In which we remind people not to litter

A mixed bag of fishing and fishing-related reports:

The state fish stocking trucks have been busy. The Blackberry River in North Canaan got the treatment again last week. I knew something was up when I caught a double of 12-inch brook trout right under the bridge at Beckley Furnace. 

The state publishes stocking info after the fact. So it is not unusual to find recently stocked spots full of anglers.

Unfortunately too many of these anglers leave a trail: cans, bait containers, coffee cups, hooks and tangles of line.

As litter it’s bad enough. But Tracie Shannon of Lakeville discovered a dead heron in Factory Pond in her town last week. The bird got itself caught up in a clump of line and drowned.

Shannon walks in that area frequently, and she often finds all sorts of fishing-related litter. 

There’s a gent who prowls along Lower Road in North Canaan, including Beckley Furnace, picking up trash. He always has a full bag or two by the end of his rounds.

I find a fair amount of stuff streamside, and I tend to fish farther off the beaten path than the average angler.

Fly-rodders tend to be better about this, but even they drop short sections of nylon or fluorocarbon tippet material without a thought. All you need is a small resealable plastic bag and the willingness to take the extra few seconds to put those snippets of tippet in it. 

A lot of people are taking advantage of the stay-at-home situation to improve themselves in some way. A new fitness regimen, a diet, re-reading Shakespeare …

Well, never mind Shakespeare. But why not add the familiar “If you pack it in, pack it out” to the list? 

Let’s face it: Cleaning up after yourself should be a default setting, not something that needs to be consciously adopted. 

Let’s not add to the COVID-19 stress by leaving a big mess in our natural recreation areas.

Meanwhile it rained. A lot. Every time the Housatonic River looks like it’s getting down to a wadeable level, boom: another inch of rain.

The little blue lines drop fastest after a storm, so it’s worth seeking them out a day or two after. 

A 7 foot 4 weight rod is a good tool for this sort of thing, and if it has a slower action, I recommend a double tapered line, which I find easier to manage at short distances and for tricky casts such as the water load or bow-and-arrow.

Little blue line fish generally respond to big and bushy dry flies and to substantial subsurface flies. My small stream box has Humpys, Stimulators, Parachute Adams, some heavy jig nymphs such as the Bread and Butter or Surveyor, some Princes and Hare’s Ear nymphs, and some soft-hackle wets to round it out.

And here is your handy-dandy tip for fishing little Blue Wing Olives on the Housatonic, if it ever gets down to a dull roar.

First, forget the size 22 and go with a size 18 BWO wet fly. Attach a small panfish popper to your tippet. (White is easiest to see.) Add some 5X tippet, between 18 inches and 3 feet, tied to the bend of the hook with an improved clinch knot, and tie the BWO to that.

This can be done by the seasoned  angler who is frustrated with tiny flies and gossamer tippets.

Fish this rig in your normal fashion. The wet fly travels in or right under the surface film, easy for the trout to identify and attack.

And if the white popper suddenly stops or disappears, well … you’ve probably got a fish on. Plus in the Hous, there’s an excellent chance of a small-mouth bass hitting the popper.