After a rather stressful week, I was very anxious to get out on the water Saturday. The water level in the Farmington was dropping and the forecast was looking better. Left the hiouse at 5AM and after a quick stop for coffee headed for a favorite section of the Farmington River in American Legion State Forest. There3 was a dreary mist falling as I drove throug a heavily wooded section on West River Road. Up ahead I saw what appeared to be 2 horses walk slowly out of the woods. My first though was there on no riders on these horses. A closer look revealed that they were not horses, but a cow moose and a slightly smaller youngster. I could't believe my eyes. I have seen moose in NH, Maine and Canada, but never expected to see them in CT. They sauntered slowly up the road with me and three other cars following slowly at a 25 - 30 yard distance behind. I hoped that no cars would be coming along in the ooposite direction. The young moose stayed very close to mama. Of couse my camera was in my tackle bag in the back. After a casual stroll of about 100 yards the moose climbed a small hill and disapeared into the woods. I pulled over and stared trying to see where they went, but they were gone from view. What a great way to start the day.
After suiting up, I spent some time looking over the stream, before deciding what fly to fish. The water was up slightly but still very fishable. There were a fwew caddis and BWO's about, buit no surface feeding fish. I decided to go with a BH Pheasant Tail Nymph and I my second drift a fat rainbow took the imiitation. After a couple of nic jumps the bow gave up the fly. Ovder the next half hour, I hooked close to ten trout and released about six. The mist changed to heavy rain so I made a retreat to the car and drove to another run on East River Road. As I walked through the woods, the rain stopped and a few breaks of sun filtered through the clouds. I stayed with the PT nymph and caught a 1/2 dozen more trout before taking a rest against a tall hemlock tree.
After a nice rest, I resumed fishing changing up to to a mono tippet and a tan Elk Hair Caddis. I got plenty of casting practice before a small brown took the fly. Over the next hour 3 more trout were fooled by the imitation.
About 12:30PM I saw the first of a hatch of Hendricksons float by. Within a 1/2 hour more of the mahogany insects were hatching and a few trout began to take notice. Switching up to size 14 Hendrickson Comparadun, I managed a few trout including the fish of the day, a 17 inch fat rainbow.
As I drove home, I reflected on my good fortune of seeing the moose and the success on the river... It was a quite a day!!!
After suiting up, I spent some time looking over the stream, before deciding what fly to fish. The water was up slightly but still very fishable. There were a fwew caddis and BWO's about, buit no surface feeding fish. I decided to go with a BH Pheasant Tail Nymph and I my second drift a fat rainbow took the imiitation. After a couple of nic jumps the bow gave up the fly. Ovder the next half hour, I hooked close to ten trout and released about six. The mist changed to heavy rain so I made a retreat to the car and drove to another run on East River Road. As I walked through the woods, the rain stopped and a few breaks of sun filtered through the clouds. I stayed with the PT nymph and caught a 1/2 dozen more trout before taking a rest against a tall hemlock tree.
After a nice rest, I resumed fishing changing up to to a mono tippet and a tan Elk Hair Caddis. I got plenty of casting practice before a small brown took the fly. Over the next hour 3 more trout were fooled by the imitation.
About 12:30PM I saw the first of a hatch of Hendricksons float by. Within a 1/2 hour more of the mahogany insects were hatching and a few trout began to take notice. Switching up to size 14 Hendrickson Comparadun, I managed a few trout including the fish of the day, a 17 inch fat rainbow.
As I drove home, I reflected on my good fortune of seeing the moose and the success on the river... It was a quite a day!!!
