FinFollower

The Gift Without a Bow

December 25, 2019 by Leigh 1 Comment

Last night I went to the 11 pm Christmas Eve candlelight service at my church. It started with a short video. A man wakes up to find he and his wife covered in Christmas wrapping paper. His shoes, coffee mug, briefcase and car are also nicely wrapped. The shower and faucet have bows on them. The point of the video is that we have much to be thankful for even before we see what’s under the tree.

I felt the same way as I headed out for a quick Christmas Day trip to the Farmington River. A couple of hours isn’t much, but enough to remind me how much we have and to be thankful for all of it.

Forty degrees may not sound warm, but by Connecticut standards it’s downright balmy. With no wind, it seemed like a real Christmas gift.

Yesterday I found out the hard way that my waders have a leak in the seam of the foot. I grabbed a pair of neoprenes off the wall. It has been at least 2 years since I’ve worn them, but they did the job. I felt a like Santa in a chimney when squeezing into them, which told me that this has been an enjoyable and prosperous holiday season. A reasonable diet and training schedule will resume Jan 1.

Upon driving a quick loop of the upper river I discovered that I’m not the only one who likes to fish on Christmas Day. There were plenty of liberated elves. I was able to find some water of my own and quickly seized it.

After getting into the neoprenes and rigging up, I put Tippet in the backpack and we headed to the river.

I had a size 10 thinmint woolly bugger tied on. Within minutes, a nice brown was in hand.

After releasing the fish, I looked around and realized that we have so much to be thankful for. Even in winter, the river has a beauty and serenity that overtakes all other thoughts.

This will probably be the last FinFollower post for 2019. Although my frequency of posts has declined, my love for the sport has not.

Tippet and I wish you and yours a healthy and prosperous 2020, with tight lines and more fishing adventures.

Enjoy!

Something Different for Fall

October 3, 2019 by Leigh Leave a Comment

It seems like the Connecticut DEEP has stocked more trout in the Farmington River than the human population of some western states. The Housatonic smallmouth action has been nothing less than exceptional. So why am I sitting here in a kayak throwing poppers to hungry bream and rock bass? Simple. I wanted something different.

Instead of standing shoulder to shoulder with other anglers, driving an hour to get to good water, worrying about water temps or reading flow levels, I threw the kayak on the car and was floating within 15 minutes.

This end of the Housatonic is known more for pleasure boats and water skis, yet the inlet leading to the public launch is relatively quiet. Only an occasional boater, returning from a day on the water, asks me how I’m doing.

And I am doing great. Bream and rock bass are hitting the balsa poppers so hard that two of them were reduced to hook and rubber legs. The water is calm, relatively clear, and the takes are easy to spot. I paddle almost effortlessly into small coves, cast, and wait for strikes.

Just like upstream, where the trout are waiting, the fall scenery is part of the experience.

Regardless of where you are and what you’re fishing for, hope you can get out and enjoy some fall fishing.

Enjoy!

Stories from Clark – Part Four – Clarks Fork

August 27, 2019 by Leigh 3 Comments

Note: This is the fourth and last post on my Wyoming trip. Over 4 days we fished the Lower Shoshone, Upper Shoshone, Greybull, and Clarks Fork rivers. If you missed them, here are links to Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

For our last day together we decided to keep it local. We started the morning on the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River, near our cabin. This river is 150 miles long and runs through Montana and Wyoming.

It’s a big river that has fast water and riffles, followed by long pools. All held fish. We tied on various hopper/dropper combos and hit the water.

I’m not a biologist, but I was told that the fish below is a cutbow, based on the white-tipped fins.

The brown below was in shoulder water. The hopper/dropper worked and he fought me into the grass.

We also fished up in the canyon section, where the water got faster and deeper, and the wading got tougher. The fish were wild and hungry. No fish pics, but if you decide to fish near Bridal Veil Falls, be prepared to split your time climbing over minivan-sized rocks and casting to stealthy trout hiding in the pocket water. I came back with scraped shins from climbing and sliding into remote areas.

When I look at the pictures from this trip, this has to be one of my favorites. The Clarks Fork at dusk, with the Beartooth Mountains in the background.

This trip was well worth it. I caught 3 new species of fish: native Yellowstone cutthroat, cutbows, and the beloved and much maligned whitefish (or as I referred to it, western grayling). The views were spectacular. Very different from what we see back east.

If you are interested in making a similar trip, please let me know. I’ll be happy to share what we learned and what we packed for this trip.

Enjoy!

Stories from Clark – Part Three – Greybull River

August 25, 2019 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Note: This is the third of four posts on my trip to Wyoming. Over 4 days we fished the Lower Shoshone, Upper Shoshone, Greybull, and Clark’s Fork rivers. If you missed them, here are links to Part One and Part Two.

Our third day was probably the most adventurous. We went offroad to find native Yellowstone cutthroat in the Greybull River. This spot was recommended to me by the Wyoming DEP, and it was by far my favorite river of the entire trip.

If you are unfamiliar with the Greybull, it is a tributary of the Big Horn, approximately 90 miles long. It runs through some of the most remote backcountry in the Greater Yellowstone area. The river was reportedly named for a white buffalo that had been seen on its banks. It is somewhat famous for supporting the best genetically pure population left of Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

We started with a two-hour drive to the town of Meeteetse (pop 370), followed by a 20-mile drive down a winding dirt road, terminating at the Jack Creek trailhead inside the Shoshone National Forest.

Upon arriving we found a small campground with a handful of sites, equipment needed to feed horses and metal bear boxes to protect campers’ food. One of our first sightings was three fully loaded pack mules headed into the brush.

At the trailhead, the Greybull is a small river. Mostly pocket water, crystal clear, and as we soon found out, loaded with native cutthroats. And while there are some riverstone islands to fish from, the area where we began wading was lined with willows on either side, several feet thick. Another barrier to easy access.

Again I took the bear spray. If it was going to be used, this would be the day. Luckily that was not the case, although we did hear some rattlesnakes.

My first native Yellowstone cutthroat was probably all of 8″, but we caught fish twice that size.

This was one of my better ones, caught in one of the few long pools we encountered.

We stuck with the hopper/dropper setup from the day before, but later in the day switched to dry flies. All were effective.

While the Greybull is not easy to reach nor easy to wade, we were rewarded with hungry cutthroats and beautiful scenery.

Enjoy!

Stories from Clark – Part Two – Upper Shoshone River

August 23, 2019 by Leigh Leave a Comment

Note: This is the second of four posts on my trip to Wyoming. Over 4 days we fished the lower Shoshone, upper Shoshone, Greybull, and Clark’s Fork Rivers. To see the first post, click here.

Our second day, the upper Shoshone River, was very different than the day before. Aside from wading versus floating, we were going into wild trout country, and the chance of a grizzly bear encounter was much higher. It was the first time on the trip that I carried bear spray (the black canister in the picture below). That’s Yellowstone in the background.

We drove through Cody, past the Buffalo Bill Dam on the way to Yellowstone. After awhile, the river began to parallel the road. This was skinny water, but also contained some sizeable trout.

We continued to fish using a smaller, shorter version of the hopper/dropper setup. While our offering was attractive, these trout are fast and smart. We missed a few strikes and had flies taken from 3x leaders. Most of what we caught looked like this. Not large, but a wild fish is always beautiful.

We put fish on the line at almost every spot. Wading was moderately difficult. There was very little bushwhacking involved since most of the places we stopped were near roadside pull offs.

We enjoyed the hiking and wading almost as much as catching these wild gems.

Enjoy!