Farmington - During the Storm...winter is here

alanb_ct · 12-07-2008, 05:38 PM

These guys have the right idea:

I fished the river today for about 5 hours and caught 6 fish, 3 rainbows and 3 browns. I caught fish on egg patterns and caddis, larva and cased. The conditions were TOUGH! On the drive up, I saw a Toyota Camry fly right off the road! Air termperature ranged from 28-33 and the WNW gusted up to about 20mph. Considering the conditions, I call this a good day.

A few pictures during the ride up this morning:

I didn't catch too many, so I photographed them all. The first rainbow hit the egg

and the next brown (~15in) put up a great fight

The third fish was a really skinny rainbow

At this point, I took a break to warm up and take some pictures for you all. I saw several redds today and was careful to walk well away from them. With the zoom, I took this picture of the biggest redd I found

I hope it is visible to you. It is a oval-shaped depression about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. The long dimension is parallel to the current flow. Lots a caddis about today, both the winter caddis variety and the case builders

I almost quit at this point since it was slow, but the conditions forced me to look around and think. It's a good thing I stayed because I discovered a yet unknown (to me) LUNKER hole. This one small spot produced my last three fish, a fine brown

a smaller stockie

and a real surprise, an 18in male rainbow that really wore me out.

The fight with the rainbow found me with feet tangled in some brush and a small bird's nest of fly line, but I got him! This was my finest Farmington rainbow of 2008.

I should note that in this same spot I also hooked and broke off a large fish, perhaps a twin to this bow or larger. It's a tricky area to fish, so I am not too upset I lost that one.

Finally, a real "super cat" kept me company for a while. I say super because this cat stalked and nearly took down a large male pheasant! Honest, you had to see it. I watched the stalk and the pounce, but the pheasant got away (with a female). The cat seemed so self-satisfied with his efforts.

**TroutAholic** · 12-07-2008, 07:32 PM

Nice job, Alain. I like that you appreciate not only the fishing, but all the other things one can experience while fishing. I don't know how many times I have seen a bald eagle while fishing, and have said to other fishermen, did you see that eagle?, only to get "what eagle" as a reply.

Twice while fishing, I have seen an eagle harass an osprey that had a fish in its claws, to the point where the osprey dropped the fish. The first time, the birds were about 30 or so feet above the river, and the fish just fell into the river, the other time the osprey and eagle were much higher, and the eagle swooped down and snatched the fish out of the air!

Once I saw four birds, some kind of duck or other aquatic species, trying to drown a fifth bird of a different species. The four birds would chase and corner the fifth and actually try to hold its head under water. Fortunately, the poor bird managed to get away, after a battle of perhaps ten minutes.

Personnaly, seeing things like that really make my day on the river. Well, maybe except for the time a very large beaver surfaced right in front of me, like about three feet away, I nearly soiled my waders!

Steve

**Nymphmeister** · 12-07-2008, 09:46 PM

I like the pictures that show the entirety of your day, that's cool. Sounds like you had a fun day, I had to work! That's okay though, I'll be playing Mon & Tues while you are working. Hee hee. I'll see if I can get your fly back from the big Rainbow tomorrow.