December Gold

I fished a WTMA Class 3 today and bought some very nice wild browns to hand. Using small soft hackle flies and my three weight. Had an enjoyable morning catching and releasing  several wild browns. The gray. overcast skies and warm weather made it a pleasure to be on the stream today. These three browns below were the best of the morning.Notice the difference in colors between the first and second pictures, they both came from the same run.

SOLITUDE

I needed to go stand in a river or stream or brook today, so I headed out to a wild brook trout stream late this morning. It was a cloudy, raw and overcast day. I was hoping that the rain from Thursday filled the stream up a bit .
Upon my arrival I could hear the rushing water and as I approached the first area to fish I saw the stream was bank full.
I took my first brookie of the  day on a Bomber, that was submerged. At the end of the drift it sunk and as I retrieved it I saw the boil and felt the take. A gorgeous brookie to hand. I fished upstream a ways using the Bomber but the fish showed no more interest.
I changed over to a soft hackle fly that Brk Trt had given me several weeks before and I came to an a very nice run where a small tributary fed into this brook and managed to bring two more to hand, hooking and missing two two others.
So, I had my solitude, caught a few nice brook trout and had a great morning!

A REUNION OF SORTS

Plans were made to meet Mark, Alan, and Kirk on Friday along the Farmington River. This resulted in a reunion of most of the New Years Day crew. Mark and Alan had arrived earlier and managed to get into a few browns and rainbows, in different areas of the river. After we met, exchanged the usual pleasantries we split up agreeing to meet upstream. I began fishing a Olive Green WB and in a long deep pool brought a gorgeous colored brown to the net. That was to be the highlight of the morning for me.

I moved upriver to meet up with the crew again, to see how everyone was doing and again we all went to different sections of the river.It was good to get out, enjoy the warm weather and see the "crew".

Plans were made to fish together and again, in the near future!!!!

On the Board for December

On Sunday I took advantage of the springlike weather and fished a few location on the Farmington River. I started out Euro-nymphing without much success, so I switched over to the streamer rod, swinging an olive WB. I was using a slow stripping method and hooked up and lost the first fish. A few minutes later brought a nicely colored brown to the net.
I moved up stream to a second location, again started Euro-nymphing without much success. I began tossing the same set up on the streamer rod and hooked up withe a mid teens very colorful rainbow, that immediately went airborne! A beautiful  fish brought to the net.
That was it for the day , two nice fish on a gorgeous December day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I took advantage of the sunny, clear,weather yesterday and headed to the Farmington River to meet Mark W and fish for a while. When I arrived Mark was already on board having stopped at another location earlier.
I decided to throw some large streamers and shortly after hitting the first run hooked up with a nice brown that took the streamer very softly. This resulted in a long line release. I continued to  work this particular area and was rewarded when a large brown hammered the streamer and began that familiar head shaking run. After a short tussle the brown was netted.
We moved up river a bit into another popular run, Mark hooking up briefly on one while nymphing. That was the only action there. We then split up and moved to different  sections of the river.
My next stop resulted in hooking and landing another nice holdover brown on the large streamer. I saw a few fish in this area sipping small olives. Hit one other location, where I hooked and lost one more fish, then headed home in order to beat the Thanksgiving traffic.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A Day in Brook Trout Forest

Today  I  met with Al, from Small Stream Reflections, and we spent some time fishing a beautiful stream in search of some wild brook trout. The stream was full of deep undercut banks where some of the residents were hiding. We both started off using soft hackled flies and we both managed to get a handful of gorgeous brook trout in their fall colors. I had a lot of hook ups with a few nice  brookies coming to hand.
In some areas  we observed some of the larger residents of the stream going about their business.

This is one of the beauties I was able to land.

This was a larger male from deep undercut bank, took soft hackle that Al gave me.  Thanks for a great day Brk Trt!!!

Columbus Day 2015

Monday was simply a gorgeous day, sunny skies and just warm enough to fish in shirt sleeves. In mid afternoon I decided to fish a TMA that I had not visited in some time. So, I threw my gear in the car and headed off. Arriving at the river I found several fellow fishermen in some of the prime spots and after walking around and checking a few other locations along the river, I settled into a run just below a very popular spot.

I decided to use my 7 foot, 4 weight Trout Bum and began drifting a Picket Pin, and was promptly into some rather feisty and acrobatic rainbows. I had a ball as numerous bows pounded the fly, most being in the 9-10 inch range. At some point the original fly became shredded and I tied on a Lead Wing Coachman, wet and the rainbows showed their approval by constantly jumping on. I had a very enjoyable late afternoon, with many nice fish brought to hand. I ended this little excursion with a beautiful bow about 14 inches that just exploded on the wet fly. A perfect way to end the day. I always try to end on positive note!!

As I was leaving, I recognized RM Lytle from Connecticut Fly Angler and we stopped to chat, shoot the breeze for a while. It was a pleasure to meet RM , a young fly fisherman who has obviously has been bitten by the fly fishing bug!! Hats off to you RM!!! See ya on the river soon!!!

October 1, 2015

October 1, 2015 was a good day to be on the Farmington River, as the day was cloudy, overcast and cool. The rain from the previous day had brought the river up a bit and I was hopeful that it stimulated the trout. I decided to throw streamers and at my first stop hooked and lost a large brown that leaped out of the water and threw the hook. As I moved a bit farther down to the next run I landed one nice hold over brown and had a very large brown break me off.

I moved upriver to another location and managed to bring several nice browns to the net, some sporting their fall colors already. A few of the browns really slammed the streamers.

Moved to another location and did manage a couple of more strikes, bringing another nicely colored brown to the net.

Fall is here and I hope we continue to get some more much needed rain to keep the flows up.

As I said, it was a good day to be on the river!!!

Wild Brookies 4-15-15

Today I met Brk Trt on a small wild trout stream. We had not fished this particular stream since New Years Day and were anxious to see how the local residents had fared after the long winter. We were both using soft hackle flies. We both soon found that the brookies had survived and were quite robust and feisty. We spotted some rising, some just sitting in the sun. Al landed a rather large brookie in the spot we call the Black Hole. This fish tested his 3 weight, fighting hard. I would estimate this fish to be easily 10 inches, one of the larger residents of this stream.
As we moved upstream I found a nice deep run and managed to stick three and brought one to hand.
I watched one chase the soft hackle from the end of the pool, as I stripped the fly, saw the swirl, felt the take , and promptly missed him.
In the early afternoon as I headed downstream, I stopped at deep plunge pool, decided to try a shorter version of Euro Nymphing, tied on a small Fenchie, promptly hooked and lost the first two fish and then landed the third, a large beautifully colored brookie close to 10 inches.
At that point I ended the day on a high point!!

April 13, 2015 Small Stream Fishing

Set out this morning to meet Brk Trt at a small wild brook trout stream. After a rather long walk into the wooded area I caught up with Brk Trt who had an earlier start. Today I was using a small partridge and peacock soft hackle. After a few misses I was able to land two beautiful wild brook trout in one run and missed a few more.
Later in the morning I moved on to another WTMA and found three or four of the residents that wanted to play, sticking three out of four wild browns. I also noted some caddis and small stone flies coming off the water but no risers.

Opening Day 2015 A Small Stream

Opening Day 2015 dawned bright and clear. My son Matt and I met with the New Year's Day crew, Mark, RKM and Brk Trt on a small wild brook trout stream. We all managed some wild brook trout on the fly of choice the BHPTSH. Matt took a gem of a fish, his first wild brook trout on the BH Pheasant tail. As the morning air warmed a bit Mark and Al took some fish on dries.
It was a great start to the new season, fishing with good friends and family. Maybe a new tradition has started!

A Farm River Wild Brown

A wild brown from a recent trip to the Farm River.






A Christmas Day Wild Brown

Introduction to the Farm River Angler

I have decided to start my own blog and name it after the Farm River, where I began trout fishing many years ago. Initially I started out using ultra-light spinning tackle and the deadly garden hackle.
At age 15 I started to fly fish and am self taught. To this day I still spend a few days fishing the Farm River, when I need a quick fix, as it is only a few minutes from my home.
Over the past years I have met quite the cast of characters who have the same addiction as I do to fly fishing for trout. I spend many days on various rivers pursuing these beautiful fish.
The Farm River will always hold a special place in my heart for the special memories I have for this river, for the fish I have caught there and for the time spent on this wonderful little stream.