After racking 'em up yet again at the Farmington Friday afternoon for a couple hours, I had the great pleasure of venturing somewhere else with Brookie (Dave). We fished the upper Housatonic river in Southern MA. Dave fishes like a real predator, and is really skillful at picking apart the river.

We caught good numbers, but had to work for our fish. Most of the fish we caught were '09 stockies, but we also landed some beautiful holdovers and probably wild browns. Dave lost an epic standoff to a REALLY large fish that was most likely a huge brown, but could have possibly been a carp. We saw an ~8lb carp in an area upstream. I am guessing that it was a ~24in brown. If the water had been a bit higher, I believe he would have stood a better chance at landing it; as it was, it was sort of stuck in a small pool/pocket. We'll get that one next time! This is old hat for Dave, having just landed the 23in hog recently.

A few scenery pictures from a river in an industrial setting





This is a fertile river with lots of insect life




We landed a good bunch of these size fish, and I think these two are wild



In one area, there was a gentleman fervently casting caddis dries in an area. After he left, Dave and I did the classic TPO "squeeze." I was on the West bank and Dave on the East. After we landed about our seventh fish he got back out of his car to watch. He was mumbling something under his breath, but finally said "What'r you usin'" I replied "caddis." It is a good feeling to have success once in a while!

On the way home through CT, I couldn't resist a quick stop in the TMA. The water levels are outstanding. I chose a spot in some pocket water while waiting for one of the popular pools to clear out. When it did, I moved in, and nailed 5 really nice rainbows before dark. Torrey came in around 7pm and schooled me at the head of the pool, landing a giant holdover bow, about 19in, and fighting a beautiful copper holdover Housy brown that got off, but looked to be at least 17in. Water temperature this evening was a perfect 60deg.

By the way, I'm not making a big deal out of it, but the Simms studded Vibram soles were completely useless on the slimy limestone rocks in the upper Hous. I felt literally like I was walking on ice all day. Dave wore studded felt and had a much easier time. My next trip there I am wearing my Korkers shoes; the wading conditions are really tricky - you could easily fall in and drown there.

A great day on the mighty Hous!