Hi families!
We're still out here doing it! Fishing has been awesome and the group vibes have been even better! We're having a blast -- read our daily diary for some details about how we've been spending our days.
Day 5: The boys jumped out of their tents bright and early, ecstatic to get moving to our next campsite. We quickly cooked up some sausage links to fill the stomach, and made our way to the gas station which brought the group much excitement. Today was very much a reset day for the group. We had goals to complete laundry and check out some cool fly shops before we settled into our new camp. At the start of the drive, we allowed all of the boys to pick out their favorite snacks and drinks for the 45 minute drive, and Kai shocked most of the group with his "Cinnamon Toast Crunch Iced Coffee", which obviously was delicious. The buzz around the group was at an all time high when we played the song game. Each member of the group wrote a name of a song that they wanted to hear, and folded the piece of paper and placed it into a hat. William took all of the songs and queued them up into Spotify randomly. After every song, we would pause the music and discuss to try and figure out who chose each song. It was a great way to keep everyone engaged and hear some new music for the first time. After picking up some new groceries to load up for the new campsite, we headed to the laundromat and all of the boys were able to clean and dry their disgusting smelling dirty clothes. While the clothes were washing and drying, the group headed to a fly shop. Tucker, Kai, Ashton, Max and Jack all purchased a different selection of popular flies for the area, Barclay and Beckett got great looking longsleeve fishing shirts, and Aiden got a cool yellow hat with a trout on it! After exploring around town, the laundry was done and the group headed back to pick it up. We then arrived to the new campsite where we safely spotted a black bear in the woods around camp. The rest of the day did not include any fishing, but was a great opportunity for the group to get re-centered. We set up camp, told stories, ate some brats, and hung out around the campfire. Since the group was so into the game, Mafia, we have enjoyed playing, Mikey wanted to step up and be the narrator for the evening. Cade and Michael were targeted from the start, and somehow some way managed to get away with nobody knowing they were the Mafia in both games that Mikey narrated. After listening to some music, playing some games, and telling stories about our hometowns around the campfire, we called it a night to get some rest to fish a new, unexplored water, the Farmington River!
Day 6: After a restful night at our second campsite, we all eagerly woke up ready to hit some new water. The Farmington River. Located in Connecticut, we were thrilled to specifically target some beautiful trout. After a quick cereal breakfast, we headed to the local fly shop once again to pick up some essentials. We then made our way to our initial spot on the Farmington. The fishing started pretty slow, but quickly after, Aiden was able to land a great 14 inch rainbow trout on a streamer! He was fishing through some really fast water and worked the streamer perfectly on his first cast in that hole to land that fish. The rest of the morning fishing wise was particularly slow for the entire group. Around noon, the boys hunger began lingering so we took the trail back up to the van where we enjoyed our pre-packed PB&J's and turkey and cheese sandwiches. We loaded back into the van and began to explore different spots on the map to try and find a spot with more hungry trout. We spent the rest of the first half of the afternoon at this beautiful spot with many different creeks and side channels that split amongst the main stretch of the river. Gavin and Jack spent a good amount of time hammering this one great looking hole "nymphing." After multiple different looks and takes, unfortunately, it was like these fish were teasing us and wouldn't fully commit to anything. While much of the group was fishing, it was awesome to see Mikey exploring and looking around for frogs and other creatures around the stream. Quickly after his luck, many of the boys began doing the same. Because the fishing was so slow, many of the boys became impatient, but Max stayed determined. Looking for audibles, we knew our best bet was to seek a hatch later in the afternoon. Around 4:30-5, Max and William saw a very subtle rise underneath this tree hangover in some shaded, slow running water. From that moment, Gavin and Max never looked back and patiently worked hard to catch this fish. 30-40 minutes later, and after changing to many different dry flies, Max slammed a very, very nice brown trout. He fought the fish perfectly, and after a successful net job by Gavin, the group lit up in excitement and gathered around this beautiful 16-18 inch, fat, brown trout!! We were able to take a great photo with the majority of the boys in the frame around this fish. We decided to end the day of fishing on a high note, and made our way back to the van and headed back to camp. Beckett and Barclay took charge in cooking up some delicious burgers seasoned to perfection that the entire group devoured. Wow those were amazing. It is crazy to see how close this group of boys have become in just six days, and the story telling and laughter only came more and more. We spent the rest of the evening hanging around a campfire, continuing to play our favorite games as a group and hit the sack ready for an action packed day with hopefully some better fishing the next day!
Day 7: Today's agenda looked very different from the other days we have spent so far in western Mass and CT, but today was definitely one of the best days we have had on this trip so far. We decided it was best to take a slow morning, where we hung out, listened to music, and collectively cooked up an amazing breakfast including sausage, eggs, and english muffins where the boys created and personalized their own breakfast sandwiches. We decided to do something different today, and took the boys to a really cool entertainment place. We played an exhilarating game of laser tag where the "Blue Team", consisting of Beckett, Barclay, Ashton, Jack, Aiden, Cade, and William took down the "Red Team" with Joe, Gavin and the other boys in a very tight competition. We then enjoyed an hour of bowling where Beckett and Tucker performed at a high level, and Mawson gave us a demonstration of his skills he'd built up previously on the bowling team for his school. It was a great way to have some quick fun, and do something a little different for the afternoon. After laser tag and bowling, we headed back to camp and ate a late lunch with yes, again, cold cut sandwiches. We turned around quickly and headed to the same section of the Farmington River to do some fishing for the late afternoon and the evening. The group had hoped to get on some more fish than we did the day before, and that's exactly what we did. Beckett, Barclay, Aiden, Ashton, Kai, and Mikey instead decided to explore the river and hang out and talk. On the other hand, the rest of the group continued to grind through a tough river this time of year and did amazing. Because we arrived to the river around 5, it was perfect timing when it came to the hatch. There was an INSANE sulphur and caddis hatch going on, and bugs were getting demolished on the surface of the water by rising trout nonstop. We found a very fishy hole down stream where Jack, Cade, and Tucker all took turns and went 3/3 on catching aggressive, pretty brown trout on dry flies. It was great showing these boys how when it comes to dry fly fishing, patience is key, and staying composed leads to more fish. That hole eventually was hammered to the point where we switched spots. Joe took Max and Jack downstream and was able to land three sweet 8-12 inch browns on dry flies, and William and Gavin took the other crew back upstream to the same spot Max landed that fish yesterday in aims of some giants. It was absurd how many fish were rising and hungry, and man, these fish drove both Gavin and William crazy. Gavin worked very closely with Mawson to try and get him a nice brown, but luck was just not on our side. They had multiple fish come up and swipe on Mawson's flies, but every time we set the hook, the fish spit the fly. These large fish are just so picky, and picking the perfect fly is almost impossible. We tried many different sizes, colors, and kinds of flies, and were having some sort of luck on each one. Unfortunately, these fish were just not fully taking the flies so we headed back to the van at dusk. Once we got back to camp, it was late, but the energy was still high. It took us a little while, but after getting the water boiled, the crew cheffed up some mac and cheese and enjoyed it after a long day of adventure. The group discussed how excited they were for the beach, so after dinner, we made our way to bed for an earlier wakeup before heading to the Cape!
Day 8: We woke up with much excitement to make our trek on over to the Cape! After cleaning up camp and having a quick cereal breakfast, we loaded into the van from our second campsite and hit the road. As we were pulling out, we saw a pretty large sized black bear crossing the road! Everyone was fascinated and enjoyed watching the bear do its thing. After stopping at the gas station for fuel and some snacks to hold us over, we began jamming out to some music and the energy was up. We pushed the drive about 2.5 hours before we made our first stop at the Bass Pro Shops in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Bass Pro was located right next to Gillette Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, which was pretty cool to see in person especially because many World Cup games are being played there. Once we arrived to Bass Pro Shops, we explored around the store where many of the boys bought some cool looking shirts. It was amazing to see all of the wildlife they had in this top tier Bass Pro, and especially cool getting to see some HUGE trout in the fish tanks. We then made our way over to the Fly Fishing section where we loaded up on some saltwater essentials, while also managed to purchase saltwater licenses for the 16 year old boys. Next, we hit the road and made one final push before reaching our next campsite located in Cape Cod. Once we arrived, the boys were eager to check out the beach, and the guides were eager to explain and demonstrate what the fishing would look like in the final stretch of the trip. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty nasty, with rain and fog taking over. We explored the beach, scouted some spots, and the boys had a great time seeing some new water. We then drove to the local grocery store to pick up some firewood and dinner for the evening. Because it was raining, the team worked together to create a canopy where we were able to cook our dinner over. We enjoyed some chicken flavored ramen along with some tasty hot dogs before the boys made it to bed. That meal was for sure one of the fan favorites of the trip so far, and everyone went to bed pleased. This final stretch of the trip is going to be amazing. While the fishing is very difficult, we hope the boys become determined to push through and land some awesome striper. Luckily, the weather is looking much better the rest of the week, and we can't wait to attack these next upcoming days!!
You'll hear from us one more time as the trip is getting ready to wrap up. It'll be a bummer, but we're going to have a ton of fun these final few days. Until next time!
Best,
Gavin, Joe, William
