Fly Fishing BS thread

I managed to get onto the Farmington river, CT for the first time this season.

Landed a nice 10" brown on a top water caddis, he gave a great fight. I also netted 1 yearling. I didn't take a pic of the yearling so that I could get him back in the water quickly.

 

One last brown from a few weeks ago before the rivers got blown out. Hit a lake a last week and found some nice rainbows and even a couple tiger trout.

 

Saw a nice house for sale about a mile down from the dam. Right on the water. Drooling.

 

There are always places for sell right on the water. Every time we go, me and the two guys I go with talk about splitting it three ways, renting it out when we’re not there, then having a practically free place to stay when we go. We usually go one or two times a year.

 

I have a Thule Castaway rod holder, but it's since been discontinued. it'll work with fly or spinning rods/reels. maybe try finding a used one of those. Alternatively, I've seen lots of vehicles with large surf casting rods in ski racks.

 

I have a stealthcraft hooligan (not the XL). Not sure I'd take it on the most knarly of rapids. but I also have a trailer, and am so happy I do. I initially thought about cartopping it, but it isn't pretty unwieldy. There's a stealthcraft hooligan facebook group that you might want to join and see if people in CO use it and on what rivers.

I've hired a guide in MA that uses whitewater rafts, and that is a much better option for some heavier rapid water. The guide has a flatbed with a winch to load it. I don't float rivers where the rapids are that intense, so the stealthcraft is perfect for me.

 

Harrison Brothers? Which rivers did you do?

 

Yes. Deerfield and Hoosic in Feb/March.

I hired them specifically to see if i liked fishing out of a raft before I bought the Hooligan. I've sinced used the Hooligan on the deerfield a couple of times... but not the hoosic. there's a low head dam that is on the hoosic that I'm a bit apprehensive going over. plus access is weird on the hoosic.

 

Haha, yup. I talked to a few guys on the river this weekend that recommended the same thing. Though I really like the idea of the 3-man Flycraft, I can't find enough positive info on them to prove they'll be capable enough on big rivers. I'm going on the hunt for a used full sized raft...though, not sure how good the prospects are for finding the setup I want mid-season.

 

To be fair I wouldn’t really call the super puma a traditional full sized raft lol
It bridges the gap where it’s big enough for a 5 man paddle crew in heavy water but small enough to r2 and it handles like a drift boat with a rowing frame

 

How was it fishing with them? I am east of them and fish the Swift River most of the time but when the bigger rivers they guide are blown out they’ll come here on occasion. I see the beautiful fish they get into.

 

I like them. They always put me on fish. I was going to do another trip with them this spring then the pandemic hit. They aren't perfect (I had an unannounced switch of who'd be guiding me once the day of the trip, and I read about them not showing up for a trip for a guy who drove 3 hours to meet them because they said they were "sick". I think hangovers might be a likely culprit of both these rare annoyances).

But I've really only used them in the winter to fish for the big browns on the western MA rivers. So I put up with a bit of gruffness to fish a specific time/place from the only game in town.

 

True. The dimensions of the raft are less important to me than tube diameter, rocker angle, etc. A true white water raft will give me more of an advantage. I'll have a dog and a full cooler of beer in tow...neet to make sure they all stay in the boat when I hit heavy water.

 

It isn't the biggest around, but this is the first fly-caught striper on my new-to-me boat. It all worked this morning.

 

Congrats man, they’re fun on the fly. Where you fishing for them?

 

Great Bay in NH. I've been flyfishing for stripers for about 20 years (wading, kayaking, and on friends' boats). I haven't fished for them in a few years, and after a change in marital status last year and a gift to myself (the 17' boston whaler I've been pining over for 15 years)... today was the first of hopefully many stripers on the fly on my boat.

 

Can anyone identify this?

 

Glad to see your getting some good out of a big life change. Enjoy the boat and the tug on the fly rod!

 

I'm not from that part of the country and have never caught one, but it looks like a Cutthroat.... Beautiful looking fish u caught