New England tailwater report..

Headed home last week to visit family. We had a couple milestone birthdays to celebrate (mine and my fathers) and a memorial service for my 93 yo grandfather who passed over the winter. As with all visits back home, I take a few fly rods along to fish the local tailwater where I learned to fish as a kid. I’ve talked about this river in prior posts…it’s cold, it’s beautiful (designated wild and scenic) and it’s being loved to death due to its proximity to major metro areas. The fishing is still solid though, even with this trip being a bit slower than my previous 2-3. Still a good number of fish caught using a variety of techniques. Rainbows, browns and brookies though I only landed a few bows. Less than usual for sure. Though I caught fish on dries, nymphs and streamers, the best fishing for me was on emergers. I was fishing the mornings only due to family obligations later in the evenings when it seems like some better hatches were happening.

It is a beautiful river and very cold. A light mist hovered over the water most mornings.

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Best fishing for me in the mornings was chasing subsurface swirls in some of the bigger slowest pools.

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For such close proximity to NYC and Boston, the river is truly a gem over many miles.

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The wildlife loved it too. I saw 4 bears in a week. Growing up in the same area in the 90’s, I probably saw 8-10 total over 12-15 years.

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No monsters but enough fish in this class to keep my happy with my 4 and 5 weights.

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Cool spot pattern on this little guy.

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Eating the little stuff.

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Lots of 12-16 inch browns.

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Saw a couple of these as well. Wasn’t able to catch either. Leftovers from the derby they held in April. I bet every fisherman who fishes those spots has thrown every pattern imaginable at them since they are so visible.

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After losing my beloved retro Red Sox hat to the depths of puget Sound last fall (RIP) I’ve been looking for a new fishing hat. Picked this up while there to give it a test run as a possible replacement.

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Until next year….
 
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Headed home last week to visit family. We had a couple milestone birthdays to celebrate (mine and my fathers) and a memorial service for my 93 yo grandfather who passed over the winter. As with all visits back home, I take a few fly rods along to fish the local tailwater where I learned to fish as a kid. I’ve talked about this river in prior posts…it’s cold, it’s beautiful (designated wild and scenic) and it’s being loved to death due to its proximity to major metro areas. The fishing is still solid though, even with this trip being a bit slower than my previous 2-3. Still a good number of fish caught using a variety of techniques. Rainbows, browns and brookies though I only landed a few bows. Less than usual for sure. Though I caught fish on dries, nymphs and streamers, the best fishing for me was on emergers. I was fishing the mornings only due to family obligations later in the evenings when it seems like some better hatches were happening.

It is a beautiful river and very cold. A light mist hovered over the water most mornings.

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Best fishing for me in the mornings was chasing subsurface swirls in some of the bigger slowest pools.

View attachment 186651

For such close proximity to NYC and Boston, the river is truly a gem over many miles.

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The wildlife loved it too. I saw 4 bears in a week. Growing up in the same area in the 90’s, I probably saw 8-10 total over 12-15 years.

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No monsters but enough fish in this class to keep my happy with my 4 and 5 weights.

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Cool spot pattern on this little guy.

View attachment 186647

Eating the little stuff.

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Lots of 12-16 inch browns.

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View attachment 186639

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View attachment 186642

View attachment 186643

View attachment 186644

Saw a couple of these as well. Wasn’t able to catch either. Leftovers from the derby they held in April. I bet every fisherman who fishes those spots has thrown every pattern imaginable at them since they are so visible.

View attachment 186648

After losing my beloved retro Red Sox hat to the depths of puget Sound last fall (RIP) I’ve been looking for a new fishing hat. Picked this up while there to give it a test run as a possible replacement.

View attachment 186638


Until next year….
Love the whalers hat - best logo in the NHL. Coming from a Bruins fan who LOVES the B Spoke. Nothing competes w/ Hartford IMO. Epic season to boot!
 
I grew up just outside Boston, and never knew there were any cold water streams outside of the White Mountains, and those rivers weren't (as far as I knew) known for holding fish. I had heard that there were some decent trout streams in CT, but didn't believe in fly fishing then. (In retrospect, I'm very glad I waited to move west before trying it!)

My brother in law has seen trout in the Charles River in my old home town of Needham, although its hard to imagine they could survive the warm water temps.

(Yet more reasons to be grateful for living in the central Gorge!)
 
Love the whalers hat - best logo in the NHL. Coming from a Bruins fan who LOVES the B Spoke. Nothing competes w/ Hartford IMO. Epic season to boot!

They also had the best fight song as well.

Well, maybe not. Kind of sounds like a game show theme. Nostalgic though…



I grew up just outside Boston, and never knew there were any cold water streams outside of the White Mountains, and those rivers weren't (as far as I knew) known for holding fish. I had heard that there were some decent trout streams in CT, but didn't believe in fly fishing then. (In retrospect, I'm very glad I waited to move west before trying it!)

My brother in law has seen trout in the Charles River in my old home town of Needham, although its hard to imagine they could survive the warm water temps.

(Yet more reasons to be grateful for living in the central Gorge!)

It’s a tailwater so artificially cold. Lots of small streams hold native brookies in the state though and I think other rivers hold naturally producing and stocked trout. Rivers like the Housatonic as an example. I would not consider CT a destination trout state by any means but if you live close, it’s got options. It’s also got some solid saltwater fly fishing for stripers, bluefish, etc.
 
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