This year’s traditional ” Opening Day ” was a bit special for me because it was the first year Jacob really wanted to go fishing without me dragging him along.  He’s always been a good sport about it, and he’s always enjoyed Opening Day traditions or just fishing with me. However, this year, he has taken up the interest of fishing on his own more.

Our traditional Opening Day spot is a private club that I have belonged to for years and years, and he is a junior member of. 

Ironically, the weather, other commitments, and poor timing hampered some of the fun, but we still caught trout and took one home for our special feast. 

Aside from the fishing,  the highlight of our Opening Day tradition is actually what happens afterward….the feast!

I would have liked to have a little more fish and a little more Filet Mignon, but it can’t be perfect all the time!

Even though it wasn’t quite like we hoped,  the food was good, and we got another Opening Day together, which is the greatest reward for us!

https://go.tulocalevents.org/thames-valley-sweepstakes-2022/Campaign/Details

Thames Valley TU Chapter 282 is one of the largest chapters in this state and covers most of Eastern Connecticut.

We use this sweepstakes as one of our main revenue sources. TVTU would greatly appreciate any size donation. Please consider entering our sweepstakes.

Thames Valley is also seeking additional membership help with upcoming conservation projects, Board membership, and general participation.

Help us end 2022, which has been a rough and chaotic year, on a positive note and set up 2023 to be a better one for Chapter 282.

Fall 2022 is slowly getting better in terms of water levels. We still need more but it is certainly better than 2 months ago.

Fall is a favorite time of mine to fish river and streams in Eastern Connecticut. DEEP has concluded its fall stocking so many popular fishing spots have been refreshed. The TMA’s received their fall stock as well. Temperatures are back in trout friendly ranges and fishing pressure is generally lower.

Although we are past peak and much of the foliage is down, there still is some beautiful colors out there. My Galvan Torque adds to it. As you can see, this is a holdover rainbow with its darker colors.

More fall colors in this photo. This bow is a stocker from this fall with its silvery colors.

The TMA I hit today was stocked earlier in October so even stocked trout get wise with time- they didn’t hit my flies very hard. Fortunately, I felt the ” takes ” nicely with my ADG Titan fly rod. The titanium wire inserts throughout the rod helps transmit every little ” tap” of a leaf, rock or in this case, another trout.

November is a great month to be out there. You may still battle the ” leaf hatch ” a little longer, the rivers may be a little lower than they should be but, there are fish in them and they are still willing to cooperate with the right presentation and flies. One caution is warranted though. Be careful around spawning trout and their redds. Personally, I do not intentionally target them and I am always very carefully where I wade from mid October into the winter.

Happy fall fishing. I hope it is as enjoyable for you as it is for me.

This weekend a new client of mine, Joe, worked on honing some fundamentals of fly casting and fly fishing in general. He is in his second season as a fly fisher and he recognized the need for some instruction and pointers.

We spent the day working on casting with a shorter and more efficient casting stroke.

Afterwards, we tackled some basics on wet fly fishing, nymphing and streamers. Despite seeing some caddis and mayfly activity, we really couldn’t work on the dry fly game- at least not this time.

We were fortunate to connect with a couple good fish like this bow. Joe missed a few more but learned valuable lessons and experience playing and landing trout.

And another….

Overall, it was a good day. We both felt he was starting off well and gaining experience and confidence. Most of all, he was practicing mastering the fundamentals.

No matter what type of fly fishing techniques you end up enjoying the most, you can’t get away from learning the basics. You truly won’t be the fly fisher you want to be until you decide to focus on that first.

Joe, I think you are starting off great and will become a fine fly fisher!

DEEP is doing what it can to adjust to the new legislation but, I can’t help but feel awkward about it. Add to the fact that practically every river and stream has been changed from last year’s historic flooding to some degree or another, it just adds to the strangeness.

I guess we all are going to have to adjust and relearn our river systems, adjust to the new legislation, as well as the craziness of social media and its adverse effects on fishing pressure, poaching, etc.

Change is always a tough thing to swallow. I admit, I don’t do well with it but I think most people fall in that category as well. I am going to do my best to embrace the new challenges but I can say I don’t feel really good about it. Time will tell and I hope that my attitude will change as the season unfolds and be able to post a happier thoughts- oh wait- there is no more ” seasons ” – my bad !

The pandemic has been distressing to say the least for a multitude of reasons. On one hand, I am glad that people have rediscovered the great outdoors. It has helped procure more business for me and given people a reason to learn fly fishing. However, this rediscovery has shown it’s ugly side and how the pandemic has also hurt the environment.

Today I fished a local TMA. I know it has been stocked several times since last year. I also know that it has been poached heavily. For the life of me, I can’t understand people’s mindset when it comes to illegal fishing, breaking the rules, and outright destroying a fishery. Why do you have to litter as well ?

Clearly, bait fisherman have been in the Fly Fishing Only section of this river. The pictures are damning evidence.

Everywhere I turned, there was evidence of this. I don’t have anything against anyone who wishes to fish conventional tackle and bait. My son still prefers his spinning rod over the fly rod and I embrace that but, when you constantly see trash left behind by careless individuals with no regard for anything, it kind of gets your blood boiling.

The larger early stone flies were out and in sufficient numbers to get trout looking up, yet run after run, pool after pool, very few fish were caught and released. I was wet fly fishing and covered a lot of water, I should have hooked up more than I did !

Another stocked brown fell to a pair of wet flies.

Three stocked fish for the entire day on a river that could and should have been much better. It has improved in water quality over the years and as a result, improved hatches. You know the water quality has recovered when you have hatches of stone flies, Quill Gordons and Hendricksons !

Somehow, I don’t think this year’s Quill Gordon or Hendrickson is going to be fun and rewarding. In fact, everywhere I have fished, I have seen evidence of damage to streams, increased litter and depletion of trout populations, especially on TMA’s and wild trout streams.

I’m sorry to post such a distressing blog this time. I try and stay positive and encouraging with them, but today was a bit of a bummer ! I’ve seen the destruction of lives, families, and our economy from COVID-19 on my career side. Now I am seeing the devastating effects on the environment. It was present last year as well but I feel it has been compounded even more this year. I hope things turn around. I pray that it does.

Please, please, become stewards of our environment and join Trout Unlimited or some other conservation group and help protect and restore an already damaged and fragile resource even before the pandemic started.

When you are fishing, pick up after yourself. Bring a garbage bag with you and pick up what others have not. Catch and release more fish safely. And, call out poachers and those who openly and wantonly disregard regulations.

My bitching is done for now. Opening Day is this weekend. I hope that it is a fun and rewarding day for everyone. It will be if we all do our part. Good Luck & happy fishing !

The winter and early brown stone flies are a hatch that spurs fishing activity long before the more famous Hendrickson does. Both are active when winter turns to early spring and our streams are starting to be restocked by DEEP. They are active flies and these early stones can give you a top water, large fly action much sooner in the season. In fact, I favor these flies over the Hendrickson because there is a lot less pressure on the water when they are hatching.

Here is my favorite go-to pattern for them in sizes 16 to as large as 10 or 12. Although it is a wet fly pattern, I also fish them as nymphs and dub floatant on them and skitter them on the surface as a dry. However, I have found that swinging them like traditional wets the most effective.

Tie some up and give them a try. Let me know how you do.

Hook: Traditional wet or dry fly in sizes 16 to 12

Tail: Partridge

Body: Touch dubbing of black SLF

Hackle: Black hen palmered through body

Wing: Turkey – you can use duck as well.

As always, please be a steward of the stream. Pick up after yourselves and other people’s mess. Thank adjacent landowners for their generosity in allowing fisherman access to their land. Teach someone else to fish. Show them the proper ethics of fishing. Finally, join your local conservation group or Trout Unlimited chapter and become part of the solution.

One of my favorite combinations and one that I learned from my buddy, Joe Humphreys, is to nymph a wet fly and egg pattern over freshly stocked trout. I have used this pattern combo over wild fish with great success, too, at certain times of the year.

My favorite wet fly is the Royal Coachman. I use it as my dropper and typically tie it in a larger size, like a #10. My point fly is the egg.

Typically what I encounter is that the rainbows will go after the egg most of the time but, a nice attractor wet fly will produce as well.

Browns will hit the egg equally as often but, they are suckers for the Royal Coachman as a wet fly dropper. There is something about the color combinations of the Royal Coachman that drives them crazy! Perhaps that pattern in a size #10 or #12 looks like a little wild brookie or brown ? No one really knows what they see it as but it sure has been a time honored and effective pattern for ages. I am never without a few in my chest fly box. The Royal Coachman is even deadlier on brook trout !

This pattern combination is a good one for new fly fishers to try because your odds of catching newly stocked trout with this combination is very high. Proof is in the bent rod !

Even though you may be catching stocked fish in a TMA right now, or later on in a stream that is open for taking some fish home for the pan, please be respectful of them. They are a precious commodity whether you think it or not. They offer encouragement and a sense of accomplishment and success for the new fly fisher. They provide fishing opportunities for people who don’t want to or can’t drive far to fish for trout. And, even though I practice catch and release 99.9% of the time, they provide a food source for other fisherman who do like to eat their catches regularly. Don’t get me wrong, I eat fish often but I do not take from public waters and leave those fish for others to catch and enjoy.

As always, be a good steward of the waters you fish. Pick up after yourself. Pick up after others who are less respectful. Share your knowledge. If you have been successful in one spot, share with someone near you that hasn’t. If you take fish home, don’t take your limit each and every time you are out- save some fun for everyone else. Bring someone with you and teach them fishing and conservation. Finally, join your local Trout Unlimited or local conservation group. There are too many people out there who do not share your love of fishing and the great outdoors and would be more than happy to end that for you if you are not mindful of your actions.

DEEP works tirelessly for our benefit and enjoyment. Thank them when you see them. Good luck this fishing season and I hope to see some of you out there this year.

Give this combination a try next time. I almost guarantee tight lines, big smiles, and happy faces!

Even though 2020 was a horrible year for my work ( EMS ), politics and the economy, guiding and the requests for fly fishing lessons, it was a good year. No doubt the requirements for social distancing coupled with a hot and dry spring and summer, contributed to a good year for anything outdoors. Will that translate into 2021 as well ? Only time will tell. I would say yes but, a UK variant of COVID is poised to run rampant here in the US soon. What that means, is that this COVID variant is far more contagious than its previous mutated versions making it even riskier than before to be gathered together. You were fairly safe with a lower risk of transmission being outdoors before, I don’t know about this one ?

That being said, Connecticut is far better off than most other states. A goodly percentage of Connecticut’s Tier 1 works have started or completed their vaccinations. Connecticut is one of six states with the lowest daily positivity rate in the country. Add to that, our state has vaccinated more people than any other state to date, including all of our senior citizens in skilled nursing facilities. What does this all mean again ? Only time will tell but we may fair better in 2021 than most other states. That may be promising for a continued spike in people wanting to learn fly fishing and being outdoors.

If the aforementioned picture is a predictor of this coming year, then we are poised to have another good fishing season providing that everyone abides the fishing regulations, minimizes litter and trash, and remains a good steward of the environment. This brookie is healthy and vibrant and fell to a Royal Coachman wet fly.

Another good luck sign for 2021 was that we were able to get back some water this fall that we desperately needed from our severe drought. This allowed for a better spawn than I expected. Does it mean that every brook, stream or river had great spawning activity ? No, probably not, but I remain optimistic. The fact that I was catching and seeing larger holdover browns like this one still around this past fall and winter is a great sign.

Seeing these little guys still around is a great sign !

My fisher girl is getting better behaved each outing and has become more of a regular and trusted companion on the stream. She hasn’t disrupted too much of the water this past season so I am confident, she will only get better this season.

So….despite all that is crazy in the world right now, all that is uncertain and seemingly doom and gloom, there are some glimmers of hope. Hold on to those and lets see together what positive things will happen !

I hope everyone will remain healthy and safe this coming season. Please get your vaccinations when you can, be a good steward of the environment. Don’t take all of the fish in the ” put and take ” streams, bring your trash out with you, be kind and cooperative with other fisherman, landowners, and other people trying to enjoy the outdoors as well, and protect our TMA’s from poaching !

Finally, I would kindly ask that you please consider joining your local Trout Unlimited Chapter for participation in conservation and stream restoration. TU is a great organization to belong to and every chapter in Connecticut could use your time, efforts, and skills protecting some great fishing opportunities here in CT.

Trout Unlimited

https://go.tulocalevents.org/tvtu2020

As many of you known, I am not a regular blogger. I’m not even a casual blogger. I should be more active with my website but life always get in the way. That being said, I am asking for some help.

As some of you known, in addition to my career in emergency medicine and owning a fly fishing business, I am also the Membership Chair for Thames Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter 282. Since the start of the pandemic, our chapter has been tremendously effected financially – like many other organizations and businesses. Thames Valley is one of the largest TU chapters in our state in terms of size and membership numbers but , we always could use more help, particularly with active, participating members as well as financial.

To help to continue to fight to maintain, keep, and restore viable trout and salmon habitats in Eastern Connecticut, I am pleading that anyone that reads this will consider becoming a member of our chapter and/or contribute financially through entering our sweepstake or donating. As little as $10 sweepstakes entry from each person will help out tremendously !

Below should be a link for our website where you can join at an introductory rate.

https://www.thamesvalleytu.org/

In the meantime, please stay safe, health, and enjoy the spirit of the holiday season.

Mike