FLY FISHING FALL TUNE UP!

                                  at Charlie Brown Campground

                                                         

The autumn is a great time to fly fish for Natchaug trout as the cooler water returns and river flows improve…

Bring your fly rod, reel lines and leaders and TEAM 7x will help you with the proper set up for fall trout fishing on the Natchaug and be ready for SPRING 2012!

No fly rod and reel yet?

TEAM 7x fly fishing instructors offer everyone a chance to cast all new SAGE rods and reels with full instruction. NON CAMPERS WELCOME AS SPACE PERMITS!  Contact us promptly!

Learn the basics of fly rod casting at NO CHARGE!

Beginners or Intermediate men or women welcome.

Young fly fishers age 10 or older welcome.

 Saturday, September 24, 2011

Pre-register now!

We’ll spend time on the basics of proper casting learn about equipment, and how we “match the hatch” on the beautiful Natchaug River. 

                          

Tom & Everett

 TEAM 7x

Team 7x offers private instruction and guided fly fishing on the Natchaug River.

Team_7x@yahoo.com    http://team7x.com  

                               

The spread of aquatic invasives:

Always clean your waders and boots after leaving these waters.

PROTECT THE NATCHAUG RIVER!

TEAM 7X recommends

Spray your waders and boots with TILEX Mold & Mildew Spray after leaving ANY waters and 24 hours BEFORE entering the Natchaug River.

For a more thorough process, clean your gear in a light bleach solution and THOROUGHLY DRY before re-entering ANY waterway.

DIDYMO (ROCK SNOT) has been found in Connecticut rivers!  This highly-invasive algae can destroy fish habitat and have a devastating effect on our trout!

ALSO:

PLEASE practice catch and release

DO NOT stress the trout by overplaying, especially in warmer water!

SPONSORED BY: 

 TEAM7x  “Evenings on the Natchaug” guided fly fishing; individual and group fly fishing instruction.

http://team7x.com                                                    email:  team_7x@yahoo.com

IRENE arrives!

The Natchaug is 7 + feet and 2800+ cfs as TS Irene departs the area.  We needed some water in the Eastern Connecticut rivers but...geesh!  This should help refresh the rivers with much needed cooler water and set us up for some fine fall fishing.  Our friends at Charlie Brown Campground no doubt had a few anxious moments; we'll be checking conditions this week and sure hope all is ok!

The Natchaug top 12! Now Available

NEW! Now offering the Natchaug River top 12 flies! These TEAM7x patterns are our proven "go to" patterns for the Natchaug and equally effective on all CT freestone rivers and streams. Only $14 for a dozen hand tied quality dry and emerger patterns...complete with descriptions and tips on where, when and how! Order now!

Friday on the Farmington River

Friday 7/8, cloudy, overcast, most of the day but fine conditions for rising trout on the best game in town these days.  With the low and warm water conditions in most of the freestones, the Farmington remains steady in cold and clear water release from the dam.  BWO's, and a few caddis early led to rising fish in the usual spots and early on I managed a fat 17+ inch brown on a soft hackle pasted up.  I had been on the river Monday for a few hours and knew where this gal was, haven risen her but missed then.  After a slack period, sure enough, the early afternoon brought the flotilla of minature sailboats...NEEDHAMIs!!


A size 22 did the trick on several nice fish and a bunch of no-hook-ups as it's always a challenge trying to stick the big Farmington browns on a size 22! (ON 7X OF COURSE) Watch closely for the subtle rises to this tiny dun, the bigger fish are far from splashy when on this offering.

See Grady at Up Country for the right needhami patterns.  Later around 6:00pm we took nice fish on Isonychias, size 14 as the trout began looking for this larger offering.  Heavy rain hit shortly thereafter, wiping out most of "prime time."


The levels, flows, clarity and temps on the Farmington are perfect with plenty of overlapping hatches producing lots of rising fish.

Simms announces a return to felt!

Interesting that Simms has taken a lead in reintroducing felt soles.  We at TEAM7x are taking proper precautions with our felt soles and encourage everyone to do so.  This is good news for the safety of wading fly fishermen and women everywhere.  We have heard no one  with on stream experience tell us that the rubber based wading shoes are in any way equal to or safer than felt.  We welcome your opinions either way, but we're STICKING with felt and studs!  See the Simms 411 here...

Fly Fishing Benefactors SNAKE I Fly Reel

The SNAKE I reel from Fly Fishing Benefactors is a great reel at at great price.  Lightweight, smooth with a nice responsive sealed drag system, it accommodates a Cortland 4.5 weight line on a Sage 4 wt. XP just perfectly.  Cortland has discontinued the half-weight lines, but the new AVID line from RIO is very similar in design.  Everett  of TEAM7x is very impressed with this new offering from RIO.  The inexpensive spare SNAKE I spool carries a 4 wt. Cortland Sylk for a 3 wt. custom 9 footer or an Orvis Superfine 4 wt.  The thin, supple Sylk line seems to perform better a weight over; i.e. a 4 weight line on a 3 weight rod especially with a faster rod like the Sage XP.

I'm very impressed with the SNAKE I.  It is nicely machined, a great color and competes with the Lamson Litespeed weight-wise.  Although spec'd for a 3 or 4 weight line, I see no reason why it would not carry a 5 weight line with perhaps a bit of trimming on the running line end.  Best of all, FFB donates a portion of it's profits to several great causes!  Check out their other offerings or give Carl a call at FFB, he'll be glad to assist you with any questions.

 Note the porting on the spool which helps to remove weight.  The spool knob  (above) will NOT fall off in your hand when changing spools.  FFB has a great video on their site that highlights the features of the SNAKE I.  They also offer some good deals on lines/leaders and accessories.