We have been blessed with fantastic weather since summer. However, it has come with a price- little to no water ! We have received some back like my previous blog mentioned, but we are still inches short from what we normally should have. November turned out to be one of our warmest ever on record. And, December has been very mild, too ! I’m not complaining though since it has made for some very comfortable fishing days even on our ” frosty ” mornings.

Yesterday was predicted to be another 50 degree day so I decided to hike and explore some more water on this side of the state to assess the damages from our persistent drought. I went to a stream that is stocked in some sections, and may have had some fingerlings put in at some point, but remains predominantly wild in the majority of it. It doesn’t appear to receive much pressure based upon what little trash I came across. I hope it stays that way. It is a jem of a stream and will do my best to protect it. As you can see, it holds decent size wild fish. I’m glad that they survived the summer  and hope they’ll survive this winter, too. We definitely need to keep chipping away at our drought. Anchor ice is one of the greatest winter threats to a trout stream- especially if it is low and the bitter cold hangs in for weeks at a time like last winter.  Perhaps mother nature will be kind this winter.

Low water for sure. This is even after we’ve gotten back a few inches since summer.

The Trout Park area of the forest is a beautiful place. Although it is heavily fished in terms of ” Eastern CT “, it stays pretty clean of trash. Please keep it that way. Walk out with what you bring in. Better yet take some out with you that someone else carelessly left behind.

The forest is well marked and has numerous marked trails, too.

Typical fall stocked rainbow. The state DEEP chose to stock more rainbows than browns this year for better fishing in terms of catching. They felt the browns get too stressed in the fall and last year they received many complaints about poor catch rates.

This one is probably a holdover from this spring ? It was caught in an area that the state does not stock and migrated to a deeper pool during the summer, probably.

Above Diana’s Pool. This bedrock gorge area is a nympher’s dream if you can wade and get into position- most of the time its difficult if not dangerous !

A giant must have walked through here ages ago. I saw that and thought of the movie Jack the Giant Slayer my son loves to watch. When he’s old enough to wade  I’ll have to show him it.

It always amazes me how rock formations get worn out. How did this start and how long did it take ? We live for only a fragment of time compared to this.

Again, pockets and pool for the dedicated nympher if you can physically wade it.

Beautiful plunge pool for rolling the bottom using Joe Humphreys’s deep nymphing techniques.

I have a hard time and spend a lot of money trying to keep some semblence of a green lawn, yet trees can easily grow in and on rocks…shake my head. Only in nature can it be done !!!

A future rock busting Hemlock. Whose gonna win ? I hope to live long enough to see.

A well protected bee hive.

Woody Woodpecker has been hard at work on this tree…haha…

This tree is a Giant ! It looks to be a decent climbing one too  with well spaced limbs. Some look too weak for me though.

A sad sight…no matter how remote, how ” wild ” a place might be you can always find beer cans…everywhere…all the time. I hate it !!!

The Eastern half of Connecticut took a pretty big hit this summer in terms of fishing conditions due in part to our rain deficits and summer temps. Luckily, it wasn’t super hot this year with weeks of extended 90 plus degree days. Despite that fact however, Eastern streams still get punished. Add to the fact that the state DEEP could not restock most of the major river and streams because of low, warm water conditions, only adds to the frustration of Connecticut fisherman living East of the Connecticut River.

Most of my spring and summer months are devoted to guiding and teaching fly fishing on the Farmington River. So when it becomes late fall and throughout the winter, I like to reconnect to my eastern streams. This fall has not been great to say the least. I have caught fish but they have been tough and only in a few select places- which I will not mention here- not to be a jerk or hoarder over it but to protect what little stocks of fish do remain or have returned from places unknown.

One of my favorite places to visit whether I’m fishing or not is the Natchaug State Forest. It is a vast area and beautiful and is one of the only places in Connecticut that reminds me of some remote streams I love to fish in Pennsylvania. When I can’t travel to that beautiful state, I can at least be reminded of it with state forests in Eastern CT., like the Natchaug. The Salmon is another one, too.

Immediately upon turning into the park you will see this sign. You can park here and fish or you can enter into the park itself and picnic/fish/hike in quite a few spots. In season, weekends, and holidays it gets busy though.

You will see this sign off of Rt. 171 in Union with a well-marked entrance.

There are several places where it is posted the rules, regulations, signs, trail markings and map of not only Bigelow Hollow but of the surrounding Nipmuck State, too.

There are a variety of warm water species to fish for as well as trout.

There are very visible trail markings that surround the entire pond. If you stay close to the markings you will not get lost.

Pumkinseeds are one of a number of sun-fish that are plentiful in the pond. Many of the species of sun-fish cross-breed so you find it hard to find a pure breed. This one looks to be 100% to me. At any rate, if you find sun-fish that looks ” weird ” or is difficult to tell exactly which species it is, chances are it is a cross-breed.

Black Crappies are highly sought after for food because they taste so good. This one was pretty hefty. They are a good fight on a fly rod too with small poppers and bass flies.

This looks to be a juvenile cross-breed that I was talking about. It has some coloring of an orange breast sun-fish and a blue gill. Either way, they are plentiful and will readily investigate your flies.

A small bass took one of my pan poppers. I was using my ADG Titanium 7 1/2 foot six weight rod. It is small enough to give me casting freedom along the shore, over whelming power to fight fish quickly and yet soft enough to be a joy to cast and play fish on even the juveniles !

Another bass. This one a little heftier.

Almost any variety of pan poppers will work. The smaller blue gills have more prominent banding than the fully mature fish.

Its tough to tell from this photo but I’ve roll cast quite a ways out there. The six weight line helps load the rod immediately and the power of the rod comes into play as soon as you start to cast. ADG Titanium rods are probably the best roll casting rods out there. I’ve cast most other named brands and I can’t think of another that has the same ability. With just a simple squeeze and tap of the rod, you can easily get 40 feet plus on a roll cast.

There are plenty of spots to picnic with your fishing buddies, friends, and family. Please don’t litter !

Today ended our meteorological summer but despite that fact, it has been hot and humid. I’ve been running to the Farmington all summer to target trout and cold water but this past week I’ve felt the summer doldrums with that river system and decided that I needed a change of pace. Don’t get me wrong, I still prefer to go after trout first but I will also fish for other species, too. Pan fish, bass, perch, crappies, carp, pickerel and pike are also extremely fun to fish for with a fly rod.

Admittedly, I don’t fish ponds and lakes enough. But, since my son has really taken to fishing this summer, I’ve done more than I have in the past. There are so many ponds and lakes to fish in Connecticut but a lot of them are difficult to fish from shore and/or not accessible by shore. Bigelow Pond is not one of them. Although it is lined with forest all the way around it to the water’s edge, there are numerous spots that are open enough to cast a fly rod. If you know how to perform specialty casts like Joe Humphreys’s distance bow-and-arrow cast, Joe Humphreys’s rolling bow-and-arrow cast, and can roll cast like he teaches, then you’ll love to fish this pond !

Bigelow Hollow ( the park ) is about 600 acres nettled around the Yale, Nipmuck, and Natchaug State Forests. In total, there are thousands and thousands of acres to enjoy in this area even if you don’t fish. Many people hike, picnic, and use the area for water recreation ( canoe, kayaks, boats ), however there is no swimming or wading at Bigelow Pond.

Whatever your outdoors pleasure is, there is something to do in this area especially if you like to hike or fish ! Personally, I plan on having more family outings here.

Finally, a great fishing resource for any of the waters in and around Bigelow and the Union area is JT’s Fly & Tackle Shop in Union. One of the most knowledgeable and best guides around for this area is Steve Babbitt, who guides out of that shop.

Good luck this fall, maybe you’ll see me out there some day. FYI, CT DEEP will be getting ready for the fall trout and salmon stockings soon !

School is back in session now so our fishing time together has moved to the weekends that I’m not guiding. The weather today was fabulous and Jacob has been itching to go fishing with his daddy all week so today we took the fly rod and went after some pan fish at his favorite place- Mansfield Hollow. ADG’s Titanium brush rod has been a good rod for him to use since it is 7 1/2 feet long. It is a 6 weight rod but handles line weights 5-7 very well. The 6 weight is perfect for everything from trout to pan fish and bass, and I have even caught carp on it, too, without any difficulty.

I spent a few hours this afternoon wet wading a portion of the Willy near my home. The water is low, clear, and warm. I didn’t take a temperature but it is outside the comfortable window for trout. The section I fished today doesn’t receive a stocking anyway. Trout still could have migrated to this area at some point but I was not intent on searching for or targeting trout. Today’s goal was to see how many different warm water species I could hook up with.

My gear selection was an ADG rod 9 foot 5/6 weight, Hatch Reel,  DT fly line,  Richardson Chest Box, some leader material ( Mason Hard Type & ARC Camo ), t-shirt, shorts, and wading boots…that’s it…pretty minimal for me !

The creek chub, fall fish, blue gills, and orange breast sunfish liked  stuff on top- beetles, ants, and a Purple Haze. The perch and bass like white minnow patterns.

Overall a good few hours with the best one being a smallmouth of a few pounds.

Bubby and I went out after dinner Saturday night to fish a portion of the Willimantic River, very close to our home. We only had about an hour or so before dark and chose to just wet wade and mess around with a few ” rough ” fish ( pan, fall, bass, chub, perch, etc.) The part of the Willy that we decide to fish doesn’t hold trout over during the summer and is very low and warm currently. That being said, it still is a lot of fun for a 6 year old to romp around a stream looking under rocks, picking up bugs, and catching some type of fish in the process…oh and most importantly- being out with daddy ! His Spiderman pole is still his favorite but he is getting better and more independent with one of my ADG brush rods which is a nice size for him and definitely durable enough to handle the beating a child can put on a fly rod.

Despite not having very many 90 degree plus days, extended heat waves, and dry conditions, many of our river and streams are too warm in the middle of the day to feel comfortable fishing for trout. Thanks to the Farmington being a tail water fishery, we can all feel good about continuing to fish for trout while summer progresses. Over the past couple of years, even the Farmington has suffered some warm water spells for a variety of reasons. This year it has remained cold and flowing at very nice and controlled levels all spring and summer- like the way a tail water should be ! It has remained fishing good to excellent all year and my hopes are that it will continue for some time to come !

Currently, Needhami’s- a chocolate colored may fly ( very small ) are on the water in the morning hours throughout the mid-day. Winter/Summer caddis ( always a staple on the Farm ) are seen in the am as well. Tan caddis are seen both in the morning and again in the evening. Isonychia’s are hatching in the afternoon and into the evening. Olives and Sulfurs are seen in the late afternoon and evenings. And since it’s summer, terrestrials are always an option along the banks, under overhanging trees, and area where the currents are funneled into one specific area-  ants, beetles, oak worms fall or are blown into the water along the banks, get swept up into current seams and can be funneled into lip currents out away from the water’s edge. Beetles are particularly good searching patterns and I’ve been most successful spot targeting areas with short drifts and really searching and covering a lot of water.

A few days ago, I took my friend’s son out for a day on the Farmington. The morning was productive but fairly slow and we were hit with a good amount of tubers, kayaker’s, and canoeist, even though it was a weekday. But, the evening was a different story with multiple hatches occurring in the late afternoon and into the evening. Many trout were caught and released without harm to continue to provide top quality trout fishing in Connecticut. Several fish were of decent size, but a number were small proving that the Farmington is getting better and better at reproducing browns, brookies, and rainbows even.

Just before a family vacation, I took a friend of mine and his son to the Farmington River for some evening and night time action. Overall, is was an active and successful night, but we did not get into any fish of significant size. Despite that, it’s always a thrill to feel the take at night- you never know for that split second if its a fish of a lifetime or not. Pictured is my friend Jeff who doesn’t get out much for ” night ” fishing and loves to go to the Farmington.

Today was a great day to conduct a small stream class. The weather, bugs, and brookies were cooperative. Nice work Jay and Kurt. Good job !