Central Pennsylvania Trout Trip

Last May I attended a U.S Youth Fly Fishing Team clinic held on Fishermans Creek and Spring Creek in central Pennsylvania. There I spent three days learning from some amazing fisherman, from kids on the team as well as guides and even Joe Humphreys. During the time I was there they filmed part of Joe Humphreys movie, you can actually see me a couple of times in the trailer they released.

     During the clinic I was introduced to an entirely new type of fishing, European nymphing with a sighter instead of a bobber. In addition to this I was introduced to jig head nymphs. I used these techniques and flies for the entirety of the clinic and still use them today. The brook trout above was caught on a dry fly during an evening sulphur hatch on Fishermans Creek. The brown trout was caught on a baetis nymph on spring creek. Overall the clinic was a blast, I learned a lot and in between caught some good fish too. I would recommend  this clinic to any teens (as it is a youth clinic) who want to learn more about fly fishing. 

First Trout Trip of the Year

Today I fished the swift for a few hours with many bites but very few fish. I first started out fishing a WD-40 with a caddis nymph as an anchor down at the pipe pool. I got no bites there so I headed up to the route 9 bridge. There I saw a spin fisherman catch a big trout on a spinner so I switched to a circus peanut to try to imitate a small brook trout or sculpin. Immediately I started getting many bites. I worked my way upstream until I finally caught the fish seen above. I walked even farther up to the y-pool where I had many bites. After fishing the y-pool for half an hour I ended up leaving. There were very few fish in the river at this time so I was pumped to catch this guy, especially sight fishing with a streamer.

Talking Trout Interview 1/31/16

Fisheries and Wildlife Interview - 1/31/16(Click here for Interview)

Above is an interview with Commissioner of Fisheries and Wildlife, George Peterson, Chief of Trout Stocking, Ken Simmons, and Fisheries Biologist Todd Richards. The interview discusses topics such as; what is the state of wild trout in Massachusetts, what is the state of Atlantic Salmon, both sea run and landlocked in Massachusetts, and what exactly is the goal of trout stocking. In addition to this, Mr.Simmons, Peterson, and Richards discuss what exactly their job entails as well as what sort educational background each one had to have to get to where they are today. The various trout hatcheries throughout Massachusetts are discussed as well as some interesting facts about the net zero energy building the department of fisheries and wildlife works in. In addition to the scientific and more technical aspects of the interview, many good fishing spots around the state are mentioned as well. Overall the content in the interview is fascinating and filled with valuable information for people interested in not only Massachusetts cold-water fisheries, but the future of Massachusetts wild trout and salmon.

Fly Fishing in Nova Scotia

All these pictures were taken in Cape Breton Nova Scotia on a recent trip to Nova Scotia this past July. Overall this had to be my most enjoyable trout fishing experience. I probably fished for around 5 hours in total and caught somewhere around 30 trout. The first 4 brookies were caught in a random creek in the Margaree watershed that is also pictured above. My dad and I drove around 5 minutes away from our hotel and found a small creek off the side of the road in the Margaree Valley. Lucky for me we found the creek in the midst of a blizzard of a sulphur hatch. I quickly hopped into the river and tied on a generic yellow mayfly. I first casted into a riffle no more 4 feet wide and 6 inches deep (you can see it at the very top of the picture). There I quickly landed a small salmon parr. I went on to catch around 20 more trout in a period of 30 minutes all on dry flies. Although they were all under about 8 inches, it was still a blast. The next day I fished in a small river somewhere on the northern coast of Cape Breton. There, despite the fact it was low water and the middle of the day, brook trout were rising. Once I got down to the river I ended up having to cut my line due to a tangle. Unfortunately I forgot my tippet in the car, but the fish didn't seem to care. I used my 4 foot 8lb test leader and tied on a mayfly dry fly and successfully caught 5 or so beautiful native brook trout. Later that day I returned to the Margaree river where I swung for salmon with no results. I then pulled out my trout rod and fished the same fly I fished the past few days and caught the salmon parr and big trout above, along with a few more smaller trout. The fish in Cape Breton were strong, aggressive, and a blast to catch. I would definitely recommend fishing here to anyone who loves brook trout. Although I didn't catch many big ones I caught many beautiful ones, and in the end, catching native trout on dry flies never gets old.

Deerfield River

 Earlier last year, sometime in June. My friends and I decided to fish the Deerfeld River. The segment of the Deerfield River pictured above was fished with little to no luck, although it was one of the most stunning parts of the river. Rolling hills can be seen in the background as well as a long riffle leading in to a pool.This section of the river was sepersyed into two channels by the shrubbery and grass hopper filled island seen above. Two of my friends and I took to turning up rocks and found plenty of stoneflies being found, so naturally we tied on a hopper dropper rig with a stonefly nymph. This did not get any bites. I then tried an olive wooly bugger, casting into an eddy behind a large rock. I ended up getting one bite there, the only bite in that section of the river. We later decided to head up to fife Brook dam where we all got many bites from both Browns and rainbows, only catching one brown. Overall it was a very difficult yet rewarding day of fishing.

East Creek Vermont Brook Trout

All of these brook trout were caught in East Creek in Pittsford Vermont. There is a small pool right off the sight of the road on Sangamon Road in Pittsford. I believe nearly all fish in this pool are stocked although I'm sure there are a few wild brookies. Overall the fish in this stream seemed to respond mostly to attractor patterns. I caught all of my fish and had all of my bites either jigging a san juan worm in the pool or stripping a black zonker and chenille streamer. There were about 15 brookies in the pool and that was about it. Further downstream there was a short riffle that held about the same amount. In that situation I just drifted the san juan worm, using a hopper dropper system.

Lake Winnipesauke Trout Trip

These are pictures of a summer trip to lake Winnipesauke. One of my friends has a house on the lake and a small boat he uses for trolling. This past august I went up there for a fishing trip. We would get up at about 5 every morning and head out to a spot on the lake off of an Island. There we set up 3 trolling rods all with different lures. Most of the luck we had was with a Wonder bread Trolling spoon and an olive and white streamer fly at around a size 8. All of the fish and bites were had at around 30-60 feet so it was a little too deep to cast a fly rod.The salmon above was caught on the first morning of the trip with the Wonder bread spoon and the lake trout was caught the second morning on the olive and white streamer