Epic Day on the “Housy” with @getthebite
I’ve been fishing the Housatonic River in northwest Connecticut for over two decades. The “Housy” is the river where I caught my first Smallmouth Bass on a fly rod. I had no idea back in 2001 that the river had anything other than trout. Through the 2000’s and into the 2010’s I fished the river year-round, for trout in the Fall, Winter and Spring, and smallies in the Summer. But I really never fully understood the river and how to fish it, until I went on a guided float with Bert Ouellette.
Bert is a Orvis-endorsed fly fishing guide with over 20 years of experience with drift-boat guiding on the Housy, West Branch Delaware and even the Farmington. The first time I went fishing with Bert was September 2015, and I’ve gone every year since then. I’ve taken float trips for Smallmouth and Pike, with some absolutely fantastic days. I’ve taken some of my TU buddies with me for Trout, Bass and Pike. We always have successful days on the river.
Yesterday, May 22nd, was no exception. The river flows were perfect for our float and water temps were in the mid-60’s even though the weather in the area had been unseasonably hot for a couple of days. We got an early start and were into fish right away, both smallies and trout. We predominantly nymphed for trout in the deep pools and runs, and then alternated by throwing my Gamechanger streamer against the banks for smallies. The Gamechanger proved to be the ticket for non-stop action. There was a 15 minute session in “Horse” hole that saw hookups on smallmouth every 3rd cast. We could clearly see most of the takes, seeing the fish engulf the gamechanger.
Fishing with Bert always is exciting and there’s always something wild that happens. There was Steve Varga’s 30” Pike on his 2nd cast in 2016. There was the September 2018 day when I caught five different species: northern pike, smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass and calico bass. I’ll never forget the 40” pike I caught in 2019 that had Bert more excited than me. And there was the epic float with my son and grandson in August of 2020. Was it wild yesterday? You bet! Right before eating lunch I was swinging a double streamer rig when something “heavy” hammered the end of my line. A few minutes later Bert netted a four pound largemouth bass, a Unicorn on that section of river. And then toward the end of the float, what turned out to be the last cast of the day, I hooked and landed a 20” rainbow. As Bert was releasing the fish, his net mysteriously slipped from his grasp. Panic set in as we saw the net sink to the bottom and begin to move downstream. Bert wasn’t about to let that net get away. He carries and extending pole with a hook on the end in his boat. That pole looks like it was designed to retrieve sunken guide nets. I could see the net on the bottom and after a bit of boat wrangling by Bert and my assistance in locating the net, Bert retrieved it with the pole.
We were off the water by 2:30 pm, but it felt like a full 8-hour float with fish numbers uncountable. By the feeling in my shoulder this morning it was somewhere between and thirty and forty fish day. It’s always a great day floating and fishing the Housy with Bert Ouellette. If you’re interested in a great day of fishing, either with a fly rod or a spining rod (above “Dun Rollin” hole), you should check out Bert on this website here. And if you don’t believe me about that big pike in 2019, here’s the proof.
Tight bines bring great adventures.
