A Salter Weekend: Day 1

I spent the past weekend fishing for salter brook trout in Southeastern MA. From Friday to Sunday I fished the Quashnet River, Mashpee River, and Red Brook several times each. Luckily, the weather was mild, which in addition to the relatively warm springs feeding these streams, lead to great fishing conditions.

Fat for its size

On Friday I started out at the Mashpee River.  Here I started fishing in a relatively open area of the estuary. I caught several fish along the underwater weeds in the stream. This was very different from a typical pocket water trout stream - the water's surface was almost completely flat, so instead of using the currents to read the water, you had to look for structure. I was fishing small streamers downstream, so I could see the fish flash just before they hit my fly.

Later in the afternoon I moved on to the Quashnet River. Here I fished much farther upstream from the ocean. The Quashnet was similar in size to Red Brook, but with a much more wadeable gravel bottom. There was tight overhead vegetation, but there was enough room to drift a streamer downstream and then hang it in the current - my preferred technique for winter brook trout.

Largest of the day

I caught several more fish here, including the biggest of the day. After catching a few I called it a day and began to plan for the nest day's fishing.

To be continued...