Atlantic Salmon Flies: Naugatuck Report - October 23, 2016

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Naugatuck Report - October 23, 2016 - Swingin'!

First salmon of the 2016-2017 season

Swingin'...not just flies, but what I do for a living. Sure, I sell some flies and guide some, but it mainly helps feed the addiction. The addiction to swinging, and this time I do mean flies.

At the beginning of last week, I had pretty much given up hope that we would have a salmon season on the Naugatuck. This drought is for real. By last Tuesday, I said to myself, "Screw it. I'm sick of thinking about losing my favorite local fishery. I'm just going to play music every free chance I have." So I did and it felt really good. I hate to admit it, but I forgot about salmon fishing pretty quickly and began to get excited about some upcoming gigs and some other longterm goals.

Then, out of the blue, I found out salmon season was on. I had three guide trips booked within the first couple of hours of hearing the news. I needed to get out on the river ASAP to get my mojo working. But I still had music on the brain. I had 2.5 hours to fish this afternoon, so I decided to do it with headphones on, something I never do. "What if a salmon rises behind me and I don't hear it?" I thought. So what...it's just a fish. Besides, I really wanted to continue listening to Eric Reed, Ben Wolfe, and Gregory Hutchinson swing their asses off.

I tied on a size 10 Ally's Shrimp and went to the top of Pool #1. Before the first song ended, I was tight to my first salmon of the season! What made it more exciting was that it was the first salmon on my new Naugatuck single hand combo, a Sage One 9' 7 wt. rod and my trusty Islander IR4 reel. The reel purred and the salmon was eventually brought to the net. I think that's the fastest season opening salmon I've ever caught. I raised another on the inside of the seam, but couldn't get it back. As much as I like a challenge, I decided to find more fish than to play the chess match.

Ally's Shrimp excerpt from "Flies for Connecticut Atlantic Salmon"

That move paid off, as I took another three salmon at Pool #3. I trashed my Ally's Shrimp with my forceps, so salmon #4 was caught on the next closest thing I had, a size 10 Cascade. I was losing light fast, so there wasn't time to change pools. That's ok, I was really satisfied with how the last 2.5 hours of the day went. Good fishing and good music...what more can you ask for?