Hope everyone enjoyed the good weather. I got to see my friends little girl pull in her first fish, which ended up being a 13" bass. The sunnies and gills weren't cooperating in midday when we finally got to go, but a few bass did. Her Dad had a good time, and enjoyed the fishing , too. He picked it up very quickly and can probably take her on his own, now. Yesterday evening I went to a Vt. river that has more wild than stocked, and is usually hit or miss by June for the planters. This fat  wild brown hit a swung pheasant and partridge soft hackle (I do the same thing for trout as I do salmon and steel, only on a smaller scale) and put up a great fight for a 16" fish. The tail was pretty large on it and it took some good runs.  I looked around at the river, which is very picturesque in the stretch I fished and  was glad I went. It's getting harder to remember winter.Attachments are not available: Download requirements not met
 

Excellent.  I took a ride to the Housatonic Thursday afternoon but the river was still roiled and running near 1500 CFS, too heavy for my liking.  I did notice some bugs on the water, yellow sallies and caddis.  I hope to try again later this week provided the T-storms don't dump too much rain.

That is a very nice Brown Charlie,I know you handled better than HT did his.

Back at ya Charlie, that is a beauty !! Love the shoulders and what a whale tail, deep long runs they do. The bows I got were aerial and tired themselves out quick.
Kudos for taking a father and daughter fishing as well and from the sounds of it even uglyfish got in on the action
Yup, winter is becoming a fading memory .. Good to hear and see folks are out fishing... How boutcha Db & Tb .. get some boys !! I know Clint is  :)
 
Long, don't like Mondays at work: Till the next adventure , cant wait for the report Charlie
 
 

that is one heck of a brown Charlie nice job!

My season had been a bust, a total of 5 fish, landed until Sunday night.  Bugs have been s[potty , most fishers in WNY were beginning to believe the mergansers had wiped out all the trout in the local honey hole, Oatka Creek, as well as Spring Brook, site of the Caledonia fish Hatchery.  Spring brook is pretty much cleaned out, even the sticklebacks were impacted, but Oatka had enough ice cover to hamper the birds, which would normally winter on Lake Ontario or the Finger Lakes, but all were frozen over.  I had spent many evenings watching a rise here and a rise there, with maybe a 10 minute flurry right at dark for the spinner falls.  Friday, I drove out, got geared up, walked to the stream and got in, and got blown right out by a t-storm and deluge.  So I was not optimistic when I competed chores around 5:30 PM Sunday and took the `1/2 hour drive.  I got down to the stream at about 6:30, and immediately regretted not leaving earlier.  The long flat that greets the arriving angler was alive with rise forms, many very frequent and regular, a dry fly fishers; dream.  I had a 16 parachute sulpher on my six weight.  I could not see anything on the water,  but now is sulpher time, and this payed off well.  When the hatch slowed down I had missed about a dozen and landed 6 others, a couple around 12", respectable fish in the no kill Wild fish section of the stream.   The lull lasted about a half hour, during which I switched to a 2 weight with an 18 rusty spinner, but this was not the ticket.  As the intensity picked up, and from the frequent relaxed rises, obviously for spinners, I was not scoring, so I switched back to the six with the 16.  The fish didn't care that the parachute was, by the book, a dun pattern; and I rose another half dozen and managed to hook two, the second being a nice 16"er,  As it was too dark to see and the sounds said the fish were sated, and I am still attending work on weekdays, I headed home.  Of course, now that the switch has been thrown, it has rained every PM, and the flow is up to where dry fly fishing is less than productive.  Maybe this Friday night!    

Got rained  (showers and replacing windows don't mix) out yesterday afternoon, so I took a long   walk through a series of cornfields and got into a  secluded, rarely fished spot on the Battenkill. Got a couple of holdovers of 15 and 17 and some smaller models. Was very happy to see young-of -the -year  browns, too. If I'm gonna catch some dinks, these are the ones I like to see. The deluge and wind just started as I got back to the truck. Would have been worth the soaking. I keep seeing ghosts as I fish. All the memories from friends now gone, and the changes to the river make me feel a little strange when I fish my home river. I always wondered why some of the older guys I know stopped fishing it, when at one time they hit their favorite pools like clockwork. Now, I think I understand. 
Get that boat out to the big water, HT. I want to see some real fish.

Charlie what the storms do to the Battenkill last night? We got it bad here in saratoga.

High and stained.

Thanks you saved me a trip till Friday night or Saturday morning. Let me know if your interested.