As you can tell I have a special love for fishing small streams and brooks. They, in an of themselves, create a certain peace and serenity that I definitely need often considering what I do as a profession, and what daily life throws at me.  They provide an intimacy with fly fishing that larger creeks, streams, and rivers do not have. Also, I feel that natures surroundings look more beautiful even though mountain laurel grows along larger flowing water, too.

” Little B’s ” whether they are named or unnamed waters generate curiosity as you explore them. Are they cool spring fed trickles or are they warmer wetlands drainage from a beaver impoundment or swamp ? Do they hold fish ?

They create casting challenges like no other ! You may think your a hot shot caster on a river like the Farmington or Housatonic but, can you cast 20, 30, or even 40 feet in tight cover and confined spaces ? Even if a stream has a somewhat open canopy above, your never going to have enough space along the edges to cast freely like you would on an open river. I know that in certain circumstances you can get very close and catch some fish but to be more successful more often, distance is the key !

In the above caption, I covered the tail of the pool first and moved off to the side for more casting freedom. I also have shot successive casts further and further up to the head of this pool. That picture is not an optical illusion, it is about 25-30 feet up to the head of it. And, that’s where a few brookies were.

People often ignore casting around structure, whether it is the fact that they don’t want to lose a fly or they are not confident of their casting accuracy, I don’t know. I see it while fishing the larger rivers, too. Structure in any river large or small is apt to hold fish ! So, I’ll fish that stuff hard- behind it, around it, and even over it. Let that stuff help you get better drifts !

Brookies and browns are very structure oriented and if the water has any depth to it then it should hold something.

This time of the year, fish start to gravitate to the pools for water depth and cover. Pools also collect a greater portion of food for the fish.

As they begin to congregate, they develop a hierarchy so that the largest fish take up spaces that offer the most food, greatest water depth, and most oxygen. The smaller ones stay away from the bigger ones for obvious reasons- they could get eaten !

With that said, oftentimes, the largest fish are the most aggressive- they need the most food. So, if you catch a small one or two in the head or tail or even in the middle off to the side, then fish out the pool to see if the largest is still there. But, if you catch the largest and most dominant fish first, then move on- you caught the best fish !

This guy is gonna dominant a whole block !