Saturday, August 28, 2010

Fishing News

I fished the wood today on the section downstream from the check station. After the rain the river has come up slightly with an improved flow and temps in the mid 60's. I saw extremely limited insect activity on the water(primarily small caddis flies). I didn't see fish rising till I got below the fast water section. My recommendation for fishing during the mid-day period would be either terrestrials or small soft hackles with 5x or lighter tippet


John

Monday, August 23, 2010

Fishing News

First for the news we have all been waiting for, as I write this it is raining out and the forecast is for at least another day of rain. I have to admit that I didn't realize how dry it had become until I checked conditions on the Farmington and saw a stream flow of just over 100 cfs. Anyway depending on how much rain we get the chapter should finally be able to schedule our long delayed float stocking. On another note we are still planning on the project to repair the stairs on the Falls and the Wood for sometime in September. We will keep you informed


John

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Thoughts

Recently I have been thinking about how TU should be looked on by it's members and more importantly by the public as a whole. There is a large group within TU that believe we shouldn't be closely associated with fishing, instead acting like every other conservation group in the country. After giving it much thought I can't go along with this idea. TU was formed 50+ years ago by a group of fisherman in Michigan with the sole goal of protecting the local streams they fished, and by doing this maintaining if not enhancing their fishing. So join me in embracing the heritage of fishing that TU was founded on and that made it the strong group we know today.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Trout fishing

Fishing is still slow here in RI. With low water levels over the majority of the Wood, the only fishable areas are the deeper pools where the fish can find cooler water down deep. While the weather forecast for the next week is calling for moderations in temp there is still no rain in the immediate future. On the bright side, guys who have gone to fish the Farmington are reporting good fishing on small flies(tricos in the AM) with light tippet(7-8X). So there is a possibility for those who enjoy technical fishing with the real possibility of breaking off a big fish.


John

Thursday, August 5, 2010

The Wood

Lately I have been thinking on our chapters role on protecting and enhancing the fishery on the Wood. While I know a few people will violently oppose this idea, I believe the greatest protection for the Wood is people fishing and enjoying it. If we are to accomplish any projects of significance, the most important thing that is required is bodies on the ground willing to do the hard work. More importantly is there is a large group of anglers in this state whose goals and wishes are opposed to ours. There is only one way we will combat this, and that is to have a significant membership that will communicate our wishes to the state. In short I believe that actions which will deter fisherman especially young ones from the Wood is at best counter-productive at worst extremely harmful.

John

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

I'd like to see

Lately with the low water levels and continued lack of rain making fishing at best difficult, I have found myself thinking about the future and things I would like to see. First I would like to see more streams and rivers statewide that are fish able for the entire summer. Does this require the continued efforts in dam removal on the Blackstone or just identifying suitable water and increasing the stocking efforts? To be honest I'm not sure if either of these are feasible or even if they will work, but I'm really just thinking out loud here. But the thing I would really like to see is an increase in the number of younger members at our meetings. I believe that this is the single most important factor in TU's growth and continued strength in the future. Sadly I have no idea how to accomplish this, at least not without help. So if anyone knows a young person who might be interested in our work please invite them to a meetings. Thanks for your time

John

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Thoughts

I fished the Wood this afternoon downstream from the check station to just below the fast water. First the good news, the recent stretch of cooler temps have helped the water temps considerably. The bad news is we still could use a good soaking rain due to the low water levels in most areas. I didn't manage to catch anything although there were sporadic rises for small to medium size ants brown in color. Oh well at least I managed to work up a good sweat.


John