New England Wild Trout: Unraveling The Mystery

by | Fresh Water

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I have been making a concerted effort this year to fish a new system. I have had inconsistent outings this year and most of the fish that I have been catching have been on the small side. I keep hearing stories of nice fish, but so far I have only been hearing about them. I have fished different sections and have been slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Today the pieces finally fell into place and the river revealed some of the treasure that inhabits its waters. I had my best outing in terms of numbers of fish, species of fish and size of fish (my best river bow of the year); a grand slam in my book. The special part about this river is that all of the fish are wild.Now I can’t wait to get on the river again in the spring as trout season closes here next weekend and steelhead season will be in full swing.

8 Comments

  1. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    wrh — great work … i was actually in your neck of the woods yesterday (vermont/ny) fly fishing for wild trout … i have come to realize this .. if all trout are checkers than wild trout are chess .. it is amazing how wild trout can be on and off and seemingly here then not there .. one day/evening you’re a hero and the next a zero! .. that is what happened to me .. 2 evenings ago .. i was introduced to a beautiful stretch of wild trout water in vermont .. the trout were rising .. i caught a small rainbow and missed a much nicer fish .. so, yesterday after work, i felt that i had a bone to pick with the one trout i missed .. so i went back to the same river/same spot etc.. and zippo, ziltch, nothing .. if i had not seen with my own eyes the rising fish and subtle activities the night before .. i would have sworn that there were no fish at all in the river … but such is the mystery with wild fish .. the delaware river for example .. mid day .. i swear there is not a fish for miles .. then come an evening hatch .. there are thousands of rising trout for miles … still just as hard to catch but perplexing nonetheless… great read .. congrats on figuring it out .. well, that part of the puzzle anyway .. i am sure you will have much better sleep throughout the winter .. had you not had this type of day and just gotten beat up all season .. if you are like me, you would have been laying in bed at night all winter .. thinking ..”i can’t believe they got the best of me .. i should have.. could have .. why didn’t i … i wish i …” … but, you figured it out .. and deserve a day like that .. awesome to see …. now take the puzzle throw it on the floor, jumble up all the pieces .. STEELHEAD! .. you know the game .. hope to see you on some river, somewhere .. sometime .. if not, see you on line .. nice work.

  2. Shaq on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    you are the man!!! What a nice fish. I can’t get over the gut on that pig. Look how small the head looks. I knew one of these days that system would have to give it up.

    Jeremy, WRH may be able to sleep this year but I can’t get that picture out of my head now. Un-believable. Wish I could have been there to see it. Time to play a bit of hooky and get my butt out on the stream.

  3. waterwhippa on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    I would take quality over quantity any day but it looks like you had the best of both worlds. Way to go man…that rainbow is beautiful…was there much of a hatch going on or were you nymphing?

  4. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    i hear ya … it’s always better to be the guy who SAYS “shoulda been here yesterday.” as opposed to the guy who hears it ….

    ps .. shaq .. i can tell by your writing that you are not feeling well .. really for the benefit of your co-workers you should leave the office .. i mean it is totally unfair to them that you are coming down with a bug and if your co-workers get sick too .. that would be ALL YOUR FAULT .. so do the right thing shaq, take one for the team … and as hard as it might be to step away from the pie charts, graphs and TPS reports .. I think you should leave the office …

    there .. i got the ball rolling .. now, close the site .. maximize the excel spreadsheet you are working on .. leave your computer ON .. scatter a bunch of papers on your desk to make it look like you were in the middle of some big work project … put a sticky on your computer that says

    THINGS TO DO:

    1. Work Later
    2. Make The Company More Money
    3. Work Harder

    Then … splash a little (not too much) water on your face and be sure to have a little dampness around the collar and tie loosened .. go to the powers that be and feed them the “i’m sick and for the benefit of the office story” …

    and get out on the stream!

  5. jeremy on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Geeze .. i feel a little queezy myself .. i think i am coming down with a “BUG” too…………

  6. ChrisR on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Awesome job Robin. Great to see all the time you put into that area pay off in a big way. That nice Brookie is a rare score for the area as well. Not to many of that size left in these parts.

  7. wrh on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Thanks guys. The funny thing about fishing is you never know when it will all come together, it always catches me by surprise. Whippa there were some small mayflies around, psuedo’s, but only sporadic risers. I used a WB and a soft hackle dropper. Most of the fish including the pig were on the soft hackle. Jeremy, I look forward to meeting you one of these days. Next time you’re going to be in our neck of the woods let me, Shaq or Chris R know and we will hook you up, not that others you know can’t or don’t. If not here then steelhead fishing. until then tight lines to all.

  8. Shaq on November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Done!!!! See new forum post.