Greetings from Western CT!
Day 2:
Our first day on the water was impeccable, and we couldn't be more thrilled with this group and the start of the trip! We managed to land over 100 smallmouth bass today, with everyone contributing their fair share to that number. After a restful night following an exhausting travel day, the boys woke up with an immense amount of energy ready to hit the water. We enjoyed a quick breakfast, while also rigging some rod essentials and going over some foundational casting techniques to get prepared for the action packed day. Although the weather is hot and humid as it could be, the boys did a great job of remaining hydrated and fueled throughout the day! After some eager anticipation and excitement, we finally were ready to hit our first body of water, the Housatonic River. Luckily, there is a fantastic stretch of river that runs right behind our campground, so after all of the boys were set and ready to go, we split up into fishing groups and made our way down to the river.
Freddy set the tone for the morning by landing the first fish of the trip, a beautiful, chunky smallmouth bass! After that moment, the group never looked back! Jack C, or "JC" as the group has quickly begun calling him, had an epic moment for his first ever smallmouth of his life. While dealing with a tangle at the top of his rod, moments later a smallie attacked his fly dead drifting into a hole. It was crazy to watch, and such a unique and unexpected way to land your first ever smallie! As the morning continued, Freddy, Oliver, and Nate were all able to meet the double digit mark on their fish counts. They were absolutely tearing them up!
After the entire group continued to slay the fish, around 1, we decided to head back to camp and enjoy a lunch and shade break. After we finished up lunch, we headed back down to the water, but instead of fishing this time, we all took a dip and swam around to relieve the heat. Swimming was a ton of fun, and after some exploring from JC and Nate, they unfortunately came across a dead rainbow trout. Gavin took this moment and turned it into a valuable teaching lesson where he broke out his Wildlife Biology skills and explained the anatomy, history, and genetics of the rainbow trout, and even gave the boys a lesson on how to fillet a trout! Once we finished up swimming, we came back up to camp and played a fun game of ultimate frisbee where the team consisting of Jack, Jack D, JC (yes, we have 3 Jacks!!), Jasper, Hudson, and Gabe took down William, August, Sam, Nate, Rinn, Oliver and Freddy! This game was super competitive, and was an awesome way to mix things up and have a great time around camp. While competition was in the air, Gavin was graciously preparing dinner (pasta with red sauce and sausage). We enjoyed an early dinner, and decided to hit the river once again where the entire group was able to land more beautiful smallies, and cap off an awesome day on the water. We then headed back to camp, and the boys showered up before we debriefed around the fire and devoured some s'mores!
Day 3:
Today's agenda looked a little different than our first day on the Housatonic River here in Western CT. After taking down a quick breakfast around camp and packing lunches, the group piled into the van and made our way a couple of miles up the road to our boat launch. The majority of the crew hung out in the shade with William playing the games "Imposter" and "Mafia," popular fan favorites, while Gavin, Jack, and our wonderful LIT Nate picked up the canoe trailer. Early in the afternoon after the canoes arrived, the team paired up and hit the water. We found ourselves in a slower moving water stretch of the Housatonic targeting huge, but picky, pike and smallies! We cracked out the 8 and 9 weight rods with some beefy flies and made our way down the river. Unfortunately, after a long 3-4 hour beautiful float down the river, we were unable to get these giant pike to commit.
On the bright side, the boys had a ball spending time with each other on the canoes and the majority of the crew landed nice smallies. After the float, we made the trip back over to camp where we blasted some fantastic tunes playing the "song game." This game is a great way to get the entire group engaged, and get the energy flowing. Every boy is given the opportunity to secretly choose a song, that William queues into his Spotify. After every song played, the group tries as hard as they can to read body language, dance moves, and some "iffy" voices for sure! Afterwards, we all guess to figure out who played each song.
Once we arrived back to camp, we enjoyed a delicious dinner and continued to bond. We continued on with our daily campfire session, filled with laughs, stories, and smiles as wide as could be. This group is coming together great, and we couldn't be happier as guides. We look forward to finishing off our time here in Western CT and Mass on a high note. We plan on making the trip up to the Farmington River, to solely focus on eager, wild trout! The 4th of July is going to be an amazing time for the boys. We sure will be blasting some American jams throughout the day, and celebrate America's 250th birthday the right way before we head to the Cape!
Best,
Jack, Gavin, and William
