My Weekend Outdoors - 3/11/12

It was a pretty nice weekend here in the Northeast with warmer temps and clear skies, you know the kid of day you must take advantage of and spend as much time as possible outdoors and I did.  I did some backyard birding and photography, made a little maple syrup and even got into some trout with the fly rod and before I get yelled at, I even did some house work.

With the night time temps warming up the sugaring season may be coming to an end and I can't say I am sorry to see it end.  As tasty as pure maple syrup is, it is truly a labor of love and Monday started week 5 of the season which includes many late nights during the week and longer weekends.  On Saturday Bubba and I bottled up another 6 gallons which helped us get closer to the 60 gallon yearly average, down some from last years 101 gallons though.  When you poor this stuff over your pancakes you quickly forget about those late nights and long weekends. 

Where the Magic happens - 30 gallons of sap per hour

 

Finished Product

Makes the time all worth while

The activity at my bird feeders has really picked up over the past couple weeks with new visitors showing up which is a good sign spring is on the way as the birds start migrating back North.  The newest visitors around my house were Red-winged blackbirds, American Goldfinches, Common Crackles, Mourning Doves and finally a couple of Robins.  At one point I had 10 American Goldfinches enjoying my offerings at the same time.  I think that is a record for me.  The highlight though was a hawk that thought he would get an easy meal at my feeder.  He didn't but came close twice.  I'm not sure if it is a Coppers Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk as they are very similar and hard to differentiate.  I do hope to see the Baltimore Orioles come back this spring.

Coopers or Sharp-shinned Hawk?

Mourning Dove

Red-winged Blackbird

Sunday afternoon found me fishing the Willimantic River TMA which is a fly fishing only section open year round for catch and release fishing.  I took a quick lunch run up there last week and was skunked but today was definitely more productive as bent rods and tight lines produce some nice trout to hand.  All released to provide someone else with the enjoyment they gave me.  I broke out the Greys Streamflex 10' 4wt and rigged up to Euro Nymph using a coiled sighter.  I picked up fish on brown rubber legged stonefly, a Frenchie style pheasant tail and a walt's worm.  I did miss a few as well.  The two best fish was a 14"  hefty rainbow and a 13" tiger trout.

This hefty 14"+ Rainbow took a size 18 Frenchie PT w/Orange Bead

This Rainbow trout took the size 18 Frenchie

Tiger Trout took the Rubber Legged Stone

A little video from the release of the bigger rainbow.  Looks like I need to work on my one handed video release technique though.  This was taken using my Olympus TG-310.

My daughter and I even got a little archery practice in and man were we rusty.  Not bad for a weekend outdoors.  So what did you do this past weekend?

Penns Creek 2011

Me, Steve, Brendan and Dad on Penns Creek

I just got back from our 3rd annual family fly fishing trip & competition where we spent a few days fishing Penns Creek in Central Pennsylvania with my Father, Brother Steve and Son Brendan.  My brother and I started this little trip 3 years ago as we spent a few days fishing with my dad around his house in the Poconos, but last year we decided this little get together needed to move around to different locations and get away from the house so it we made it happen.  We enjoyed Penns Creek so much last year, we decided to head back there again this year.  Once again we stayed in the apartment at Penns Creek Angler which certainly serves it's purpose as a place to sleep, get showered and even relax when not on the water.

Green Drake - these things are huge!

Put the rod down for a bit and this Green Drake stopped for a rest

Last year's trip was just late enough for us to miss out on the famed Green Drake hatch and water levels running really low with hot dry weather.  This year we found a different Penns Creek with much more water then we needed and covered in Green Drakes.  I wasn't excited about the 1000cfs plus flows, especially seeing Penns offers difficult wading even at normal flows below 400cfs, but I was extremely excited to see the Green Drake for the first time ever and what a site it was.  Many of the Central PA trout streams are known for their prolific and variety of hatches and Penns Creek was no different.  At times we were just covered in Green Drakes as well as Sulphurs with some caddis and gray foxes thrown in for good measure.  With all these bugs hatching and creating just a mess for the angler trying to match the hatch, what was even more amazing was very few fish rising with any consistency.  There were a few that were consistent but knowing that there were many more fish in the water than what was showing up on the surface, I just kept nymphing away and picking up fish.


I've read so many different opinions about fishing the green drake hatch from suggestions on ignoring them completely to running up river with it and fish the heck out of it.   My normal fishing style is nymph until you die or until fish are rising consistently and you know what they are feeding on.  So we all pretty much nymphed away with the majority of our fish coming to net that way.  Matter of fact
most came on a stonefly nymph of some sort with a black stone being preferred, while a few came on green drake nymphs and a couple on a frenchie nymph made from partridge and turkey tail with a fire orange hot spot.

My dad and brother were using a typical indicator type setup for their nymphing.  I stuck to my Euro Nymphing setup of a 10' 4wt Greys Streamflex with my Jan Siman bicolor slinky style indicator.  My son was a different story.  Last years PC trip was his first time ever fly fishing and it started with a crash course in the yard the day before we hit the water.  He enjoyed the fly rod so much he kept at it last summer and once again he decided to use the fly rod for this trip but he didn't want an indicator.  His method resembled more of a high sticking method and it paid off for him as he caught the most trout out of the group, and he did so using all my gear.  Dang kids.

This little guy had a lot of fight in him

Brendan was the first one in the water on Day #1 and the first to hook up.  I was down river when he hooked up so I made it to shore and ran up river to get a picture of him with his fish and give him a high five.  It was a little wild brown that looked like a small toy football as it was short and chunky in the middle and narrow on the ends.  It had shoulders as it put up a good fight and I'm sure the raging water helped that fight.  We got him in the net and took two quick pics and back in the water he went.  Matter of fact, all the fish we caught were released to fight another day and at least one did as I caught him two days in a row.

First Fish of the trip

Brendan with the first fish of the trip

I hooked into a good fish for about a minute or two and then off he came but he still had my flies with him.  I guess I tied a crappy knot.  I was not happy but little did I know that this fish would make a difference in the end.  But that is okay I redemeed myself with a nice little brown to tie things up.

Later that evening my brother Steve lost 3 fish in a row.  Not sure what he was doing wrong, but I'm sure he wasn't setting the hook good enogh.  My dad was up there on the bank giving him the business, oops I mean instruction, and he hooked a fourth and finally landed that one.  It was his first ever Penns Creek trout - he got skunked last year - and no one up there had a camera.  Amazing..    My dad was 0-0 on day one but as Brendan put it "If he wasn't sitting on the bank playing Penns Creek greeter and in the water fishign he might have caught something!"  Well put son!

Steve and Dad taking a break on the bank

After a late night meal at the bar next to the apartment we got cleaned up, watched a instructional nypmhing dvd because it was obvious my dad and brother needed it, then off to sleep for an early wake up.  The alarm went off at 5am, I got up turned the coffee on and waited for the rest of the crew to start stirring.  I can be up and out in less than 20 minutes but that isn't the case with this crew.  We didn't make the water until 6:30am which was a little later than I wanted but still good enough.  We stuck to the same plan as the day before and spread out along a long run and fished away.  The water was still high but Brendan and I found a place to cross the night before so we headed across and back to working the same water as the night before.  I had watched a nice fish rise a few times just behind a rock the night before so I nymphed my way over to his hiding spot and just two drifts through there he smacked a stonefly nymph I had on  and the fight was on.  Not a hog by any shape of the imagination but he was a good one and turned out to be the biggest of the trip.  We banged a few more fish before the green drakes exploded around 9am.  We had little bug activity and then we were just covered up in Drakes.  It was really something to see.  Around noon we headed back to the aprtment to get some lunch and take a nap.

He should have stayed hidden the night before

Brendan getting his game on

That evening we were back on the same run nymphing away.  I hooked into a fish that turned out to be the same one I hooked the previous day.  Now that put a smile on my face.  The evening hatch was sulphur heavy but the drakes were lighter than the previous evening so I tried playing the dry fly game with no success.  I did get to watch two guys come in and hammer the fish on top using a large coffin fly.  By the time we left they had manage a dozen trout easy.  Lesson learned.

Feeling confident that he couldn't be beaten

Saturday morning was our last morning on the water and we planned to get out around 1pm, so we got up early again, packed the truck and hit the water.  At this point I was one fish behind my son, with my brother and dad way behind.  Brendan decided to leave me and move up river by himself and dad and I head down stream and Steve stuck to his comfortable spot in the water.  It paid off for all of us as we all caught fish, most of use caught trout but I promised my dad that I wouldn't mention that all he got was chubs.  Brendan was first to hook up and that put me two fish down.  I worked hard to catch up but I just couldn't.  I did roll one and land one but it wasn't enough to catch the kid.  Steve lost another but then landed his second PC brown trout and we got a picture of it this time because he made dad run up to the truck to get a camera while he was fighting the fish.  Good thing the truck was close by.

Steve with his second Penns Creek brown trout

We called it a trip around 1pm and got out of our fishing gear, repacked the truck and had a quick bite to eat before heading back to my dad's house.  There was a lot of snoring going on in the back seat of that truck and it was being done by the two youngest of our crew.  Dad and I were talking about catching an evening hatch near the house while these two were snoring away.  Amazing.

Lunch of champion wild brown trout fisherman everywhere

We landed over a dozen beautiful wild browns while losing about another half dozen or so.  We did get to see the famed Green Drake hatch which was worth the price of admission in itself.  We had plenty of laughs along the way and ran into a few characters, one of which was definitely my dad's doppelgänger .  We had way too many laughs and of course the country side is just incredible.  We did see deer, turkey and even a small hawk that my dad almost ran over as it struggled to lift its meal of dead squirrel from the road.

Dad almost getting taken out during the Kayak hatch!

With over 35 miles of creek to explore, I'm sure we will be back to fish Penns again in the future.  Matter of fact I suggested we make next years trip a week long as that will give us more time to explore all those wonderful Central PA streams surrounding Penns Creek and there are some beauties like Spring Creek and Big Fishing Creek that we have yet to explore.  I wish I lived closer.

Last fish of the trip

Dad presenting Brendan with the pin for catching the most fish

Got to finish off with a flower shot

They claim the only thing guaranteed when fishing Penns Creek is leaving frustrated and taking a bath during wading.  Well I didn't end up taking a bath, but my brother Steve did - twice.  I also didn't leave frustrated, but at times I was frustrated.  We did leave a little wore out from the wading, but nothing we won't recover from.  A good trip for me is not about numbers or even the fish itself, instead it is
about time on the water with friends and family so this one goes down as an award winner in my book.

Great way to Spend the First Day of May

With the past two weekends consisting on bad weather, a successful youth turkey and a holiday I haven't had much time on the water to chase trout so the outlook for this past weekend was sunny but wet and I don't mean wet with rain.

I spent most of Saturday working around the house and getting chores done instead of Turkey hunting. I know, what was I thinking, right. Stuff had to get done and seeing I had already planned on fishing all day Sunday Saturday was get stuff done day. I did get stuff done and still managed a few hours that evening on the water over at the Willimantic River TMA but there was no sign of life at all. Few bugs and few signs of fish. I finally connected after switching over from nymphing to using my trusted woolly bugger but I ended up losing a nice fish. and then proceeded to miss two more and called it an evening.

Sunday morning I was up early and off to the bait shop to pick up a few offerings to use at a fishing derby and then to pick up my brother and my nephew. We started out at a fish and game club's derby in Colchester, CT where we spent a few hours fighting the tangles that come with a large crowd around a small pond and managing to catch a few fish in between, well two trout a bass and 2 blue gill to be exact. We visited with some friends, had a few burgers and then packed it up and headed off to the Salmon River TMA for some catch and release fishing.

The Salmon River offers up some great water for all types of fishing and produces some nice hatches for those toting the long rods. The weather was just incredible with clear skies, bright sun and temps in the 60s with a light wind. I planned on using the fly rod and doing some euro nymphing while my brother and nephew would start out using trout magnets and bait if necessary. While I was still at the car gearing up, my nephew decided to get the jump on me headed down to a big rock and started casting and on the 3rd cast he hooked into a nice brook trout. I had the only net and I didn't want to let his first Salmon River trout get away so I ran down and netted his fish for him. We tried to take some pictures of the fish before releasing him but as we found out this day my nephew has a hard time holding on to a wiggly trout and his first Salmon River trout was gone in a splash. No problem, he picked up the rod and was right back at it.

I finally got all rigged up and headed to a small pocket just above my nephew and brother and it wasn't long before I hooked into a trout and the count was tied up at one a piece. We went back and forth each catching a fish before I jumped up by two trout and then the gloves came off. My nephew quickly realized he had no chance at out fishing me from the bank so my brother gave him the okay and in the water in went - no waders just his clothes. Game on he said. My brother was a little smarter and grabbed my other pair of waders before joining his son in the water. Once my nephew got in the water he was able to reach a few of the hiding holes that were just out of reach from him on the rock and he began banging fish again. And once again we tried taking some fish pictures but they just kept slipping out of his grip and back into the drink. Looks like trying to get the hero shot of my nephew holding a fish was going to take extra hands or a net.

We started seeing some Hendricksons coming off and the fish turned on a little bit and I picked up 3 quick fish and missing a few which was burning my nephews butt so he moved into my spot and took over but not before I put another on the fly rod and then handed him my 10' greys streamflex to fight a nice brookie. He was over the top with excitement and almost reeled the dang fish right up through the guides but we got him in the net and I was bound and determined to get a picture of him holding this fish and we did. With four hands surrounding the fish there was no way he was escaping this time. Most of the fish were caught on a salmon colored trout magnet drifted under a float or on a soft hackle bead head pheasant tail nymph with a couple coming on a mealworm and a olive caddis nymph. We caught more brookies then rainbows and browns but the one brown was a nice fish that I never came to net.

We caught a few more fish including a nice brown I saw hiding near a rock before we decided it was time to dry off and pack it in for the day as my nephew had soccer practice at 5pm. On the drive home I did my best to rub it in that I out fished him but he claims I was cheating because I was using a two fly setup instead of two. I gave him credit for the argument and the dedication of jumping in the water to compete but I still out fished him and promised to give him another chance soon.

It was a great warm and sunny spring day that was perfect to share the passion and it included plenty of laughs and some cooperative fish. Can't wait for the next trip.

Finally Some Trout - Euro Nymphing Style

Had a little free time to get some fly fishing in so I headed down to the Salmon River TMA in Colchester to try and enjoy some peace and quiet before the season opens next week.   I fished the Fly Fishing only area and it was packed, so much for peace and quiet.

The Salmon River has some great water for Euro Nymphing so that was my game plan and I needed the practice.  The State forest roads were still closed from the winter so it was fish the Fly Fishing are with the rest of the pack or truck up the road and try to find some quiet water.  So I trucked on up the road away from the crowds and planned to fish my way back to the truck.

I have yet to catch a fish on my new Greys 10' 4wt streamflex so that was my rod of choice today.  My long line Euro Nymphing skills need plenty of work and at times I was so dang frustrated I almost went home but I was bound and determined to work out the kinks and get things going for 2011 and it's a good thing I am stubborn.

Typical Salmon River Pocket water

I was fishing just above the patch of water shown above when I got hung up, yanked like mad to free my flies and ended up tangled in the tree behind me.  Yup, this was just a sample of how my early attempts to bring a stupid stocked trout to net had been going.  But remember I am stubborn and as
I stood looking over this pocket of water I just knew there were fishing lying in wait so I refused to pack it in and tied on some new flies.  I decided to break out a woven polish nymph for my anchor fly and a Soft Hackle Bead Head Pheasant Tail, both of which I tied myself which was true about every fly I used on this trip which might say something for my tying skills as well.

On my third cast my mind was drifting a bit and when my coiled sighter stretched I halfheartedly set the hook, which turned out to be a mistake.  It wasn't bottom this time and as the fish came off the bottom and into the flow it turned sideways and I could see it was a football shaped rainbow.  The blood was pumping now and I kept the pressure on with the Greys 10' 4wt Streamflex and I started heading to shore and when I did she came unbuttoned.  Arrrgggghhhhhhh.

As bummed as I was, I was still smiling and was back in the game.  Another two cast in this spot and that sighter twitched and I set the hook the right way and the fight was on.  Another nice rainbow but nothing like the one I just lost.  This fish took the Pheasant Tail nymph and was brought to net to have it's picture taken and released back to fight another day.

Salmon River Stockie - took the Soft Hackle BH PT

Bye Bye Little Fishy

I picked up two more rainbows on the same fly and decided it was time to quit on a high note and head home as I had chores to do.  I was very happy with the new rod and I feel better finally getting the rust off and back into a groove which comes just in time for Connecticut's Fishing Season opener on April 16th.  It's amazing what catching a few stocked trout can do for you.

Back away from the Fly tying bench

Well I've been MIA for the past few weeks but I haven't been far.  I decided to take advantage of the lack of major snow storms to get caught up on my preseason fly fishing prep.  Don't worry, we still have close to 3 feet of snow on the ground but we are making progress with it's departure.  In the meantime I have been putting in time on the bench tying some flies and experimenting with some new tying techniques, well new to me at least.

My local  trout stream is still un-fishable with all the ice and the recent rain will only hurt more than it helps but it won't be long now before I am back on the water and working on my nymphing skills.  I am looking forward to spending the spring working on some short line Czech and long line Euro nymphing tehcniques that I started learning last year - read my Introduction to Euro Nymphing post from last may and you can see why I am excited about this technique.

I recently received Aaron Jasper's European Nymphing DVD which just came out this past January and it really helped put everything together that I experienced last year and everything I've been reading and learning.  The video does a great job breaking down the basics of both short and long leader nymphing and includes a section on tying, knots and leader creation.  If you have been thinking about getting into Euro Nymphing styles then Aaron's DVD is a must.





So when I am not scouring the internet, or bugging my local Fly guy Steve Babbit up at JTs Fly Shop or watching Arron's video again, I am at the tying bench trying to make some head way on some flies.   I've only been tying flies for just about 2 years now but most of my ties have been buggers and streamers and some nymphs like the tried and true Pheasant tails or Hares ear nymphs so I had to expand my horizons to fill up my box in preparation for all the flies I will be fishing losing this spring.

Some of my recent ties - Bottom middle and left are woven flies

I am not a fan of dubbing flies and I'm sure it is just because I stink at it so I decided to try creating some woven flies just so I don't have to deal with my crappy dubbing technique.  Weaving flies basically consist of taking two pieces of material either floss or wire in contrasting colors and weaving them along the body of the fly to create a different color on the top and bottom of the fly.  It is a challenge for sure but once you get the hang of it there is no stopping.  I've been using DMC 6 strand embroidery floss from the local craft store.  It only cost about 37 cents a color and it is available in what seems like a gazillion possible color combinations.  

Just a sampling of some of the colors of floss I purchased.

There are a couple of tricks to weaving and the first is separating the six strands into 3 which is pretty easy to do.  The second is to use some empty thread spools to wind the floss on so you can use your bobin when weaving.  Do a search on your tube or goole and you will find plenty of video tutorials and step by step procedures like this one from Loren Willams Woven Polish Nymph Tutorial.  Lorens Website is a must have link for anyone who ties their own flies or looking to start.  Here is a short clip from Trout Predator Online that I used to help with my weaving. 



When I am not tying at the bench lately I am working on my knots, tying up some leaders and some coiled strike indicators and I can't wait for that bicolor strike indicator material that I ordered to show up so I can make some bicolor "Slinky" indicators.  I also purchased a new rod for nymphing and can't wait to get my new 10' 4wt Greys Streamflex out on the water rigged up with some of those flies I've been tying. 

So I apologize for being away the past couple of weeks but as you can see I've been busy preparing for the waters to open up.  I know this for a fact.  I will lose some flies and I will catch a few fish and I'm sure some will succumb to the net just because they are laughing so hard.  Either way old man winter will be gone and I will be on the water.  Life will be good.

My Introduction into Euro Nymphing

For those of you with that kind of mind, please get it out of the gutter as this post is all about a fly fishing technique known as European style nymphing.   Disclaimer - I am in no way an expert in this method, it's origins or concepts but it is something I've wanted to try as a way to expand my fly fishing skills.

As I mentioned in previous posts, nymphing is the technique of presenting your flies sub surface down to where the fish do the majority of their feeding. There are so many methods of nymphing  to choose from and one just starting out could get extremely confused and all turned around.  From Spanish & French nymphing to Czech & polish nymphing, indicator nymphing, high-stick nymphing and ofcourse Euro nymphing.  Many of these techniques have many similarities but there slight differences were most likely born out of fishing on their home waters because of regulations and fishing pressure. As fly fishing has grown into competitions, competition and the rules that go along with them have also caused some type of adaptation and modification to these methods so even if the base concept is the same, the style, technique and even equipment becomes modified for those unique methods.

Because of all the different styles and techniques I thought it was important for me to get some help with putting this all into perspective and into play by enlisting the help of a professional guide and that is exactly what I did by booking my Euro nymphing trip with Aaron Jasper.  Aaron is the co-founder of Trout Predator Online (TPO) which is in my opinion the best site on the web to share information and ask questions about all things Fly Fishing.  TPO is a daily stop for me as Aaron and the folks who frequent TPO have been a huge help in my journey as a fly fisherman and you can find everything from fishing reports, fly tying videos, product reviews and tons of information related to all styles of fly fishing.  Have a question or problem just post it and you will be helped from some of the best people around.  Aaron's full time job as a teacher surely has something to do with how successful he has been as a guide and a fly fishing instructor.   I've had the chance to chat back and forth with Aaron on many occasions as well as attend a presentation on Euro Nymphing that he presented and I just had to book a trip with him and I was glad I did.

My trip started out with a 4am wake up with thunderstorms all around.  I had an hour drive to meet up with Aaron at Upcountry Sportfishing in New Hartford,  where we would be fishing the Farmington River, which by the way is probably one of the best fisheries in the state of CT.   A I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for Aaron a huge flash of lightening and a crash of thunder shook me and my truck and all I could think of was that I must be insane to go out fishing in this weather.  One thing I love is technology and using a few weather and radar applications I had on my Motorola Droid I was convinced we could get this trip in.

At our first stop Aaron gave me a quick introduction into my setup and the concept of Euro Nymphing and then handed me the rod.  After a few attempts at casting this new rig I thought for sure he would just leave me along side the river and move on, but he didn't and was able to get me corrected pretty quickly.   My first few attempts with the new tools of the trade threw a wrench into my casting and that was the first lesson learned this day.  I had thought and read that you didn't really cast your team of flies, but instead lobbed them along but i can tell you for certain, I did plenty of casting and not a whole heck of lobbing my flies.  Matter of fact I started to lose a little confidence in my abilities but Aaron stepped in and took care of that by explained that this is a learning opportunity and he was goign to put me in positions that would make me learn and I'm definitely not afraid to learn.

This setup consists of a 10 foot 3 weight rod, about a 15 foot total length for my leader which has a butt section connected to some type of inline sighter, which in this case was a coiled sighter (there is a great video on Fly Fishing Reporter that shows how to make a coiled sighter), then your tippet to your team of flies.  In these case we were using two flies on a piece of Fluorocarbon tippet with a larger, heavier fly as our anchor fly and usually a smaller fly as our dropper fly.  The only weight in our setup was built into the flies themselves and this entire setup is designed to get the flies into the zone and down to the bottom as quick as possible.  In simple terms you cast your flies, take up the slack so your sighter is on the water and your rod position is leading your team of flies down stream making for a direct line of contact to your flies.  Because of this contact you can feel everything (unlike nymphing with an indicator) and the coiled sighter adds to the visual detection and makes every little touch of your flies visible.  Just plain amazing.

We didn't catch anything at our first stop and neither was the gentlemen that was fishing just below us so off to spot number two.  First cast into spot number two and I see the coiled sighter twitch ever so slightly and think..hmmm, I wonder if that was a fish...That is about the same time I got lesson number two.  Expect to catch fish on every cast and when just starting out always set the hook at any hint of something different either in the contact with my flies or in movement of the sighter.   I'm a pretty quick learner and on my second cast I watched that sighter twitch ever so slightly and I set the hook and the fight was one.  I knew instantly I had a good fish and seeing I had been losing fish during the retrieve on my last few outings I had prepared Aaron and asked him to be on the lookout for anything I was doing wrong and he was and coached me through it which resulted in Aaron netting my first ever trout caught Euro Nymphing and probably my largest trout ever.  It was a beautiful large holdover Brown trout.  Check out that smile!!!

A Euro Nymphing first for me

19" Farmington River Brown Trout

After taking a few pictures of this bruiser and releasing him back to his hide I new right away this was going to be one of those days.  Yes, Aaron told me it would be before we even started but I guess with the bad weather around I just thought otherwise.  Lesson three - Always listen to your guide and believe in him, heck that is why you hired him.

We continued to work our way along this section of the Farmington River trying to dodge the thunder and lightening and looking for more large trout hiding spots and we found them for sure.  we netted almost 20 fish, many were holdover fish as well as a stocker or two and even a small salmon parr.  There were two bruiser fish lost on this trip and many more missed as I fell out of that ...."expect to catch a fish every cast" mentality on occasion.  I had one incredible hit that caught me a little off guard and I ended up setting the hook like I was Tuna fishing only to snap my leader.  Even Aaron who was standing next to me was in awe at the slamming the fish put on the flies.  What was amazing is that missing fish and losing those bruisers didn't frustrate us for long because there were plenty of beautiful holdover fish to help continue my introduction into Euro Nymphing and here are just a few of them.

That last picture shows me locked up on another bruiser and illustrates another lesson I learned. Just as expecting to catch a fish every cast, confidence is contagious so purchase a larger net.  :)

It doesn't matter if you are an experienced fly fisherman looking to expand your technique and knowledge or just starting out, there is a load of free information available to help you out there but nothing replaces some one-on-one instruction with someone that has the right stuff and Aaron certainly does.

Aaron guides in both CT and NJ.   To contact Aaron Jasper visit either TPO or his Fly Fishing Evolution website and I promise you will not be disappointed.

Next step is to continue Euro Nymphing on my own and I'm sure new success and failures with be found along with plenty of more questions.