An Evening on the River

Fished the Farmington river tonight with my buddy Jeff. Tried a new spot, over by American Legion State Forest. We walked down and found a huge hole, very deep; a great place for me to throw some nymphs. On the second cast, I netted a beautiful rainbow that went about 14 inches. Not huge, but a good start... or a bad omen as is sometimes the case when you hook up right away.

I fished a 2-nymph system. A tellico on top and a #18 pheasant tail. The PT has really been producing for me lately. After about 5 minutes I thought I was into a big brown, but as it sometimes goes, that golden blur you see beneathe the surface ended up being a sucker! At least he battled hard.

Moved upstream to the next likely looking spot and netted 3 more trout, all browns - very nice - that were cozied up against the far bank in a deep slow water pocket. LDR'ed a couple others. Got a couple more later, but that was basically my night.

Except...Originally I intended to post a couple of photos to go along with the report and had actually taken a few. Later on in the evening, I was crossing the big hole towards the tail and got into some swift water up to my waist. This is usually where my feet get swept out from underneathe me and I take a cold bath. That didn't happen tonight, but my camera bag was just open at the top enough to let some water in and the digital took the bath. Drying it out now and hopefully, it'll recover, but I'm not optimistic. Time to consider one of the new waterproof digitals...

Overall, a beautiful evening on the Farmington. The plastic hatch was off and the trout cooperated too. I'm very fortunate to have such a prolific river so close to home.

Shaker, Rattle and Roll

Just a quick post - Nora and I went up to the Hancock Shaker Village today, outside of Pittsfield, Mass. Kind of a lazy afternoon with not too much to do, so we went on a little road trip.

Nora, however, did discover that apparently, she's a "pig whisperer". There's a wing to the round barn that houses some livestock and Nora started scratching this big ole fat piggy behind the ears. It responded like a dog, lying down on it's side, stretching his legs out, and putting on his happy pig face - very cute.

It's a nice little trip if you're in the area and looking for something to do.

Gotta Start Somewhere!

Welcome to Steelhead Addiction. I've set up this blog to share my experiences with anyone who enjoys steelheading as much as I do. From time to time there will be some non-fishing stories that will posted; life isn't all about fishing, is it? OK, maybe 95% fishing and 5% less important stuff like friends, family, the J-O-B and the like. If you're addicted to steelheading like I am, you know where I'm coming from.

I think about steelhead (and big lake run browns) ALOT. Not just during the season, but all the time. It's the middle of summer right now and I'm already gearing up for the fall. Tying flies: lots of sucker spawn and egg patterns. Making mental checklists of all the stuff I need to buy... tippet material, maybe a new line, split shot, fishing licenses, etc. The list goes on and on.

What is it about these creatures that drives the addict so? Is it the anticipation of the battle, or the battle itself? Is it the camaraderie amongst fishing partners? Is it the challenge of each river, or the elements?

Whatever it is, I don't really care if I ever figure out why I'm driven by steel. I'm just thankful I am, and that I have lots of good friends and family to share it with.

So stay tuned, and enjoy the ride. There will be many stories to come.