At the Roc City Tattoo Convention in May of this year Sharkey and I went out fly fishing for steelhead with Eddie Molina of Hand of Fate Tattoo in Ithaca. Eddie's lettering tattoos are astonishing. If you're in the area go check out his shop. I hadn't used a fly rod in about a billion years, since I took a fly fishing course in high school. Needless to say I struggled with it. However, on the way home Sharkey and I couldn't stop talking about fly fishing, and we stopped and purchased fly setups at Cabela's on the way home from the convention. Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time to use it. Luckily my wife was nice enough to let me practice in the yard once in awhile, but that's about it. I've barely gone fishing at all lately, and to be honest, it's a little maddening.
Luckily today I had some free time before my tattoo appointment, and I decided I was going to do some fly fishing, by hook or by crook (no pun intended). Most of the better fly fishing spots in CT are far enough away from my house that it wasn't feasible to go for only an hour or so. I decided on Wadsworth Falls in Rockfall, which is part of the Coginchaug River. They stock it with trout annually, though it's hard to believe there would be any left this late in the season.
The open flat area is usually under water earlier in the year with the spring rains and runoff. During the summer heat it dries out substantially, making wading fairly easy.
While wading out I saw a fingerling pickerel, which I'd never seen before. It actually took me a second to register what kind of fish it was. Before I could snap a picture, he was gone, probably off prowling along the rocks in search of minnows to ambush.
I had my fly gear stashed in the pockets of my overshirt and pants, neither of which offered much room. I was wearing my redhead wading boots and socks, and was prepared to get wet. I rolled up the cuffs of my black work slacks so as not to soak them before work. I started out with a small brown pheasant tail nymph. I tied on about five feet of 5x tippet and began casting upstream towards the falls.
I couldn't get the nymph out very far and couldn't figure out why. It was because the breeze created by the waterfall was blowing it back. I started casting across the river and got a little more distance. I could watch tiny bluegill follow the nymph and peck at it, but no serious bites.
After the nymph I tied on a green and yellow "trout poacher" fly I adapted from a Joe's Flies spinner. After a few casts I lost it in a tree.
One thing I noticed is that the breeze was tangling my line pretty badly. Every few minutes I had to untie a wind knot of some kind or untangle my fly from my rod. This got annoying really quickly.
After losing two more flies to the local foliage, an olive green dry fly and a black dry fly, I tied on a small grasshopper I purchased at Cabela's a week earlier. It floated well, and had a large enough bait profile that I was getting numerous strikes, but kept missing the hook set. I can cast these things decently, but setting the hook and reeling them in is another matter entirely.
Eventually I got a solid hit and dragged the fish in without using the reel. It was a tiny White sucker, maybe about 2 inches or so. I was thrilled to have finally caught something on a fly rod, even if it wasn't a trout.
I quickly unhooked him and let him go.
After a few more casts and
missed strikes I managed to bring in a small pumpkinseed on the same fly.
I suppose I shouldn't get too excited over a pumpkinseed. After all they do go after just about anything in the water. But regardless it was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again soon.
Thanks for reading!
