Every trip up here, there’s a stretch of cold and rain. It just comes with the territory.
That happened yesterday, which meant that fewer people were out on the river. It also meant you had to bundle up.
We hit a few spots within the Trophy Stretch, as well as below Murphy Dam. Regarding the latter, the water was high and very cold, given the expanse of Lake Francis above it. Bracing. We wanted to find some holdover and big browns that tend to congregate there, feasting on smelt that have washed through. We did find some rainbows, but the browns eluded us.
All in, we ended up catching a few dozen fish. The fish were stockies of the 2018 vintage, I am guessing, and, so, the high numbers aren’t as impressive as they may sound initially.
But, we had a great time.
The highlight of the day was an aggressive brook trout that leapt out of the water to take a Caddis I was bouncing. I’ve seen very few risers on this trip. The water has been 50 °F at the Trophy Stretch. There were no Caddis laying eggs, but why no simulate one, I thought?
Here is the fish. Not huge, but certainly one with chutzpah.
At night, we dined at Tall Timber’s Rainbow Grille. It is the best restaurant in the area, IMO. The best way to warm up after a cold day of fishing? Steak and smiles, all around, adding to a mental photo book of father-daughter fly fishing memories.
I’ve been up there a couple of times and the Rainbow Grille is definitely on the “must do” list for dinner (Breakfast is good too). Note that you don’t need to be staying at the Tall Timber Lodge to dine there. The food and service were top notch and while it’s been a couple of years since I last visited it sounds like that’s still true. It’s not cheap but it is worth it.
The tavern menu has some lower-priced options, too.
Yeah, I was actually thinking of making a trip to the headwater of the CT for some fly fishing later on this summer or very early fall. I was going to pitch my tent at the lake francis state camp ground. Do the trip for a couple nights on the cheap @$25.00 bucks for each night. The whole trip with campground, food & gas included would probably end up being just a couple hundred dollars which isn’t too bad for a weekend of non stop fly fishing fun.
Its been a few years myself since I’ve been up there as well………Phil
Have fun, if you go!
Great report Jo! I think the water coming out of Murphy’s is always much lower than 1st or 2nd.
Makes sense!