Farmington TMA 6/29/08 - Tiger Trout

[alanb_ct]

Fished for a few quick hours this morning. Fishing is still relatively slow. Water is still high and cold, mid 50s, 500cfs. The salmon parr "hatch" is on, and it's on big-time. All the nice fish are completely keyed in to eating the parr. If you fish the fast water and hook a parr, hold on! I can't wait until the parr move out a bit and the holdovers resume their more regular habits.

Anyway, I managed to Czech nymph a couple of decent fish including this fat female:

and my first Farmington tiger trout (caught two of these):

I also spent a little while enjoying the wildlife:


The tiger trout are quite long and snake-like. They are about 10in long. Not sure if the DEP emphasized stocking these for 2008, but I know that Brookie also caught one recently.

I saw BLACKGHOST1 for a while, throwing the big streamer. He caught some nice ones.

[Magnet]

Alain, nice tiger trout and pics. Glad you and Black ghost had an enjoyable day. I got up there around 5 and fished till dark. It was my first time out since the czech nymph clinic and I was chomping at the bit. A week since my last trip to the river seems too long, especially this time of year. To me, your picture of the family of Canada geese really says it all.
I was czech nymphing. I rigged up about 6 feet of 2x flourocarbon between the line and the sighter. I felt I needed to get out there. The 2x extension was not ideal. I could tell I was compromising my "in touch" to some extent. But my visual contact with the sighter was good. I still use one BB between my flies. (I don't believe my flies are weighted enough.) I know my set up was far from ideal but I'm getting there. I hooked 10 trout and put 4 in the net. The larger fish were the ones that got off. I was standing in fairly quick water up to about 3 and a half feet deep. I had a tough time with the larger fish since it was difficult to move near shore and even that water was quite fast.. I hung out there in the current for the fight and the bigger guys were able to shake off. Mostly browns but a few rainbows. I am scratching the surface with this technique and still having fun! Guys, jump on this clinic if Aaron has Loren down again in the future. Even go to Sarracuse to take it if you have to. "Versatile Nymphing Clinic" by Loren Williams

[AaronJasper]

Wow! Awesome outing! Hooking 10 is really good now. You have to get those big ones in! We want to see fish porn!

Alain, I really like the look of tiger trout. There is this stream in NJ where the hatchery at times leaks 5 pound tigers!

[TroutAholic]

"Hooking 10 is really good now." Wow, I feel better now. The fishing has been tough lately on the Farmington. Saturday, Flash and I explored the lower TMA briefly (we fished one spot) because the water temps are higher down there, so we thought the fish might be more active, and we did pretty well there.

The "tube hatch" was really heavy Saturday in the upper TMA. Lot's of canoes too. It was rather entertaining listening to Marla Blair chewing out the inept canoeists (is that a word? canoers?). I almost got hit by one, as they were getting close to me I was thinking about using Aaron's method of dealing with the suicide canoe idiots (there, I think that is closer to the proper term).

Steve

[BLACKGHOST1]

It was nice to fish with you for a little while Al. That is a nice pic of the Canada geese family.

The past couple of outings I have been throwing streamers more than nymphing because of the discussion's Alain and I have been having about the slow fishing using nymphs. The fish are definately on the streamers. If you want a change of pace, throw the streamers and hang on. It doesn't matter what time of day it is or if it is cloudy or bright sunshine. I've actually had more success in the middle of the day than early morning or evening. This is my favorite way to fish, but nymphing is now a close second.

[AaronJasper]

If they go swimming once, the canoeidiots that is, they will never come near a fisherman again! Fear keeps people in line!

[Magnet]

Alain, When will the salmon parr move out? They sure are prevalent.

[alanb_ct]

Right now, the parr are getting eaten at an alarming rate. The big browns take them (especially at night). The really big browns grow a fair amount during this time, dining on the parr.

The predatory birds get their share, have you seen the big families of red-headed mergansers? Those birds actually hunt in a pack to corner the parr and dine. They swim rapidly with one wing in the water to create a row of bubbles that the salmon won't pass through. I saw one family with about 10 young.

You can read about the Atlantic Salmon restoration program here: http://www.fws.gov/r5crc/index.htm

Once the parr grow a little, to about 6in, they start to make their way downstream and out of the system. In my opinion, this is already starting to occur a bit, as there seems to be more parr in the lower TMA. By early September, I think most of them will be out of the way.

The salmon can be a pain, but overall, the restoration program benefits the whole CT River ecosystem, including the Farmington, by mandating conservation standards and preservation.

[SlowNDeep]

They certainly could mandate conservation and preservation without pouring millions of dollars (oops I mean parr) into the water as bait.

[Magnet]

Black ghost , Were you using streamer resembling salmon parr? I'll bet that might be worth a shot.