help when interacting at a shop I will call this section " My side of the counter ". 

 I am really looking forward to what the future is going to bring and hope you all will tagalong both here and in person.

Steve

Weekly report and newsletter

            RODs…….When you plan to try/buy a rod bring along your own reel with the line you plan to use and test cast them before you buy. If a shop hesitates or will not let you test cast a rod, find another shop. That is just good customer service. I look at rods as a tool to get a job done. A rod that works great for one situation will be useless in another. There are some all-around rods that are good at most stuff but don’t excel at any either. 9’ 9 weight is a good all-around saltwater rod a little heavy for some stuff and light for other but will work. As will an 8’ 6” 5 weight rod for fresh water. It may be a little light for bigger streamers and too large for some small midges. But will cover most of what you will be fishing. But remember if you plan to do any specialized fishing don’t be afraid to get the correct tool for the job, it will make it that much more fun. I have far more rods than I could use in any normal season. Many of those are dedicated solely for guiding, these guide rods have two important things they are easy to cast for any level of caster and they are constructed well. They are far from top of the line rods but they are also not entry level ones. My personal rods are all very different from these rods. While the rods I use for guiding all seem to be general in size & length, I have a tool crate of personal rods from 11’6” & 12 two handers down to a 6’6” fiberglass 5wt for small streams. I tend to be very specific when I am fishing, it may be 10’ nymph rod, slow action old style dry fly rod or an ultra-fast rod for casting heavy steelhead rigs. When it comes to rods they are a real personal choice of what or how we want to fish. At this point in fly fishing history we are lucky because we have the greatest choice of great rods from $100 to $1,500 rods in all sizes shapes and colors.

Report

Natchaug:

Flow is at  21 CFS (), water clear

Water temps are 65 degrees in the Am rising to about 70 at 3 Pm.

Right now there are small tan caddis sz 18, yellow sallies, mahogany quills(paraleps) sz. 18 , BWO sz 18.-20 and a few march browns sz 12-14

Willimantic:

flow is at 45 CFS (, water is clear

water temps are 65 in the morning rising to about 70 at 3 PM

 some small midges, small tan caddis sz 18, yellow sallies, mahogany quills(paraleps) sz. 18 , BWO sz 18.-20 and a few march browns sz 12-14

Mount Hope:

Flow is at 7.9 CFS , water is clear (I would skip fishing here if possible)

Water temps are 66 am to about 72 PM

 small tan caddis sz 18, yellow sallies, mahogany quills(paraleps) sz. 18 , BWO sz 18.-20 and a few march browns sz 12-14

Fenton:

Flow is at 5.1CFS , water is clear ( like above I would try someplace else)

Water temps 58 am to almost 63 in pm

Paraleps sz. 18, BWO sz 18,  gray caddis, look for egg layers in the afternoon.

Shetucket:

Flow is at 195 CFS )

Temps are 67to 72 flow is clearing

Should see some decent grey caddis sz 16 -18, BWO sz 18, tan caddis 18

Salmon:

Flow is at 31 CFS, flow is clear

Water temps are  67 in the am going up to 73 in pm

 there  tan caddis sz 18, paraleps sz 18.

What to use:

As always buggers sz 8-10 in black, olive or a thin mint will work well.  Streamers like 6-8 grey ghosts and black nose dace will work as well. Bow river buggers sz 6-8 will produce as well. For nymphs try black hares ears sz 14-16, Riffle stones sz 8 fished dead drift as always will take fish.  The mahogany duns use a small red quill sz.18 and a sz.18 rusty spinner. For the caddis hatch use a sparkle pupa fished in the surface film. For the BWO a sz. 18 dry will work great. March brown floating nymphs emergers are good sz 12, tan X caddis sz 16-18 BWO parachutes are working really well also sz 18-20

Shop droppings:

We have some nice used rods for sale 11’6” 6 wt. Two hander , TFO pro 9’6” 5wt. with prism reel and Airflo line. A couple of bamboo rods and several NEW Greys rods left 8’ 4wt, 8’6” 5 wt , 9’ 5wt , 9’ 6 wt in the GS 2 series, XF2 11’ 7wt, XF 2 6’6” 2wt, 9’ 8 and 9 wt. salt water rods. Hardy Zane  9’ 8wt XF 2 9’ 12wt Stop in and check them out.

Tight lines,

Steve’O

Weekly report and newsletter

this time of year the small grey caddis & green caddis will hatch sporadically throughout the day. When this happens the best way to fish is using a small grey or light green wet fly or soft hackle fished on the swing. If you see bulges use an unweighted fly swing it to the area were the bulge was. If the fish are not showing swing the fly into tail outs. At the end of the drift use a little rise of the rod tip to get the fish to take.

Report

Natchaug:

Flow is at 117 CFS (normal), water clear

Water temps are 50 degrees in the Am rising to about 55 at 3 Pm.

Right now there are black and brown stones sz 16-18, Hendricksons (pink sz 12, sz 14 red quills)with small black caddis sz 18.

Willimantic:

flow is at 216 CFS ( normal), water is clear

water temps are 50 in the morning rising to about 55 at 3 PM

small stones black and sz 16-18, with some small midges, Hendricksons and a few quill Gordon’s,  with little black caddis mixed as well.

Mount Hope:

Flow is at 48 CFS , water is clear

Water temps are 50 am to about 53 PM

Small stones and some small grey caddis. Hendricksons, look for small black caddis as well.

Fenton:

Flow is at 33 CFS , water is clear

Water temps 50 am to almost 54 in pm

Should have decent stones egg laying about now. Hendricksons, gray caddis, look for spinners in the afternoon.

Shetucket:

Flow is at 849 CFS (this is about the limit of fishable high water)

Temps are 50 to 56 flow is clearing

Should see some decent grey caddis sz 16 -18, small stones

Salmon:

Flow is at 193 CFS, flow is clear

Water temps are 49 in the am going up to 56 in pm

Some caddis and yes Pat S there Hendricksons in the river now.

What to use:

As always buggers sz 8-10 in black, olive or a thin mint will work well. Small stone fly imitations in sz 16-18 to match the hatching stones ( dark brown/ black) . also try small dark wet flies later in the afternoon fished just under the surface upstream, this imitates the drown egg laying stones. Streamers like 6-8 grey ghosts and black nose dace will work as well. Bow river buggers sz 6-8 will produce as well. For nymphs try black hares ears sz 14-16, Riffle stones sz 8 fished dead drift as always will take fish. For quill Gordons use a Quill Gordon Wet instead of regular dry. The Epeorus nymphs actually shed their shuck on the bottom and rise as an almost fully formed adult. Warmer day they will only sit for a short time then take off so the wet fly swung to bulging trout works wonders. For the Hendricksons remember the male and female look completely different. Makes are a full hook size smaller (14) and reddish brown, female is size 12 and a pinkish /tan color. The males usually hatch first then the females will come off. Try a red quill parachute early the switch to a female colored dry once that stops working. With almost a week o emergence we will also see the spinner fall later in the afternoon, look for lazy rolling rises and hit them with a sz 12 rusty spinner.  

Shop droppings:

We have some nice used rods for sale 11’6” 6 wt. Two hander , Greys 9’ 4wt StreamFlex, TFO pro 9’6” 5wt. with prism reel and Airflo line. A couple of bamboo rods and several Greys rods left 8’ 4wt, 8’6” 5 wt , 9’ 5wt , 9’ 6 wt in the GS 2 series, XF2 11’ 7wt, XF 2 6’6” 2wt, 9’ 8 and 9 wt. salt water rods. Stop in and check them out.

Tight lines,

Steve’O

Something new

 

I am a gear head and I know it so a few weeks ago I picked up a gift to myself or father’s day. JT has had a couple Hardy Marksman II rods in the shop for about a year now. I had cast them when they first came out and like it, but not long after I broke down and got a Zenith 9’ 4wt. I love this rod ,it is a great all around rod but I have found it to be a bit too powerful in the butt for smaller flies, I seem to pull flies size20> out of a trout mouth if I put any side pressure on them and then end up fighting them longer than I like. So being the Hardy (Butt boy I am) I got the marksman in 9’ 4wt, I love this rod too it is a true medium fats rod with a mid to tip action. It cast well out to about 60’ with no trouble and will load up pretty easy close as well. What I really like is how well it handles fish especially 12”+ trout on smaller hooks. I was able to put good pressure but the tip did its thing very well when a fish pulled back with side pressure. I still like the Zenith better as an all-around rod most importantly when there is any wind, it shines. It is also for reasons unknown a great wet fly rod with all the common sized wets. The tip flexes just enough on the take but hold up well during a fight.

Speaking of rods one thing I always try to make a point of when discussing rods is the following.  The one best piece of advice I can pass along that I have picked up in my 35 years of fly fishing is NEVER, I mean NEVER buy a rod if you have not cast it. All the manufacturer hype in the world will do you no good if you can’t form a good loop. Contrary to what a lot of people do, with a quick wiggle or checking the taper by pushing it down on the floor really does nothing to tell you how it casts. You have to actually cast it. I find it funny when  I see posts in internet bulletin boards asking what rod they should buy. I try to always tell them the rod that best suits their casting ability and style. I learned this years ago when I just had to have a T & T Horizon rod. I got one as a gift and could not cast it worth a hoot and after month of frustration trying to learn to cast it for a trip to Florida, I ended up using my old rod. I ended up leaving it in Florida with my dad who loved it. Lesson learned! 

            When you plan to try a rod bring along your own reel with the line you plan to use and test cast them before you buy. If a shop hesitates or will not let you test cast a rod, find another shop. That is just good customer service. I look at rods as a tool to get a job done. A rod that works great for one situation will be useless in another. There are some all-around rods that are good at most stuff but don’t excel at any either. 9’ 9 weight is a good all-around saltwater rod a little heavy for some stuff and light for other but will work. As will an 8’ 6” 5 weight rod for fresh water. It may be a little light for bigger streamers and too large for some small midges. But will cover most of what you will be fishing. But remember if you plan to do any specialized fishing don’t be afraid to get the correct tool for the job, it will make it that much more fun. I have far more rods than I could use in any normal season. Many of those are dedicated solely for guiding, these guide rods have two important things they are easy to cast for any level of caster and they are constructed well. They are far from top of the line rods but they are also not entry level ones. My personal rods are all very different from these rods. While the rods I use for guiding all seem to be general in size & length, I have a tool crate of personal rods from 11’6” & 12 two handers down to a 6’6” fiberglass 5wt for small streams. I tend to be very specific when I am fishing, it may be 10’ nymph rod, slow action old style dry fly rod or an ultra-fast rod for casting heavy steelhead rigs. When it comes to rods they are a real personal choice of what or how we want to fish. At this point in fly fishing history we are lucky because we have the greatest choice of great rods from $100 to $1,500 rods in all sizes shapes and colors.

We all have a history

Beginnings

          They say you can never go back to a place and see it exactly the way you remember it, I guess that is even truer for a fisherman who spends time fishing the moving waters of rivers. Rivers are ever changing ,what just happened has already slipped down steam on the current. Not too long ago I went back to check out a small piece of water in the town in which I grew up. The one thing I kept thinking was that it is a lot smaller than I remembered. In those days, almost 40 years ago now, you didn’t take pictures of your catch you took it home. My dad, who is still the best trout hunter I have had the pleasure to spend time on the water with, always brought a trout or several home. I remember the last time we fished together it has to be 10 years ago now he would have been in his mid 70’s. I was fishing a bend pool on a small brook that runs behind my aunt’s house; I was having fits trying to get a big trout I knew lived there to take my fly. The entire time I was fishing this bend I had that feeling I was being watched, well I was. My dad popped up off his log roost in the skunk cabbage and asked if I was done wasting his time. He then proceeded to crawl too within about 10 feet or so of the water, rub his wet fly in the mud and flipped it out into the water. It drifted maybe 2 and a half feet and he tightened up on the line, his rod bent and a beautiful 17” brown was thrashing away at the end of the line. He stood up to fight it and brought it to hand relatively quickly. What happened next is what I remember about this trip the most; he unhooked the trout and then slowly slid it back into the water. That was the first and last time I ever witnessed him practicing catch and release. Later when I asked him about the fish he explained he had hooked and lost it 3 times that spring and once the previous fall so he figured he owed the fish a couple of chances. I have not been back to that spot or fished with him since. He had a bad heart attack and open heart surgery the following fall and is now on all kind of meds that thin your blood and he gets cold real easy. Even on days that everyone else is hot he will wear a sweater. Other than that he is healthier now than he was 20 years ago. He can still out run me today even at 80+ years old. He has those sharp blue eyes of a Scandinavian fisherman and when it comes to trout fishing he has an above average intelligence.

          While he’s dad in my heart he is not my biological father, he past away when I was about 5 years old. My mom was a hard working single mom way before it was posh to be one. She spent as much time with us as she could by taking a teaching position at the local public school. I was about 10 when she met my step dad and they got married the next year. He did as good a job being a father as any man could have. The one thing I am most thankful for is he introduced me to the outdoors. Actually in two ways the first was the actual outdoorsy stuff hunting squirrels and rabbits with a pellet gun and chasing fish in the local pond. I already had a love of fishing having spent a whole summer when I was 6 or 7 catching brown bullhead from a road culvert that emptied onto our property. The second was he passed along all of his outdoor magazines to me. Field & Stream and Sports afield were the two I remember the most. I would read them cover to cover and just gobble up the info and photos. One of the ones I remember the most was a article by I believe Vince Marinaro, about trout fishing with a fly rod. This kind of fishing struck a cord with me deep down soul kind of stuff. The art of the cast, the subtle way the line floated in the photos and the beautiful fish I learned from reading were trout. I wanted to learn more about them and this seemingly ancient way to fish.

          What happened next in my young life probably has more to do with who I am today than anything else. 2 years after they were married my mom and step dad decided to move to his house in a small farming town about 15 miles south east of were we lived. The town we lived in was growing at an ever increasing rate. The year before we moved the public school went to double sessions to solve an overcrowding problem. I was already in a catholic school due to my mom’s desire for me to get a “better education”, that was the public line; I believe it was because she figured the nuns would keep me in line and make me work at learning. This little town was worlds away from were we had lived, when we moved there the population of Holstein milk cows was roughly triple the human population. There were tough times at first making new friends but for me the biggest advantage was the several small brooks that ran thru town. None of them was very large but they held water for the whole year and had some “trout” in them. The Best of them ran thru my Aunts property and there was about a half mile of it we could fish. It held mostly stocked browns and rainbows with a few hold over fish as well as native brook trout. It is a classic small freestone brook with normal pool / riffle –pool riffle make up. My dad and his sister are very close so most every Friday growing up the families would get together for dinner. During the spring and summer as soon as I had finished, off I would race out the door get my rod and head down to the brook to fish till dark. Early on I did more exploring than fishing but as I learned the water I took my share of fish. To this point most of my fishing was done with an old 8' 8wt fiberglass rod ( a noodle) . I fished this way for a year or so I was about 14 when I saved enough from mowing lawns in the neighborhood and baling hay to buy my first good fly rod. It was nothing fancy a Daiwa 8’6” 6wt fiberglass rod and a couple of weeks later I bought a Pflueger 1492 with a weight forward Cortland 333. I would ride my bike to the only sport shop that was close enough and pick the owner’s brain. He was an avid fly fisherman with a more modern sense of the sport than my dad. To dad a 15 foot cast was a long one and he used a section of Dacron to a 3 foot piece of mono as a leader. I had it set in my mind I was going to be modern fly fishermen just like in the magazine articles. I would practice casting in the back yard for hours. I would always imagine myself on some far away river chasing after large trout. Little did I know that 39 years later I would be back haunting those same little streams I wanted to so quickly leave behind.

          That summer just before my freshman year of high school we began to camp seasonal at a new campground. My mom was still working at the public school so she had the whole summer off. We would spend the entire summer vacation at the campground with my dad commuting to work form there. This new campground was smack dab in the middle of some of the best trout water in the eastern part of the state. The “swimming hole” was actually the beginning of the Natchaug River. This pool is the point were Bigelow brook and the Still river come together to create this gem of a river. For most of its length the Natchaug flows along the boundary of its namesake state forest. It then dumps into Mansfield Hollow lake where it meets the Fenton and Mount Hope Rivers. The Natchaug emerges from the dam as a much different river than the upper reaches. From there it winds its way a few more miles until it meets the Willimantic River to form the Shetucket River one of the large tributaries of the Thames River. It is a great piece of water that in 2005 began to be managed as a trophy trout area with a minimum length and 2 fish limit. The natchaug river and those small streams that I fished as a kid all set a foundation that has served me well for many years I think that number one building block was have fun, followed by be flexible. I try to pass these two things on to my guide clients and to the students I have in classes at I teach.

so look back on your beginning even if it has only been a few years I bet your already building that foundation. Life has slowed down this year so I will actually have time to post more so look for more stuff to come ............and I mean it this time.

 

" Got one"

         

Some things never change

 

It has been 37 years since I first started to use a fly rod, that was at age 12 in 1976. Prior to that I use either a spinning or spincasting  rod with a clear bubble and fly to catch trout. Most of the early years of my fly fishing were spent on small streams with a Diawa – Dianna fiber glass rod 8’ 6wt with a Pflueger 1494 1/2 reel on it. I fished mostly wets and streamers with the occasional dry fly for the elusive top feeders. Well 37 years later I have a closet full of equipment, including a couple of outfits worth more than my first car, a used Volkswagen rabbit. My fly choices have become more sophisticated and I do tend to catch far more fish but I can tell you I enjoyed it just as much then as I do now. Lately I have been noticing how much things have changed in fly fishing but how much they stay the same. A couple of things that have spurred this on were a couple of fishing buddies passing along reading material to me . One in the form of 12 PDF digital books that date as far back as 1854 and the other some old Fly Fisherman Magazines from 1977-79. These old magazines really drove the point home as to how commercialized the sport of fly fishing had become. This is not nearly a bad thing, as I believe that we have far better equipment –rod, reels, lines along with a better understanding of trout and their food.  Also far more species are being caught with fly rods in both salt and fresh water. One of the funniest things that has not changed, E.M Tod writes about it in his book wet fly fishing published in Scotland in 1884, is the debate over dry fly fishing as being more sporting / more “fly fishing” than fishing with a sunk fly. That same sentiment is echoed in another old book I recently read by Charles Z Southard published in 1914 the debate by this time had made it to the shores of the United States. Both men adopted pretty much the same attitude towards fly fishing as I have, remain flexible and let the Trout tell you what fly to fish don't try to " force feed them a pattern you want to fish". One last piece about this Mr. Tod writes something very funny in one chapter about using both a dry fly and wet fly at the same time, with the wet being a dropper off of the dry fly. I thought that was something new guess not. He follows that up in the same chapter and I will paraphrase” tis better to go the river with both wet and dry flies then decide to which to fish than to preclude one for not being actual “ fly fishing” .  A man of the latter thought mine as well fish after being poked in the eye with a sharp stick”as he will be just as effective. That made laugh out loud when I read it.

                It amazes me all of the equipment changes that have taken place in a just 37 years seeing that bamboo and green heart were used pretty much exclusively for well over a hundred years each then to see one material come into favor fall out and then begin a revival in just those 37 years is amazing. Fiberglass rods ruled the day from the mid 60's until about 1980-81 when companies started to build much better graphite models. Now they have started to make a comeback with many custom and a bunch of production models on the market today. One surprising thing I read about is that the whole Boron/graphite mix is not new .A couple of rod copanies were doing that in 1979 but it was not very successful so they abandoned the idea until a few years ago when Winston and Orvis brought out models with mixes. Speaking of Orvis & Winston they are a couple of the big names along with Scientific Anglers, Hardy, Thomas & Thomas and Cortland that have lasted. With new comers Powell and Scott Power ply just coming on the scene.  Most of the ads in those pages were for companies that are either gone or no longer make fly fishing equipment,.Berkley not only had several fly lines but a line of fly rod and reels under the specialist label. Lew Childre one of the big bass rod companies had a line of “ speed stick” fly rods. H.L. Leonard was still producing Bamboo rods out of their Central Valley, NY location and had just become a member of the S.E. Johnson (wax) company. Having worked in fly and tackle shops for almost 20 years  on an off it is kind of sweet to see some shops that have survived far longer than most. Dan Baileys, Bud Lilly’s, Kaufmann’s  fly shops out west. Housatonic Meadows and Sportsmen’s Den here at home. There were more fly shops listed for Connecticut and New York than for either Montana or Colorado in an add for Cortland fly lines.

                Catch and release was a hot topic ,with some modern devotees who were outspoken against it, "as wasting a precious resource by tossing half dead trout back into the river". Water clean ups were just getting started, dam removal was an unheard of thing and conservationists were just then pushing for fish ladders on dams. I guess fly fishing has gotten much better due in large part the early conservationist movement started in the 70’s has lead to most of our trout water being much cleaner. Unlike today where talk of less stocking with better management of habitat for wild fish they spoke of increased stocking to further opportunities for all anglers. One kind of disturbing thing that I picked up was a bit of high minded elitism that many of the writers of the day had. One article I read made a point of that if you were fishing either up or down stream if a spin fisherman is encountered they should always yield to you as you were the more sporting gentlemen. I guess some things take longer to change than others as this attitude persists to a small point today. I feel, to each his own! Another thing that reading this older material has done is renew my love affair with wet fly fishing. After reading a couple of old books on it and reading an article by Lee Wulf about it back in April I spent a day swinging a Quill Gordon wet and just banging the crap out of the trout over a three day stretch. So I guess the more fly fishing changes it comes back around again.

As time goes by

Monday night JT, Stan, Lou and I all headed up to the Ludlow Elks for the 3^rd year in a row to set up a display for the shop at the Western Mass fly fishermen’s club expo. It is a great club that main purpose is to give back and get Kids and adults into fly fishing and tying. I was at their January meeting, going over what program I was going to put on at the expo, they announced they had about 56 people in the fly tying class they were putting on. That is incredible to say the least. The club dues are all put back into materials and items for the tying classes. They are a great bunch!

            I did my talk on two of my favorite things; I did a short presentation on “locating and best tactics for small stream fishing” and a much broader presentation on   “nymph fishing”. Any of you who have fished with me know that I LIKE nymph fishing. Some people look down on it and I feel sorry for them. It is not the only way to fish by no means but it beats waiting for a hatch. Over the last 35+ years of fly fishing I have one philosophy when it comes to both guiding and my personal fishing “ be flexible” I will almost never go to the river planning on fishing just this way or that. I will always sit and watch the fish for a time and let them tell me how to fish. It has made me successful over the years so I try to help others see it works. I have been reading digital copy of C.M Todd’s “ fishing the wet fly” this book was published back in 1903 and even though it is about wet fly fishing he makes the comment that and fly fishermen to be a success has to be able to fish both on top and under the surface.  Well I guess there really is not all that much new in this sport. I had thought that a dry and dropper was a relatively new thing, nope he talks about fishing a dry and a wet fly in slightly faster water. I am starting to believe that truly only thing that has changed is what the equipment is made out of.

                Think I have reached the stage were just getting out and getting of decent fish is more important that counting. I have kept a fishing journal since 1983 and use them to look back at weather, water and fish patterns. I have noticed that from about 1990 until about 4 years ago I kept very detailed counts of the species with species, length, pattern and location for all of my fishing trips. These last 4 years I find I listed only that I caught a few in the spot or that spot with the occasional note on a larger fish with location and pattern. It could be maturity or just laziness I am not sure. I still keep details of the weather, water and how I fished but not the numbers. I have also noticed I have started to fish slower in the last couple of years and that is a good thing. I think sometimes I would move thru a pool or run way too fast and actually miss some fish. As time goes by we all mature and age some like a fine wine others mellow like a good single malt in the end we all enjoy this great sport our own way.

 

steve

signs of life

Put the oldest daughter on the bus this morning and realized that it was actually light at 6:00 this has to mean that spring is not too far off. This is the time of the year for anticipation of the upcoming season and planning trips for the early spring. For me it means cranking up the vice and tying lots of flies. Most years I will have dozens and dozens of flies to tie to fill boxes for guiding. I like to do as much of it preseason as possible so then I only have to tie newer patterns during the season. What really helps with this is keeping a detailed journal of all my trips both personal and guide trips. I have kept one since 1982 when I needed a subject for a college creative writing class. Over the years it has been one of my best tools to make me a better fly fisherman. I can look back at weather patterns, water flows or even lack of rain back to 82 and see what worked and did not.

 

          This year I actually started way back in December tying just in case we had a winter like last year so I could get out without feeling guilty. I spend a lot of time tying for the shop in March and early April but that always ends up being between 10pm-2am most nights. Well the winter shaped up to be pretty normal so looks like fishing will be another few weeks off. I know some people are getting out, my buddy Steve e-mailed me this morning saying he got out yesterday and got a couple that made 7 so far this year. I am really jealous of him. Not only that he got to fish at all but that he is new at fly fishing and has that need to get out. I think that is why this part of the year is special to me because I get that feeling after a couple of month of not being on the water I really need to get out and renew that love of fly fishing.

          Working and hanging out at fly and tackle shops over the past 20 years I it funny how some fly fishermen think that having the best of everything will make it better or easier, while it may make it better it is not easy at first. I always make a point in my beginners class that, if coming from spin fishing, they have to be willing to catch less trout for a season or two but once it clicks there is usually not turning back. Speaking of stuff I just picked up a new rod that I have wanted for a couple of years. I finally got my Hardy Zenith 9’ 4 weight rod and cannot wait to fish it. It was a deal I could not pass up so I jumped. I have wanted one since I first cast the proto type with the sales rep 3 years ago. I t has a very progressive action which makes close in casting, say 10-15 feet, easy but it has a power to boom out an 80’ cast if needed. Two springs ago at the shops spring fling I had a customer, who had only tried casting once before, throwing decent loops and 30’ of line in no time with that rod. Unlike the many faster rods these are much easier to cast you do not need perfect timing. One thing I have been impressed with all of their products is, unlike some US companies who build great casting rods but they seem to be poor tools to fight fish, the Hardy rod do both well.  

          Just an FYI over the next month there are a few things going on that I would like to let you know about. This Saturday March 16, 2013 we are doing open tying at the shop. Monday March 18^th I will be at the Western Mass Fly fishermen’s expo doing a program on small stream & nymph fishing. Saturday April 13^th will be the shops (JTs fly shop) annual spring fling weekend. Many reps and local clubs will be there along with a fishermen’s flea market. Stop in to one of these and say hey.

 

Steve

It is hard to believe that it is 2013 already. Life has been one crazy mess since my last post. The fishing season came and went problem is life always seems to get in the way. I had some great guide trips this past year and want to thank all those great people who enjoyed one or more day with me. I really enjoy the time I spend guiding as I get to see people them learn new things or discover new places. Due to a crazy injury exploring a way off the beaten path spot, I tore up my left knee early in 2012. It had been already damaged from years of abuse by July it was to the point that everyday things were growing increasingly difficult so I went to the surgeon and had surgery schedule for Mid-September. I want to thank Dr. Murray for an excellent job, maybe too good as I have seemed to overdo it often. I did manage to make our annual Steelhead trip to the Salmon River but it was cut short due to the knee not holding up as well as hoped. I did get a couple steelhead, a Coho and a beautiful Atlantic salmon in the 3 days I was there. I got to fish with some old friends and some new ones. Actually bumped into a guy I have known from a fishing club for years and we got to fish a bit the final afternoon I was there.

                The knee is pretty much healed up and I am about 85-90 percent mobile again and it is getting better by the day. I am really looking forward to the upcoming season. With the big snow storm we just got we will have some much needed run off this spring. While we most likely will not be dry fly fishing to rinsing trout like last March we will have better flows.  Last Saturday Jt and I were at the Connecticut Fly fishermen’s Association expo at Maneeleys in South Windsor. To say it was a great show would be an understatement, there had to have been 300+ people come thru in the time it was open. While I was a bit under the weather it was still great to see so many old friends and clients. We also got to meet some new and hopefully becoming old friends. It was really nice to see so many young people there seeing what was new. One very encouraging thing was the number of people who were taking the club tying class. It is a great way to get into the next part of the sport. I have always been a believer that tying your own flies makes you a better fly fisher. You tend to be less weary of where you put the fly because you can always go home a tie more inexpensively thus you’re a bit more aggressive with your casting to the places trout like to hide. Speaking of tying I have been basically chained to the vice tying up orders for the last month and a half. Everything from steelhead streamers to size 26 midges and a lot of stuff in-between. I have been trying for local shops now since 1995, in that time I have come up a with a few patterns of my own design. We sell most all of them thru JTs fly shop but at the encouragement of one of our sales reps I have submitted about 13 patterns to one of the large wholesale companies for consideration in being added to their 2014 catalog.

                There are a few upcoming events that I want to mention. One is the Western Mass Fly fishers Expo on March 18^th from 6-9 at the Ludlow Elks club. Yours truly will be doing  a presentation on small stream fishing and also an in-depth talk on different types of nymph fishing.  Sometime in the next few weeks we will “begin tying and lying” at Jts fly shop, for those who don’t know what that is, it is a were a bunch of us experienced and new tiers get together over coffee and snacks , we ties up flies as well as tell fishing stories. It is a great way to learn new techniques or relearn something you had forgot. I will not promise to write more this year because promises are meant to be kept. So I will do my best to update this blog as much as possible in 2013 and beyond.

 

Steve’O

I headed back to the Willimantic river TMA hoping that most of the people who had been fishing there the last 2 1/2 months were on to greener pastures. I started at the abutment pool, there was a youger guy there with a kid he was trying to teach to fly fish at the tail out, I moved up to the very head of the pool and after a couple of quick tangles and a leader change, I managed to get 3 casts in a row were I wanted them. On number four a beautiful brown took my szie 16 caddis dry and gave a very good account of it's self.

I then moved down to the flat below the abutment pool and proceded to spook two decent fish with casts that got blown off target by poorly timed breezes. I managed a nice little brookie on the dry a bit later. About this time the sun came out full bore and the fish stopped feeding on top. I rerigged with a czech nymph point fly and a small caddis pupa dropper. I made only three cast and hooked and landed a nice little rainbow a few minutes later I hooked and lost a ncie fish that ran down stream quick. I managed to scape up one more trout from the tail out and decided to leave the two young fisherman to the pool. I drove down stream to a favorite access point to fish the middle of the TMA. I took quick water break and then headed off to the lower Bride pool, I had fished down thru the pool with a pair on nymphs with not even a bump. I then turned around changed the point fly to a sligtly lighter version of a caddis larva and started to work up stream using a yarn indicator( bobber) I had made it up about half way when Carl one of my friends showed up. I slowly fished the rest of the pool waiting for him to rig up. once riggered head fished the head of the pool and got two trout to show interest in a small caddis so I changed to a dry and we fish up under the bridge to the upper pool. we managed several fall fish and dace but not trout. Once thru the bridge we noticed a couple of fish rising just up into the pool. Carl got a quick refusal and told me to give it a try I cast to the spot and the fish took right away, it then proceeded to get me hung in a rock or log and I had to break it off. I retied and we fish up towards the head of the pool. Carl was ahead and to the bank side of the pool that way we could both fish with out crossing lines or drifts. About half way up the pool I noticed very many fish flashing along the bottom so I switched back to the czech nymph and dropper. First cast at the head of the pool I hooked a nice tiger trout and after a short fight unhoooked it, two cast later I hooked and landed a nice rianbow.

I called to Carl to come back down and I let him fish the slot they were holding in. after a couple of missed fish he broke off and deicded to switch to a soft hackle and ant. ( he has a great mthod of fishing ants subsurface). I hooked and landed one more brown and headed down towards the bridge casting then taking a step then casting again. Carl hooked up an landed a nice rianbow from the head of the pool. We worked out way back down under the bridge with neither of us getting any real action. Carl had to leave so I decided I would swing a pupa and soft hackle in the head of the lower pool an head out. an hour later after a couple missed hook sets and a nice fish lost to too much pressure on my end of the line I called it a day. Overall not a bad opening day # 37 if I do say so.
Steve'O

another great weekend

Well yesterday was the spring  fling at JTs fly shop and it was a good day weather wise so the people were out. Got to see some old Friends and made a couple of new ones. we had a lot of our suppliers there to so off the latest and greatest. as well as many tag sale people trying to unload some stuff. Cpt. Jack  from Jack hammer charters was there with his crew. a good time was had by all. Got to try a couple of new two handed rods that I am going to put a serious test to on May 5th at the Spey clave on the Farmington river.

I got a chance to get out to fish today, the flow was way down( no run off and no rain) the fish were there and active. I fished with one of the guys from the shop Lou between us we figured out what they wanted and got a few on a size 16 caddis. I managed a few until I lost the only sz 16 tan elk hair caddis fly I had on me. When I loaded the truck to head to the river I thought to myself I need to add a few boxes of dries and take out the big stones and buggers. I took out the boxes I wanted too and put in my early spring box with Hendricksons, red quills, paraleps and quill Gordons in it and the box with blues winged olives also. While i was int he closet I grabbed my box of caddis to put in the truck bag just in case. guess what they never made it to my vest,they were still on the shelf in my closet. Whenever we were able to get a good drift the fish would Take I struggled for a time trying to find something that would work, but I ended up going to nymphs( not that is a bad thing but the fish seemed to be looking up. I did manage 1 nice rainbow and a big sucker on a Czech nymph. The water is very low for this time of year and I pray we get some rain soon. all in all it was a good day to be out and a few fish cooperated. all in all a good day to be out.

Steve'O

well it is that time again damn it !

Over the years I have tried to stay as positive as possible when I comes to fly fishing, after all it is just fishing. I have been fly fishing for 37 years next Saturday and trout fishing for about 46 years. having a dad who is a trout fisherman I am lucky having been introduced to it early and often. For the last 15 or so years I have been guiding part time and doing some commercial fly tying. 5 years ago a good friend opened up a fly shop and I have been helping him out ever since. We have a great mix of guys who help out at the shop from Passn thru our very own It guru to the bunch of shop rats that gather on Friday nights to tell stories and share the food and spirits. we all pretty much have one thing in common while we all take fly fishing very serious, none of us take ourselves very serious. we all have strengths and just as many weaknesses.
                So this is all well and good but were is it leading. Well in the last 5 or so years with the increase in the ease of creating web pages, many so call guide services have sprung up. nearly all of these are niche services serving a small area of the state or specializing in one water. Of the ones I have met or spoke with they all seem to be good at what they do. But there are a couple that have cropped up in the last year or so that every time I hear the name I cringe. They are all over the web and post all kinds of reports. Now I spend a good bit of time on the waters of eastern Connecticut in the fishing year and I am constantly surprised by some of the s%^& that gets posted and passes as a report. It is far more shameless promotion than any actual info and some times I think they just make the crap up.  A few years ago I was at the Marlboro Mass. fly fishing show with a good friend, we ended up eating lunch with a couple of guys who are full time guides here in Connecticut and work hard to make it work. The conversation was the normal " I had this guys who .............." but then on of them asked what I thought of the idea of licensing guides In Connecticut, normally I am hands of when it comes to government but he had a point. It would actually create a better product for those who use guides. I had forgotten about it until this past winter I bumped into one of them and he said he had been basically put off by the Deep with the idea. too bad I think the resource would have benefited from it.
      well onto another note, not knowing really how many read this stuff, I wanted to put out that this coming weekend is the 5th anniversary of the shop opening and we as we have for the last 5 years will have the spring fling at the shop. Saturday from 8-4 Sunday 8-1 so stop down to JT's fly shop for the specials and to chat.

Steve'O

weeeeere back on line

Well it has been almost 10 months maybe more since I posted anything, so I am back and will promise to post far more.
So I have actaully gotten out and fished for the first time this season. I got out on the Willimantic river in the trout managmant area on March 11th and then again March 18 both days were good. Weather was just awesome with bugs and trout cooperating. On the 11th everything came on nymphs and the fishing was just stupid easy I netted 19 lost two others in a little over 3 hours of fishing. My Bud Carl was banging them on top with  Stimulator.
On the 18th same spot I went on top and got 10 to net all on a sz16 stimulator once again beautiful weather. not bad for March. lets hop rain comes and we will have a great spirng.

Steve

Hit it right on the head

This spring we have been very fortunate to have moderate temps and plenty of rain so the rivers here in North East Connecticut are in great shape. I had a few hours yesterday morning to get away before a few dad chores, a birthday party and a graduation celebration. So I was up before 5 am and in the fish mobile headed for the Willimantic River TMA by 5:30. I decided after reading a few old posts in my journals I would park at the rest area and work from that bank. In the last few years I have found that my journals, which I have kept since the mid-80’s have become invaluable with the information they hold. When I started them it was more to remember the fish numbers and kinds, now I look back for river, weather and hatch conditions.

 I got to the rest area about 10 minutes later, put on my waders and put my rod together. I did not rig up as I wanted to see how the river looked like before I tied on a leader and flies. When I got to the river it was running fairly high for this time of year and just a bit stained. I decided I was going to do some Czech nymphing so I tied on one of my custom tied leaders, it is 13’ long tapered from 25 pound test amnesia in either fluorescent red or green down to 6X, to my 10 foot 4 weight rod. Today I used the green butt section because it shows up better in the low light. I tied on a size 14 caddis pupa in tan with the point fly being a size 10 Czech nymph with a tungsten bead head; it is a mix of golden brown SLF and tan antron.  Looking at the flow I decided to drop in midway thru the pool and fish from there to the tail out. I made a few drift but did not feel the bottom so I tied a small dropper off the bend of my point fly and put a small split shot to add just the needed weight to get it down. Third cast I felt a bump and tightened up to feel a head shake. After a good fight I landed my first fish of the morning a solid rainbow of about 13” a few casts later a bit farther down the current seam, I hooked it’s identical twin. Over the next hour I hooked another 4 fish losing two and landing two.  One was a rainbow the other was a thick brown about 14” that put on a real nice fight up on the surface with a couple of big runs. All of these fish came on the Czech nymph.

I decided to head down stream to try another run that hold fish well in this type of flow. I am not usually prone to walking away from fish that are feeding but it was a quiet morning and I had not seen another fly fisherman in the hour or so I was there. I moved down to the spot I wanted to try just as the fog started to burn off and it started to get brighter. I could start to see there was a bunch of fish feeding in the lower end of this run. I move into a good spot to fish to these active feeders, I  made  about 50 cast and did not even get so much as bump. I decided to try a bit different approach when I saw a few small tan caddis hatching. I took off the Czech nymph and the dropper and replaced them with a veiled caddis and a soft hackle. I cast this pair upstream at about 45 degrees so they sink and then dead drift them high sticking once they reached my position I lowered the rod tip and let them swing thru the lower section of the run. First cast a felt a good bump, next cast I was fast into another nice rainbow. A few casts later the flies stopped mid-way thru the dead drift I tightened up figuring to feel the bottom but instead I felt a strong head shake, I set the hook and the fish went crazy. After a real good fight with what I thought was a fish of about 17 or 18 inches I landed a beautiful 13” tiger trout. This was the second in a week to come from this part of the river. I had a guide client catch one last Saturday about a ¼ mile upstream from where I was fishing. I let him go and sat on the back retying my flies as the teeth on that bugger had frayed the 6x a bit too much. I made a few more casts and got one more cookie cutter rainbow.

I looked at my watch and decided to go back to my first spot and see what was happening before heading home.  I left the same two flies on and dropped into the same spot I started in, first cast I hooked and lost a fish in the tail out. I stripped a bit of line off my reel to give myself some slack to play with and recast. Bam I was into another good fish this one turned out to be a bit larger rainbow about 16” and solid muscle from back to belly. Over the next half hour I hooked 5 more fish landing only two of them , I was a bit slow on the hook set today. All in all not a bad day 16 fished hooked with 10 landed and only a brook trout away from slam. These are the kinds of days that I remember the clearest, conditions were good and fish cooperative. I could use a few more of these as they have been far and few between the last 5 years. The rest of the day was filled with family fun and celebration. Funny thing was my nephew who just started fly fishing knew even before I told him I had a good morning by the smile on my face.

Steve 

Having flexibility is important

My mantra in fly fishing is be flexible and let the trout tell you what to tie on the end of your line. There are good fisherman who only fish dries and others who only fish nymphs, streamers or wets. But the best fisherman I have fished with could fish all of them good and were flexible in there approach to fishing.
            A guide trip I did last weekend once again reinforced the need to be flexible in your approach to fly fishing. Friday I stopped by the river to check it out as Saturday morning I had early guide trip. The river was just right for some decent early caddis dries and maybe an olive hatch in the morning with it predicted to be overcast. Well mother nature thru some heavy showers into the mix overnight Friday. When we got to the river the water was much higher and more than a bit off colored. My first thought was crap this day just got tough. I changed a few flies I had set up in my pack and we head to the river. We fished the first section with only a couple of tugs on the line.
        After about 2 hours I decided we needed to change sections of the river.  From keeping a journal for the last 20+ years I know of a few sections of this river that will start to clear faster than the rest of the river. We headed to one of the spots and the water was still running high but much clearer. They rigged up with a nymph and indicators and started to fish the seams of the current. I put myself right between them so I could coach them thru this kind of fishing. They both picked it up fast and were getting good drag free drifts but no fish, then on a quick pickup to recast one of them hooked up, after a minute and a half the fish came off. The light went on the fish were holding on the outside of the seam and picking off emergers. I had them both take off the indicator and showed them how to do a Leisenring lift. This is where you cast above suspected fish holding water or were you know fish are holding. You dead drift the fly until just before it reaches the fish, you then quickly raise the rod tip so the fly swims toward the surface. The fish will rise up and take the swimming nymph. After a few minutes he hooked and landed another fish this time it stayed on and we landed a nice rainbow of about 15”. A few more missed fish his brother hooks up with a fish that missed the fly twice. After a good fight he landed a tiger trout about 14” long it was a one of the best tigers I have seen come from this river.  If we had not changed tactics it would have ended up a fish less day.
         So keep your eyes and mind open it just might tune you in to help keep a day from being a bust.
       I was then out Sunday evening with an old friend who i have not fished with in far too long. We almost decided to not head out but after checking flows we headed to a class 3 wild trout stream about 20 minutes from my place. when we got there the water was high but clear enough that the fish would be feeding. We dropped into the first pool and fished nymphs for a while with only a few hard takes that were missed to show. we moved down to a sweet run that always gives up a few trout. it did not disappoint as we took a few 9-10" wild browns from this stretch. We fished down thru the rest of the area we planned to try with out any more action.
       We then moved up to the area above were we started, this is a deep pool just below a road culvert. I had a couple of takes and broke a fish off as did my buddy. He then noticed that there were a bunch of fish at his feet that were feeding.He had just broke off and did not want to retie, so I moved up into his spot and found several fish flashing just below were I was standing. I put a sulphur emerger on and covered it with some mud to sink it. on the first drift a fish took and the fun was on. After a few good runs and head shakes I landed a beautiful 16" rainbow that was solid muscle. This fish was a great way to finish off the evening we packed it up and completed the night over a club sandwich and chicken tips at a local pizza place. All in all a good weekend made better by flexibility.

Steve