20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
My birthday was May 4th, and I almost always take the day to fish the Housatonic, with the goal being a 20" or better trout for my "present" to myself. Sometimes I make that goal, and sometimes not. This year I ended my birthday there with a lot of trout landed, and my last fish right at dark was a gorgeous 18" classic Housy holdover brown, fat and colored up a dark golden brown color.
Finally got my first '09 Housy 20" brown last night, an obese beauty caught on a #16 BH Pheasant Tail nymph, she had to go an easy 3 1/2 pounds:
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Caught the fish about 6:30PM after flogging 2 really good pools to death with almost nothing to show for it, and then the trout decided it was dinnertime, and it was game on until the nymphing slowed near dark, then I nailed some more on #10 March Brown spinners. There was an epic Light Cahill hatch, one of the best I've ever seen. Everything is hatching: #14Cahills (both the light & orange varieties), #16 Sulfurs, all colors of Caddis from #14 tan to #20 black, #10-12 March Brown/Gray Fox, small Olives, Midges, #6-10 Golden Stones (shucks all over the rocks), #8-10 Isonychia, a few #8-10 Brown Drakes, and spinners of all of the Mayflies are on the water in the dusk to dark period. It's "Crazy Time". And I finally got my big birthday brown, albeit a few weeks late. Life is good.
Re: 20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
Great going and happy belated birthday T.C. Thanks for the pictures and the comprehensive hatch critique.
Re: 20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
Great fish, that's one of the those where its length, although 20" doesn't do it enough justice. She's easily in the class of many fish 2 and 3" longer in my opinion.
Re: 20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
Awsome fish Torrey. Better late than never.
Re: 20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
Torrey: Congratulations on a great fish! Those big browns are sort of rare right now, so I consider that catch a great achievement. I am looking forward to future years under the new stocking regime and hoping that catches like yours become more commonplace (remember the river in the 90s - wow).
Re: 20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
Torrey: That is a beautiful healthy Housatonic holdover. Nice job!
Re: 20" Housy B-Day brown, 3 weeks late
Housy holdover Browns are truly magnificent specimens
