A Beautiful Ravine & the Appalachian Trail

Last weekend was beautiful and I knew it would be the end of the Fall colors. I decided to hike along the Appalachian Trail and figured I'd bring my rod to fish a possible small stream along the way.

The Appalachian trail crosses the border of CT and MA near an AMC cabin. You can access the trailhead by parking in a designated lot nearby. The stream in the Ravine had no name on the map, and that's what I like to see!

The hike in is a couple of miles and has some altitude gain and loss. Its not a really hard hike, but it turned out to be a little long for it to be a fishing spot alone. When I arrived at the stream, I saw a scary sight... the photo above shows the streambed. I knew it would be low, but dry!?

I followed the sound of water, and about a quarter of a mile down the stream my confusion was met with an explanation, as water flowed between the layers of rock and poured out of a waterfall between those layers. It was a beautiful site to behold. Farther up, the stream was running as it should be, low but enough water to hold small trout.

Most of the fish I caught this day were on the very small side, even by small stream fishing standards.

I lost a slightly larger fish in the lower pool, below, but got a nice dark one in the pool above the plunge.

This was a beautiful fall fish... dark colors, bronzed belly, a small "king" of this little tumbling brook, if you will.

The fish in this stream were very toothy, and my unwaxed silk-threaded flies suffered because of it.

The nicest fish of the day came from this little calm spot behind the rock, center stream.

There were many holes like this, but the water was very shallow and slow-moving, making the fish much easier to spook than usual.

I spent a lot of time enjoying the contrasting colors of nature around me. The light caught this aspect of fall just perfectly on a sunny afternoon.

And a few nice Brookies rounded out the day for me.

This fly was the go-to for the day. It is also my go-to fly for almost every day. People talk a lot about "one fly" in Tenkara fishing, but I know this isn't what they have in mind...

...which is too bad, because it works on every stream in every state, as well as many countries around the world! This Brookie was fooled, too.

Getting into the ravine proper, I was reminded of just how little flowing water is needed to create the right conditions for holding wild trout, as long as the water temp is low and the hiding places are many. And that's exactly what I found here, too.

Don't skip the small pools, one of the prettiest fish of the day came from the dark hole in the back, almost hidden between rocks.

As the sun started to dip, I came upon the steepest section of the ravine I had yet encountered. The map showed more of this kind of terrain, and I decided rather than climbing around and back down into the next pool, that it would be a great time to call it a day.

I spent some time eating a late lunch and watching a few trout attempting to spawn in the pool below me.

It was the first day I had a chance to bring my new Fiddleback Forge knife out on the trail, so I got a picture of the knife, which happened to match the moss rather nicely. I see where Andy must have gotten the inspiration for his lime colored liners on this one ;)

The walk out provided some wonderful views from a different perspective. The trees were tall and thin, only some still clinging to the colors they had so vibrantly displayed in recent weeks. But even on their last legs, the stark contrast of grey and black bark against the fiery-red and yellow leaves left an emotional imprint that lasted for days.

I look forward to returning to the area, mostly for hiking, as the fishing wasn't as great as I had hoped. But I have a new goal for my return... I have since read a lot about sightings of mountain lions in the area, and I am hoping to catch a glimpse (from a safe distance, of course) some day soon.

Fall Wild Browns on a Pristine Small Stream, Connecticut.

Its getting towards the end of October, which means that most rivers and pretty much all the streams in New York State are closed to fishing until April. This time of year I tend to spend my time fishing small streams in Connecticut for wild trout instead.

I fished a real gem of a wild-brown trout stream, on an old tip from another small-stream angler who has many more years in this game than I do. The permissions seemed confusing but I was able to confirm legal access and found the stream largely untouched. !?!?

I was afraid the water might be really low, but it was just a little low - running crystal clear & cold, and generally just looking the way I wanted it to. The fish would be small, but that doesn't bother me one bit.

The fall scene was in its full glory, mushrooms and all.

Nature makes beautiful patterns with the leaves as the water bends around each turn.

 Many perfect plunge pools made for ideal fishing and great casting practice.

 The trout were all beautiful, some darker than others.

This pool was my favorite, deep and mysterious. I picked it apart, starting with the closest water, and pulled 4 fish from it before losing the trophy in the depths from these barbless hooks.

Was that a Salmon Parr right there??

Some of the browns were older and darker, and it seemed as though there were a couple of different strains together in this stream.

They were podded up in pools like this, and I didn't bother to photograph each fish. It gets tedious, and after all, while I'm committed to documenting as much as I can, sometimes I just want to get lost in the motions of catch & release, over and over...

My fly was starting to come apart from some toothy wild trout. But it seemed, as it often does, that the more ragged it became, the faster the fish went after it.

My Nissin ZX two way 290 zoom rod offered the correct length and plenty of control, which you need for holding vigorous wild trout that fight hard in skinny, fast water. However, it is a bit stiff in the tip when compared to the rods that I like best.

This stream offered sections of calm in between plunging pools and short runs and riffles. It was too easy to spook the fish in the calm water, but a dry fly floated near the edge of the leaves will coax a trout on most days. 

Some larger rocks provided great hiding spots for weary trout at low water moments.  

I usually fish my own nymphs, like this one, below. You might call it a bead head "flymph." Sinks fast, can be manipulated or dead drifted with ease, and seems impossible for the fish to resist.

Finally I got into some brookies higher up.

The drive home offered some of the usual New England farmhouse scenery and rolling backcountry hills that call my name so frequently. 

These red or pink trees might be my favorite, and they seem to grow all around the state.  

I arrived back in Brooklyn and found a package waiting for me. I was extremely pleased that it was my new knife. Its a hand made knife and I've always wanted to have something nice to carry instead of the old CRKT knife I've had in my bag for years.

This knife is made by Fiddleback Forge (Andy Roy.) He makes a number of beautiful designs, and this is his version of a Bird & Trout knife, the "Ladyfinger."

Tapered full-tang A2 steel, curly-oak handle with lime liners, and signed by the artist on the spine of the blade. I love it. And I'm looking forward to taking it out with me on my adventures.

Meanwhile I'm plotting another visit to this stream to see if I can't get higher up and into the gorge that I know lies above... maybe, if luck is on my side, I'll find some of those wild trophy fish looking to gorge on a few last meals before winter's cold grip takes hold?