Fly Fishing on the Squanacook
I got a bit of time to fish my favorite stretch of the Squanacook today. It was a bright sunny day (65°) with a light breeze. I got to my favorite section and there were 2 bait fishermen there – one upstream and one downstream from “my” spot. Their bobbers drifted slowly down stream.
I looked around and noticed little black stoneflies laying eggs on the water. The female hits the water with a splat and skitters across the surface – upstream, downstream, with the wind, against the wind – what ever direction they want. One even landed on my thumb, so I took these photos of her:
I also noticed a trout on the opposite bank rising to these stoneflies – coming out from under a log. I slowly waded out being as quiet as I could. Once in my spot, I selected a little black stonefly pattern that I had tied earlier this week – size 16. I tied it on and readied to cast. I like tying flies on while I’m in the stream, the extra couple of minutes it takes lets any fish spooked by my wading to settle down.
On my 3rd cast, I hooked and landed the Rainbow Trout that was eating the stoneflies! The bait fishermen watched incredulously. I slowly backed out of “my” spot and hiked further upstream to fish a more out of the way area!