Old brings new

I had literally 10-15' to hit a local stream today.  Just slipping it into my work day.  On went a trusted friend, an old calf tail royal coachmenesque streamer - #12 - that has always been a native finder for me.  This particular one though has just worked amazingly for so long.  The head is falling apart, the body has come undone... But it's caught more fish than I could count and managed to escape far to many snag's for any one fly... and it just keeps working.    That is the comfort of something old...

This stream flows into a major river here in MA.  That river once turned green or red or blue - depending on what color the paper mills were turning out that day.  The little stream comes off a steep hill which is home to other, more well known brookie streams... But those flow mostly through forests to the big river... This one drops into town, and it's final couple miles pass auto shops, factories, road ways, housing complexes etc.    You can get a sense from the debris that this is not your stereotypical "native" stream.  It's a darn good one though :)  Normally the fish I catch here come from that point top right, which funnels the current into a little trough.  But today, that root ball on the left was the spot...

I drifted a fly through the pool a few times with no follows or takes - that I could see at least.  First drift into the root ball and I saw this guy dart out, fin's flared and inhale the streamer.  A brief fight, and he was in hand.  Typical of this very clear stream, he was fairly blue and not overly colorful like some brookies from more tanic waters... still a beauty of a wild fish for sure!  And my first fish of the year, a new beginning!

 Enjoy getting out there folks!

Will