I headed back east recently for work and to visit family which meant I got to fish a childhood favorite again. In New England it’s a well known spot and its popularity has grown outside the region in the years since I fished it regularly in my youth. Though it’s far from a secret, I’m not going to name it because it’s at a point where it’s being loved to death. Not to a point where the fishing has suffered. To the point that even the “secret” spots of my youth now have rigs with NY, MA and PA tags in the pullouts and the more obvious spots have rigs in them from sun-up to sun down. If you really want to know, do a little Googling and you’ll probably figure it out pretty quickly.
Overall, the fishing was solid per the usual. The river is artificially cold, year-around and the fish do well despite all the pressure. It also doesn’t hurt that it receives thousands of plants per year and supports a healthy amount of natural reproduction. That leads to a river that can deliver quantity and quality dependent on where and when you fish it. On many days it delivers both. It also delivers 3 species consistently (brookies, browns and rainbows) and the opportunity to catch them using whatever method you desire. Dependent on hatches, conditions, and what direction the wind was blowing that day, I fished dries, emergers, nymphs and streamers. All with excellent results.
Despite how beautiful it is and the quality of the fishing, the reason I love it today is the memories it brings back. It also gives me the opportunity to fish with my dad and others who I don’t see often enough. I always leave wanting more despite the number of fish I’ve caught out of the same runs, pools and riffles since I was literally a toddler.
Though plentiful, I did not land any monsters. The biggest was maybe 17-18 brown that fell to a streamer. The average was probably 13-14. Overall, despite being loved to death, the river still was able to give me what I was looking for. For that I am grateful. I know those that grew up in the PNW, often don’t have the opportunity to relive memories on the rivers of their youth due to regulation and changing fisheries.
I walked this path to favorite spots going back to the 80’s. Still there though a bit more worn these days. Still leads to one of my favorite sections of river. The fish are still behind the same rocks and they still like eating dries in shin deep water. My favorite type of fishing for trout in rivers…
It really is a beautiful river considering the its proximity to majors population centers…
A handful of the fish. I still love catching colorful brookies in New England where they belong.
This damn SRC shrimp patterns catches everything
. Hooked 5 fish in 15 casts before breaking it off.
Overall, the fishing was solid per the usual. The river is artificially cold, year-around and the fish do well despite all the pressure. It also doesn’t hurt that it receives thousands of plants per year and supports a healthy amount of natural reproduction. That leads to a river that can deliver quantity and quality dependent on where and when you fish it. On many days it delivers both. It also delivers 3 species consistently (brookies, browns and rainbows) and the opportunity to catch them using whatever method you desire. Dependent on hatches, conditions, and what direction the wind was blowing that day, I fished dries, emergers, nymphs and streamers. All with excellent results.
Despite how beautiful it is and the quality of the fishing, the reason I love it today is the memories it brings back. It also gives me the opportunity to fish with my dad and others who I don’t see often enough. I always leave wanting more despite the number of fish I’ve caught out of the same runs, pools and riffles since I was literally a toddler.
Though plentiful, I did not land any monsters. The biggest was maybe 17-18 brown that fell to a streamer. The average was probably 13-14. Overall, despite being loved to death, the river still was able to give me what I was looking for. For that I am grateful. I know those that grew up in the PNW, often don’t have the opportunity to relive memories on the rivers of their youth due to regulation and changing fisheries.
I walked this path to favorite spots going back to the 80’s. Still there though a bit more worn these days. Still leads to one of my favorite sections of river. The fish are still behind the same rocks and they still like eating dries in shin deep water. My favorite type of fishing for trout in rivers…
It really is a beautiful river considering the its proximity to majors population centers…
A handful of the fish. I still love catching colorful brookies in New England where they belong.
This damn SRC shrimp patterns catches everything
. Hooked 5 fish in 15 casts before breaking it off.
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. I did spend the majority of this week in Boston for work though. Kind of wish I put aside some time to get out for stripers. Too much going on though.