Tangled Lines tackles the hard questions

Tangled Lines tackles the hard questions
Andrew Corrigan shows how to keep a low profile on a brook trout stream. 
Photo by Patrick L. Sullivan

Let us open the Tangled Lines mail bag and see what’s on offer.

It’s been so cold and rainy that instead of fishing I am watching documentaries about secret societies. I even joined an order of guys who call themselves Templars. Am I going crazy?  Linus J. Scrimshaw, Perth Amboy, N.J.

Be of good cheer, Linus. Or at least as cheerful as a guy named Linus can be. Yes, the Housatonic has been too high to wade lately. And yes, that was the case for much of 2022. But bear in mind that the state put 18,000 trout in the upper Housatonic Trout Management Area (between Cornwall Bridge and the Salisbury/Falls Village line) last year, and another 9,000 recently, and none of these fish have experienced the standard Housatonic summer doldrums of high water temperatures and low flows. At some point the flow is going to come down, and there will be a LOT of active trout going after the same food, and flies. So tell your fellow Templars about this at the next meeting, and maybe they’ll lighten up. P.S. Never mind the drain in the floor of the secret chamber.

I really like the idea of fishing little blue lines for wild brookies, but every time I try I spend all of my time getting hung up in the trees.  Plus I can’t find the streams you talk about. What should I do? Melvin Potzrebie, East Quahog, N.Y.

Melvin, part of your problem is you are treating the small stream the same way you approach a river. Think in terms of visiting neighborhoods. Start with a nice-looking plunge pool. Fish it hard and fast, and if nothing happens, move on.

In close quarters, get out of the habit of rearing back with a full backcast. Instead approach the stream from the sides, rarely getting out into the water at all. Keep the rod in front of you, and learn to execute sidearm, backhand and snap casts. And keep a low profile. Wild brook trout are almost suicidally eager to take flies, and equally skittish when they get a glimpse of an angler.

You don’t necessarily need a short rod for this, although anything over 8 feet is going to be a pain. You do need a rod with a little heft to it — a 4 or 5 weight that can turn over a weighted fly and still land softly enough to fish a dry without a fuss.

As far as finding the streams, get a De Lorme atlas for your state and pore over it. See those little blue lines? That’s why we call this kind of fishing “blue-lining.”

Exploring the streams is hit-or-miss, emphasis on the latter. But when you find one, and catch a couple of wild beauties, while noting the absence of beer cans and styrofoam bait cups, you will be happy. And don’t tell anyone.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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