Naugatuck Report - December 15 and 17, 2015 - Rolling the Dice: Parts II & III

A Picasse, hot off the vise and already into fish

Back on November 5, I tried fishing for an hour while my son was at nursery school. I was convinced I'd catch at least two salmon, but I didn't get so much as a pull. I didn't try another nursery school trip until this week. I actually made two trips, using up both breaks I get while my son is learning his ABCs and playing with cars. It's kind of a crazy trip given that I spend almost twice as much time driving as I spend fishing.

The first trip was from 10am to 11:45 on December 15. It was a warm day. The air was 61º and the water was 50º. The river was up a bit at 194 cfs and the water had a little bit of color. It was sunny and very windy. I don't usually do well on very windy days. This day was no exception. Also, the sun was shining right in my eyes and I had trouble tracking my fly line. I had one pull, but it might have been from a fallfish. That was my second nursery school salmon strikeout.

I figured today would probably be my last chance to make nursery school magic happen. It would either be a strikeout or a home run. Today was cooler, but still a good temperature for fishing. The air was 54º and the water was 50º. The water came down to 154 cfs and was running clear. The sky was well overcast and there was a bit of drizzle. A high pressure system was making its way through, followed by low pressure later in the afternoon.

While still at home this morning, I tied a single Picasse on a #3 Daiichi Alec Jackson 2051. I wanted to tie more, plus a couple more Catch-A-Me-Lodges, but I only had time for one while my son ate breakfast and watched Curious George.

I'm glad I took the time to tie that fly. I started fishing at 10am once again. I had hooked, landed, and released salmon #1 by 10:05 on the Picasse. By 10:12, I had released salmon #2. Another pass through the pool a few minutes later resulted in yet another hookup on the Picasse, then a fish lost. Then I lost my lucky fly in a snag. I texted my wife and asked if she could leave work early and pick up the boy. I saw today going the way of last Sunday, with an obscene amount of action possible. She didn't go for it. Gah!

The clock was ticking. It was 10:55 and I took a final run through the pool with an Undertaker tube fly. BIG grab!! I saw the fish come out of the water. It was much bigger than the last three. To my dismay, the hook never took hold, but the salmon got pricked enough to spook. Oh well. Had I hooked and fought it, it might have made me late for nursery school pickup. Though it pained me to leave a pool full of eager fish, I had to be a responsible parent.

Two for three (and one near hookup) was pretty good for only 55 minutes of fishing. I'd say that was a home run. It makes up for the other two failed trips. If I could be guaranteed one hookup for every nursery school break, I would probably go every Tuesday and Thursday morning, totally shirking any other responsibilities I would normally attend to during that those times. Oh well, gotta get it while the getting's good! Maybe next Tuesday morning?

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Maybe not...It looks like winter will be here as of next Tuesday, December 22. I don't think I will get out again before then. When I have a chance, I will post my observations on how fishing was this fall. I have plenty of gear reviews too, so look for them this winter. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a happy Holiday season!