Naugatuck Report: October 2024

 

Carter's Bug (sz. 8) and Salmon

Boy it's DRY out here. Bone dry. The last time the water was this low was back in 2016. I look forward to our local salmon fishery pretty much every fall, however, it's pretty hard to get excited about fishing when the river is this low. I like swinging wet flies and tubes on a two-handed rod, but I don't need to fish a two hander to have fun. I honestly don't have a preference between a single-handed rod and a two-handed rod. That said, it would be nice to have a bit of current to work with. I'm not crazy about frogwater Atlantic salmon fishing, regardless of tackle. 

Despite the conditions, it hasn't been all doom and gloom. This season's silver lining has been how amped up the salmon have been to dry flies. I have caught plenty on dries in the past, but this is the first season where I've actually had more action on dry flies than wet flies/bucktails/tubes. I realize the weather will get cold and the dry fly fishing will end but, as of last week, they're still willing to play ball with dry flies. 

I've been using two dry flies this season: The Carter's Bug (as tied by the late great master, Bryant Freeman) and the Newfoundland Bee Bug (pattern below). All the action I've had on dries this season so far has been on flies sizes 8 and 10. 

Welcome bycatch 

The other bit of excitement was catching a really nice brown. This fish was actually laying in some of the little bit of current actually there now. The trout ate a size 10 Cascade, which happens to be the only wet fly with which I've caught a salmon so far this season (lost one on a size 12 Ally's Shrimp). As soon as I felt it tug, I knew it was a big brown and not a salmon. It put a heck of a bend in my 9' 6wt rod. One salmon landed on the Bee, one lost the Bee, one landed on the Cascade, plus this brown on the same Cascade. That was a really good day! 

Anyway, back to the dry flies...I'll post the recipe for the Bee Bug below. Both it and the Carter's Bug are fairly simple ties...much easier than tying Bombers or the deer hair bodied Wulff Bombers so popular in Quebec. Try them out and let me know how you do! 

The Bee Bug in action

Newfoundland Bee Bug

Thread: Black

Tail: Black deer hair

Body: Alternating bands of black and yellow deer hair, spun and clipped 

Hackle: Brown, palmered the length of the body