Farmington - the woods are lovely, dark and deep

[alanb_ct]

Maybe this sounds conceited, but I could have fished the regular TMA today and caught a lot of browns, some big ones and probably some big holdovers.

Instead, I bushwhacked some new areas and HAD A BALL! There is little pressure in this areas, the trails are unkept, there are ticks galore, and wading is difficult. A few pictures:










and my personal favorite


(if you know where this is, you're way better than me)

There are fish in all these areas and nice ones, too. I fished all the fast water I could find and caught lots of these






Some of the rainbows were so perfect, they could be wild from Montana. All the bows are terrific fighters, and the common 12in fish will test your 5X in the rip.

The big thrill, however, was catching wild browns! I caught 4, and they were all like this one





This is a real thrill for me, as the little wild browns are not that common in the normal areas.

Mother Nature treated me well today, with many glorious sights

[np36]

Alan:

I'm jealous! Any chance you can share a direction or two? I'm heading to the Farmington on Monday and I'd love to get off the path a bit.

Justin
justin@justinide.com

[alanb_ct]

np36:

A long time ago I head Dave Goulet say "There are no secrets to the Farmington. Just look for parking areas and follow the well-worn paths to the river." It's really as simple as that. You need to walk. I was just looking at the handheld GPS output. I walked almost 3 miles today. Sorry that's the best I can do. Good luck.

[kyle]

As alain said you need to do some walking to find those little honey holes. But it's not real easy to find water like this, I can remember starting at ovation pool 6 a.m. and walking all the way up to church pool by 3 p.m. and finding only a few very small spots that are "off the beaten path". Sometimes it can be really hard to do, but you have to try and stay out of the main pools. However it's very gratifying to finally find these spots, I'd tell you where some were but finding them is half the fun ;D

[np36]

Umm ... thanks. :-\

[BlackLabel]

Great job Alain. Ticks, difficult wading now all you need is Aaron to show you how to fill up your waders and go swimming. Looks like a blast though and can't beat no crowds.

[alanb_ct]

Nick: when are you coming?

[TexasChris]

I'm on my phone and can't see the pics. From the sounds of it though, that's my kind of fishing. Hope to do some of the same while I'm up in NH this weekend. I've yet to hit CT this year. I need to get out there asap.

[SlowNDeep]

np36,

There are no off the beaten path spots between the holes that Kyle stated.

As Alain said, go beyond the TMA, look for some pullofs, there are many, and you will find some seclusion. It used to be that the TMA above Church got less pressure, but thanks to many people posting reports and naming holes on the WWW, these spots are now heavily pressured too.

I may be there on Monday too.

You comin across 84 or 90? (PM me, if I go, I'll be on 91S from Greenfield)

[np36]

I hear you all ... and understand the risks. I'm coming 90 to 84, it's easier from Boston. Really looking forward to it as I've been tying a lot of flies and I'll have in tow someone who has never fished the Farmington before ... it's nice to expose others who have the same thoughts and values to something special. Thanks for all the responses.

JI