TUER's RETURN VICTORIOUS

August 20, 2009 - Locals Trout Unlimited chapter members, Jack and Paul Bakstran, Phil Horowitz and Dr. Steve Smith returned conquering heroes from their recent pilgrimage to the great American west. While the group has made the trip a yearly ritual, they would be exploring some new water in this 2009 version. They spent the entire week with Twin Bridges, Montana serving as a base camp and focused their attention on the Ruby, Jefferson, Big Hole and Beaverhead Rivers as their venues. The highlight? A stunning 23" brown trout that was persuaded into consumption by Dr. Steve Smith on the Jefferson River. Unsure of the fly selection but a memorable trophy nonetheless.

QUABBIN
The Quabbin Reservoir opened to general boat traffic on Monday. August 17th slightly ahead of schedule. The impoundment was originally closed due to the discovery of zebra mussels in a nearby lake, and fearing the spread of this dreaded nuisance was closed to all boating (except to those renting MDC boats). You are now free to trailer your own craft when fishing the res.

THE FARMINGTON
As predicted water levels have significantly subsided during the previous week however we are now plagued by the heat of the summer (finally!). Many anglers are reporting that the bulk of the action is occurring during late afternoon and early evening hours. Larry Bush recently visited the watershed and reports that, with the exceptions of about a 25-minute period later in the day, fishing remains challenging at best. Your best bets should be BWO's #22-#24 (emergers and drys), black ants #20 and darker caddis patterns #18.

BUCKETS
It was nice to visit with veteran longrodder, Armand Cochaine recently, and in spite of some pretty oppressive weather conditions, he has been experiencing stellar action on various local impoundments. An avid bass bugger, Armand has been practicing his craft within minutes of his residence with LM bass in the 3-5lb. range not uncommon.

Good fishing and safe wading,
JB