Ftyer

Thank you! I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who went all in on Connecticut recently and I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I hope to. Realistically, and hopefully I’m not jinxing myself here, it seems fishy as hell…from solid saltwater to year round freshwater, it seems to have it all and I’m really excited to explore these waters in finer detail. I only know a bit about Connecticut, but have well over two decades of fly fisherman’s instinct and tend to have enough success to keep me going nearly anywhere I end up. There’s some repairs that need to happen to the house before we can move in (asbestos abatement being the main one), but if you’d like someone to spend some time on the water with, I’ve got nothing against that; having fishing buddies is something that’s always been important to me everywhere I’ve lived. I do expect to be there by the start of winter, and while freshwater takes a backseat to the salt for me, I am looking forward to checking out some of the state’s trout streams and then chasing some pickerel/pike in the early spring before the bass and other salty characters arrive.

For once in my life, I’ll finally have the space for a boat, so after I financially recover from the house, a boat is second. I’ve been a passenger on lots of boats, but just not sure what to buy for here yet. While I’d love a center console in the 21ish foot range, my bank account doesn’t love that idea as much. I was considering going the micro skiff route which would be more affordable and easier to tow, but again, not sure…if anyone has boat suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them as well.

Thank you both very much for this information. I’m happy to report that we’ve had the dog for a couple of years now, and man, I don’t think our current neighbors can fart without him telling us about it, which I’m thankful for. As for the cat, sadly, my better half is pretty damn allergic to them so it’s out of the question, but you do make a great point. I’m definitely excited to check this area out and it’s really looking like there’s some solid fishing to be had, both fresh and salt, which is good as the fresh can keep me occupied during the winter.

Honestly if you want super cheap and not a bad rod, I bought a Penn Battle 10 weight out of necessity for like $100 and I freakin love that thing. Casts way better than necessary, better accuracy than necessary, decent components, and an overall joy to fish with.

They actually performed very well, which I’m glad to hear. I haven’t gotten the exact number of fish caught on them yet, but I do know that at least 3 over 40” were caught on my flies. With that said, I was also told that Taimen fishing is akin to musky fishing in that the ratio of hooked fish to casts made is pretty outbalanced. And while the Game Changers and large T-Bones worked well, a Beast I tied for the trip (wasn’t photographed, since I tie many, many Beasts a year) was notably productive.

What Fergal said above is big time true, but what else I can offer is to watch Trident’s videos on both the Mushmouth and the Megamushmouth. What is detailed there comes from the mind of Dave Skok and works incredibly well, in my experience. And while that fly is a good choice, that technique extends far beyond just those two flies.

That reel has been used probably fewer than 6 times total. If there are any specific pics that you want, just let me know and I can take them. As for the line, it’s the Rio GT line, has a textured head, grain weight is for a 12 weight rod, but with that being said, it was around 120-130’ in length…I forget which one, but I cut it back by probably 20’ because it didn’t fit onto the reel. I can take pics of the line if you’d like, just let me know what you want to see on it. Reel is loaded with 30lb Dacron backing. In the few times I did use it, once was off a beach for bluefish, put exactly two fish on it, and then the second that I can remember was offshore in Florida for Albies—I caught several Albies on it with a 12 weight before defaulting to my Tibor and a 10 weight for the rest of the trip.

I’m in Long Island, about thirty minutes west of montauk. I’ve attached pics of the reel, but as I’m tying this, I’m realizing that the rod is At my parents house in Florida. I could have them ship it, but if you just want the reel you can have it for $500.

I have a redington predator 12 weight and a Hardy Fortuna Regent. Both are quite new, would sell the pair with a GT line and a whole lotta backing for $700.

So after roughly a year of finding a place to live, the lady and I finally settled on a house in the Hadlyme area. Thankfully, my job follows me, so that won’t be an immediate need. However, from the fishing/town perspective, I’m a little wet behind the ears. I see that I’m not far from what I can guess is good fishing in both fresh and salt, but I’m wondering if any of you long-standing Connecticuters have any words of wisdom before we embark—whether that’s fishing advice, general area advice, good advice, or anything else, I’m all ears. I appreciate any info.

Weighting a fly as needed is pretty commonplace. The benefit of tying your own flies is you get complete control over them, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with adding weight to these flies.

It’s actually not bad to cast for two reasons: 1. I’ve got it well weight-balanced (Mark Sedotti’s technique) with a lot more weight than you may expect up front. I’d suggest looking into Sedotti’s or Gunnar Brammer’s breakdown as it’s more thorough than what I’m about to say, but simply enough, focusing enough mass towards the front of the head of the fly makes it super easy to launch and overcomes the air resistance of the rest of the fly. Finding the perfect amount of weight requires trial and error and I use a gram scale to earmark the exact weight I need when tying flies of this size. 2. In spite of that fly being massive, it’s actually tied with very minimal amounts of material (for its size). The back half is all Big Fly Fiber, which has a curly base that instantly creates volume and then straight tips to provide taper and length. The rest of the fly is tied with dams made of Chocklett’s Body Tubing and Squimpish Hair. With the dams, you can use a lot less material to achieve very large proportions, and David Nelson’s Squimpish Hair sheds water very quickly and is quite light overall. Now, would I fish these flies with a 9 weight? I mean, sure, you could cast them with that rod, but at what cost? For me, I’d look into at least a 10 and likely an 11 weight rod, as I don’t mind sacrificing a bit of the fight to make a day of casting easier. Plus, with these fish being so rare, getting them in faster isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The guy fishing these flies will be using a fast-action 10 weight that has some serious balls and an appropriate line and taper. He’s also an excellent caster as is, so I don’t expect him to run into much of an issue.

What’s everyone’s verdict on how Lee will impact us mid this week into the weekend?

Whats the opinion a few days later? I’m still sort of thinking the storm is going to stay far out and offshore and have a mild to moderate for us solhorebound anglers, but I am far from a meteorologist…

Those in the picture were around 10” or so and tied on 6/0 Bluewater hooks. I would have used a trailer hook but the laws allowed only one barbless hook for the fishery (which I’m happy to see, personally). I tied some that weren’t pictured above with the hook in the rear, so I am curious to hear which performs better with these fish. Those prices definitely line up with what I would have guessed. Cheaper than a Beast but still expensive, however, the benefit to the Changer over the Beast, in my opinion, is that it’s easy to add a split ring and a hook if yours dulls, which greatly extends the life of the fly, especially if it’s tied/glued properly.