Reeling in an atlantic salmon on the Farmington River in Connecticut
The FishingChef caught this 19 inch Atlantic Salmon on the Farmington River, at about 4 in the afternoon. The hatch was a dark hendrickson, but his closest fly was a blue dun. The salmon took the fly once, spitting it out and then hit it hard a couple casts later. Of course the Atlantic Salmon is catch and release only on the farmington river, so it was released after it made it to the net.
I arrived yesterday to the Hawes Campground, and made my way down to the campground pool in the early evening.
There wasn’t too much going on at the surface of the water, but every few minutes you would see a rise. The water temperature of the farmington river there was between 49 and 50 at the surface. I hooked up a descent size trout with a Blue Wing Olive (BWO) Parachute Dry fly, but in the excitement I tried to muscle him in, and broke the leader. It was the first fish on of the season, and the first on a new fly rod, that is a bit longer than the rod i’m used to. Excuses excuses right? If i didn’t have them, I guess I wouldn’t be a fisherman!
Today I’ll probably head down to the church pool, which is just below where I saw the DEP stocking fish yesterday on my way in to camp.
The forecast shows a chance of showers later in the day, which may make the evening hatch a difficult (and cold) time to fish, I will probably start with the sinking line and some nymphs if nothing is going on on the water when I arrive.
See you out there!
The Crib Dam
The past two days of fishing have been outstanding; at least for me. Why not make it three in a row? I woke up this morning; scraped off my car of the newly fallen snow and like a hard fighting trout I was off. On my drive to the Swift I thought to myself this is too good to be true. Another nice day for December, a bit colder and with a little more wind than the past two days but what did that matter. I made sure that I had my fleece gloves and pants; it can get really cold in a New England river in December!
I suited up and found my way to the gauge station, I figured I’d try a new spot and stay away from the crowds at the “Pipe”. I didn’t stay long at the Gauge and worked up to the Crib Dam once again. I had a few hits on a Rusty Palmered Caddis from brookies but couldn’t land any. While fishing below the dam I looked up to the pool above the dam and saw a huge rainbow leap out of the water at least two feet in the air and for some reason it reminded me of Mary Lou Retton; you know the 1984 vault. It was a perfect 10!
Well I stayed put and worked the dam for some time mainly practicing my roll, and double haul casts. Then I thought to myself why not chase the big one. Well the pool above the dam is fairly deep and the water moves slow; I thought my chances were slim to none. I made my way to the center of the pool, and like I said it was deep, up to my vest. I made a long cast to the area where I had see the Wheaties girl. After a few moments I saw a rise about twenty feet further up steam. I thought “Man I can’t cast that far”; well what the hell. I picked up the line and in my humble estimation made one of the longest and straightest casts of my life. The fly landed nicely on that smooth clean surface.
Last night I came across one of the caddis patterns on the Orvis web site. It talked about the benefits of the palmered hackle and that it can be “skated” on the water to attract fish. Well this thought came to mind a a few seconds after the fly landed and so I pulled a little line in a quick motion, saw the fly “dance” and like that “Miss 1984 Gold Medalist” attacked my fly. Fearing too much line was out I quickly tried to set the hook, and sure enough felt the long bend in the rod. She fought hard and I tried to get her in the net as quick as possible; she wasn’t having any of it. I kept telling myself “keep your rod high” and what ever you do, don’t lose this one. Finely after missing with the net a few time I had her. I made my way to the bank and took out my Nikon that I finely remembered and took a few pics.
Now that I think of it this is what fly-fishing is all about, finding the right fly, remembering a technique, practicing casts, doing what you think is impossible with a rod and just going for it. It’s seems to me that landing this trout was the culmination of everything that I have ever learned about the sport and having it pay off.
Miss 1984 Gold Medalist
THIS IS MY FLY-FISHING GOLD MEDAL!!!!!!!!!
This past Friday and Saturday we were blessed with extraordinary weather for December. Just my luck I had both days off from work. I thought to myself a trip to the Farmington before my licence runs out and next year I have to pay 80$ or a short trip to the Swift.
I picked the Swift, and it turned out, I think in my favor. I parked at the “Pipe” parking lot around 11 am, and instead of working the Pipe section which can be crowded and I do mean crowded; I decided to work below the crib dam. I had seen a few tan caddis flies on the banks; they had worked the week before so why not this week. I tied on a Elk Haired Palmered Caddis and sure enough I had a small brookie in my palm. Sorry about the Pun; anyways in short order I reeled in two nice rainbows that followed.
I decided to move up stream right below the dam. A really nice pool and no one in sight. After a few casts a huge rainbow attacked my caddis and broke the tippet. I shouted out Dam; again sorry about the pun. I Looked in my fly box to pull out another caddis, I had many, but not a olive color; so instead tied on a BWO size 20. I was thinking that the color was more important than the type. After a few casts I had a twenty inch rainbow in the net. It was the quickest fight that I’ve ever had. The bow hit my fly directly up stream from me and then proceeded to drift right at me I quickly grabbed my net and like that the fight was over. Not more than eight seconds had passed from the bow taking the fly until he was in my net. Now I had one thought, man I wish I had my camera!!! It’s a Nikon Cool Pix it’s one of the medium bodies, not exactly one that you might stow in a vest easily. Maybe for Christmas I might get a smaller camera, who knows?
So Saturday found me in the same section with flurries in the air instead of bright sunshine like the day before. I thought tan instead of olive. I tied on a elk hair palmered tan caddis with almost the same results. Four large bows about fourteen to eighteen inches long in about three hours. Fly fishing in December with nothing rising and catching eight trout all on dries. I can’t wait to get out again! Maybe the Farmington.
Skunked isn’t a word that I like to use. But it sums up my trip to the Swift river last week quite well. I parked in the Y pool parking lot and suited up. The sun was just making it’s way over the foot hills. It had been quite cold, cold enough to have to scrape off my car.
A favorite spot on the Swift
I made it up to the Y pool passing several favorite spots. I found two fishermen fishing the north end of the pool; which is very normal for the very popular pool. I fished the southern end of the pool, trying everything from a blue winged olive to caddis but to no avail. The trout were sipping off of the surface size 24 black midges. One of the few flies I did not have on me.
I stayed for just under two hours. Now you may ask why? I knew that the trout were not gonna bite, but that is the thing about fly-fishing it’s great just getting on the water; even if you have no hope of catching anything. Know that I will be stopping by a fly shop to load up on a range of midges for my next trip to the Swift.
Speaking of fly shops, this week a trip up to the Orvis, Manchester, and The Swift River Fly Rod store.
Campground pool looking upstream in the early morning fog
This past Friday afternoon, I had just made the turn for the Hawes American Legion Campground. I checked in and headed to camp 12. A nice enough camp with plenty of space and for the most part pretty level ground. I would be waiting a few hours until my friend Scott would be arriving. The weather wasn’t awful; a light rain was falling, with a slight coolness. Not cold by any means; helped by me wearing every fleece that I happen to own.
So I suited up and headed for the Campground Pool. Somewhere in the woods I made a wrong turn and ended up at Hawes Pool just north of the Campground Pool. So I decided that I would start my weekend of fly-fishing here. I tied a size 20 BWO (Blue Winged Olive). On my second cast it produced a very, and I do mean very, small Brook Trout. I thought to myself not a bad way to start the trip.
I had worked my way down to the Campground Pool and found two fishermen; fishing in a kayak, I made some small talk and found out that the men had been planning this trip for some years. They were older, and it seemed to me like it was a trip of a lifetime. I thought to myself this is what fishing is all about; getting out with friends and trying to reel in the big ones. It wasn’t long until Scott showed up, so we decided to set up camp and get back in the water.
Upper end of Greenwood Pool, where the water runs deep and fast
Saturday morning found us in the Greenwoods Pool; it had produced for me the week before. There is a nice riffle at the head of the pool, with a very deep section and a long wide flat; A GREAT POOL! The water levels are really low and my guess is the trout and especially the larger ones need the oxygen. So off we went to the head of the pool just down river of the riffle. I had noticed some Pumpkin Caddis flies on the way in. I tied one on that was similar but not exact. A nice brown came to the net, despite the difference.
The fishing had been very productive; Scott and I made it past Riverton all the way to the Hogback dam and back. We finished the day back at the Camp Ground Pool, where Scott proceeded to reel in two very large trout; large enough to make the trip worthwhile. I’ll be looking forward to the next time on the Farmington. I shutter to think, that snow will be on the ground and ice in the fishing pole guides. It still will make for a great time on the Farmington.
Look for a post on the Swift River this week.
The trip to the Farmington river this weekend, can definitly be classified a success. We had a great time, explored a lot of the river, tied some new flies, and caught some fish!
Pumpkin Caddis Fly and it's real counterpart
It started out a very damp friday, with sprinkles coming down on us. We spent the evening setting up camp, and fishing the Campground Pool, and the stretch downstream of it. We noticed then that the Blue winged olive which should have been hatching was not, but instead, there was a pumpkin caddis coming up off the water. Neither of us had a good match for it, so it would be off to the fly store in the morning to find the supplies to tie the fly.
The following morning, we went down to the Greenwood pool, and fished the area above it, where the water runs quickly pouring into the pool. There were a lot of rises, and FishingChef pulled in at least one there to add to his count. I had yet to catch anything.
After a quick breakfast, and shopping for some camping equipment, and fly tying supplies, we headed up to the Dam and West Branch Reservoir. From there, after some sight seeing, we made our way back down to the campsite, stopping along the way to fish, and to explore new potential locations. We ended at the Hawes pool, north of the campground, and then returned to the campsite to tie up some of the Pumpkin Caddis that we wanted to imitate what we saw hatching on the water the night before.
We ended the day just below the campground pool, fishing upstream. FishingChef hit two little guys on the Pumpkin Caddis, but of course, it was the blue winged olive that was coming up off the water that night. I tied on what that I had made previously, and was able to pull in two fish, one that was a real nice size just as the light was fading.
The next morning found the air temp down around 36 degrees F, and the water (54 degrees F) as still as can be imagined. We perused the Church and Drive in pools, but decided to return to the Campground pool. Then after packing up camp, we headed down to the Greenwood pool again, about to leave, when we spotted some action there, so pulled out our gear, and entered the water.
It was a terrific weekend of fishing, and exploring some new places on the Farmington River. A place I’ve been many times, but rarely ventured to the other areas.
Most of all in the exploroation, I was struck by all the different fishing that can be done in all the varying spots along the river.
This weekend is the last weekend that the Hawes American Legion campground is open for 2009. Tony and I will be camping there to close the season out with them. If you haven’t camped there before, it is an amazing place to stay. Not only is the river just yards from most of the campsites, the sites are secluded, and well managed. It provides the perfect base camp for a farmington river fly fishing trip.
According to Tony’s visit to the farmington last week, it looks like the fish are very active, and are hitting on the Pumpkin Caddis and Blue Winged Olive. For more information, take a look at his field report from the Farmington River in September.
I’m eager to see how busy it will be, with multiple fishermen surrounding the same pools this weekend, since it will be a holiday weekend. The Farmington river, as you may know can get quite crowded in spots, especially the well known pools.