Escaping the Heat on a Salter Stream

Rhododendrons are blooming

I spent the weekend visiting family in southeastern MA, and I was lucky enough to do a little sea run brook trout fishing while I was there.

Dawn on the stream

Yesterday I met up with Geoff and his friend Justin, a member of the Sea Run Brook Trout Coalition. While temperatures were in the 90s inland, the high on the coast was in the upper 70s. The stream we fished was freezing, as it's fed by springs which keep temperatures cool all season long.

We started near the head of the tide and were into fish right away swinging small streamers downstream. The first few fish were in the 6-7" range, which is respectable in most wild brook trout streams, but somewhat small for this stream. Justin told us that several fat 13-14" trout were found in a recent electroshocking survey. 

Later we walked upstream to the last trail access point and fished back downstream. In this stretch we starting hooking into some nicer fish. I caught this ~10" brookie in the first pool we entered. He came out from under a root wad and smashed my streamer.

As we moved down we all got into fish, landing a few each and hooking many more. The average size in this stretch was probably 8".

This morning I had a couple hours to fish before I needed to leave for home. I woke up with the sun, hitting the road at 5:40  and arriving at the stream around 6:00. As I pulled in to the parking lot I saw a group of teenagers loading up two cars with music equipment, including a guitar and a banjo. They left as I was rigging up my rod, so I'm unsure what I stumbled upon. Maybe they were shooting a folk music video at sunrise? I guess I'll never know. 

The fishing turned out to be great. I got my first fish in a riffle near the road a few minutes after arriving. I moved upstream and began fishing down, hooking into several nice trout. 

After that I moved up to farthest access point to work my way down the same stretch we fished the day before. In the first pool I hooked what I believe was the same 10" fish from yesterday, but I wasn't able to get a photo to compare patterns. 

I hooked into several more nice fish, with the highlight of the day being this beautifully-colored 11-12" brookie. He hit three times as I drifted the fly past the undercut bank he must call home. Each time I thought he would spook, but fortunately I was able to land him on the third. I finished up around 8:30, leaving before anyone else had arrived. 

Western MA Blue Lines

On Wednesday I took a trip out to the Deerfield with Aaron. I love fishing in Western MA. There's something special about the rolling hills of the Berkshires. The White Mountains are rugged and beautiful, but the Berkshires have their own charm.

We started out fishing the upper Deerfield (above Fife Brook), but didn't have much luck. We saw a couple of fish rising, and a few fry swimming in the shallows, but we weren't able to hook anything.

To finish the day we decided to move down the watershed to fish a small tributary. I knew this stream, like every other small mountain stream in the area, would have brook trout, but I'd also heard there might be a few wild rainbows around. This stream is one valley over from another stream where I caught wild rainbows last year, and the geology in area is favorable to rainbows.

Unfortunately we didn't find any, but there were plenty of brookies. The stream was classic brook trout habitat, with tons of fallen trees and plunge pools. There were also some cool narrow gorges formed by the bedrock in the area.

Spring Creek Brookies

This culvert pool gave up 10+ fish on the first day

This week I took two trips to a stream in southern New Hampshire. It's a small stream, averaging 5-10 feet wide, but a significant portion of its flow comes from springs. Unlike most small streams in this area, the stream bed is covered with aquatic plants - it looks more like a salter stream on the Cape than a New Hampshire stream.

On the first trip I fished for a couple hours in the middle of the day, just after a rainstorm. The water was slightly stained, which turned out to be a huge benefit. There are a bunch of 4+ foot deep pools, and in those spots the stain prevented me from seeing the bottom, and therefore prevented the trout from seeing me.

I started out drifting a small wooly bugger through a deep pool below the road. On nearly every cast I felt a strike, usually coming just as the fly started to disappear into the murk. This continued to work for 5-10 fish in every pool. I was amazed that the fighting trout didn't spook the others, but I guess they aren't alarmed by other trout thrashing if they can't see an angler. I ended up fishing only 3 pools that day, but caught at least 20 trout and had takes from many more.

On the second trip conditions were a bit different. The water was lower and much clearer. No longer did I have the luxury of walking right up to every pool without spooking the fish. The day started out well, with a nicely-sized brook trout taking my humpy in the first pool. Unfortunately the fish were much spookier this time, and that was the only fish from that pool. I moved downstream, picking up a fish or two in each pool, but not nearing the same level of action as the first trip.

Biggest of the two days - caught on a size 12 humpy

Wild brook trout and wild geraniums

Things changed when I reached a nice bend pool near a beaver dam. Unlike the other pools, the fish kept hitting, cast after cast. I landed at least 10 fish, including three over 8 inches. The fish never stopped hitting, but I hooked a branch above the pool while trying to dodge a bee buzzing by my head, so I had to wade through the pool.

This bend pool was my honey hole on Day 2 - note the aquatic plants 

The number of fish in this stream is insane - I saw well over 100 fish in the less than 1/4 mile I fished, and that's just the 5"+ adult fish. When you factor in the young of the year, which usually outnumber adult fish in trout streams, the trout density of this stream must be well over 1000 fish per mile. 

Wild Brookies and Browns in Western MA

Yesterday I took a trip to one of my favorite streams. It originates in the hills to the west of the Quabbin reservoir before eventually working its way down to the Connecticut river. This stream holds both wild brook and brown trout, including some large specimens of each, and is stocked in the lower sections.

I started out in a meandering meadow stretch full of woody debris and deep pools. I decided to start out with an Elk Hair Caddis, which produced as usual. As I moved upstream I caught small brookies and browns in nearly every pool.

Can you spot the trout?

One of the best spots of the day was this pool below a small beaver dam. I saw some fish rising, so I worked my way out to a gravel bar just downstream to make a cast. I pulled 3 or 4 brookies out before the action stopped.

The Beaver Pool

Later I moved downstream to an area dominated by wild browns. The water in this stretch was low for this time of year, but it was still cold. In the first big pool I saw some rises, but I was using a wooly bugger. I decided to cast the bugger to them anyway, and I got a take. I landed this stocked brookie pretty easily - probably because he only had half a tail!

A little bit farther upstream there's a deep channel underneath a footbridge. I found this nice wild brown there and he put up the best fight of the day.

Bushwhacking for a Big Brookie

Yesterday I decided to explore the lower stretches of a stream I've fished once. The upper section has some nice brook trout, but it runs through people's backyards, so I didn't love fishing there. The lower section of the stream is within the floodplain of a large river, so it meanders slowly, with lots of deep bends and a few small beaver ponds.

I figured this would be great habitat for some big brook or brown trout, the only problem was getting there. There are no formal public access points, but I found a place on the side of nearby road where I could park without bothering anyone. There's no trail, so I started bushwhacking through the woods. At first it was easy walking, but as I got closer to the stream things got tougher. I worked my way through poison ivy, stinging nettles (my arch-nemesis), and seemingly every thorny plant in existence, but I finally made it to the stream.

It didn't look like trout water at all, but it was plenty cold, probably thanks to springs arising from the nearby aquifer. These were tough conditions for fishing - the banks were high and the water dead calm, so it was hard to approach without spooking any fish.

After spooking many fish, including a brook trout of at least 10", I came upon a deep, shaded bend. Here I could present my fly without the fish darting. On my first cast a chub tried to grab my bugger, but I didn't hook it. I tried again, and this time something much larger emerged from the deep. I knew instantly it was a trout, and the fight was on. I fell down the bank into the water during the fight, but I was still able to net this beautiful brookie.

That was the only good-sized fish of the day, but it was totally worth the trip.