September 8, 2016

One of my favorite blogs

I really like Small Stream Reflections blog. I've never met the author, but I admire how he does his blog. He keeps the blog simple -- no long rantings about this or that. He's prolific -- a new blog post every few days. He's informative -- presenting fly patterns that are sometimes classic and sometimes new. He's not showy -- he seems quite humble and doesn't go for "see how big a fish I caught". And most of all, he fishes streams and creeks that I'd like to fish! It makes no difference that he fishes with traditional equipment; he's obviously very skilled and I admire that.



Most of the fish he catches are brook trout. He lives in New England, where brook trout are natives and wild. Brook trout to me are an invasive species and they are my least favorite fish to catch, but I must admit, they are pretty.

So, following the theme of his blog, here's one of my recent outings:

I ventured out off my usual path and caught a few brook trout in a beautiful small stream. It was a headwater portion of a mountain stream that I frequently fish. This reach of the stream is tough to fish because all the downed trees and the crystal clear water. Most of the fish lie in plunge pools which in turn are under these fallen trees. Getting a fly into these lies and to the fish is very difficult.




I used the Pro Spec 360 7:3 in both length configurations, depending on the need. The water was a cold 44° F, but it felt refreshing.




The redtwig dogwoods were starting to change to their autumn red, but the aspens were still holding on to the green of summer glory.






The fish I caught were all small brook trout, although I have taken cutthroats in this water on previous outings. The brookies fought nobly, but they couldn't resist the pull of the rod. They were starting to change to their autumn colors; bright and colorful. Most were taken under logs and fallen trees. They succumbed to an Oxford wool kebari.






I likely will not be able to fish this reach of the stream again this year, but I'll be back next year. It's tough water, but too fun not to visit on occasion.













3 comments:

  1. You left out the food or specific type of coffee!

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    Replies
    1. I was going to write the same thing. HA!
      I visit Alan's blog almost as much for the food porn as I do the fishing! :)

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  2. Fun post! Fun spot! Love both your blogs and enjoyed the mash up!

    ReplyDelete