For those who live in Connecticut and want to hear me give a presentation, I will be giving a video and photo talk on how to catch trophy brook trout and my top fly fishing spots in New England on Wednesday, November 6th for NPTU (the local chapter of Trout Unlimited) at the Beacon Falls Sr Center 57 North Main Street Beacon Falls CT 06403 at 6:30. and Thursday, Nov. 7th at the Housatonic Flyfishing Club at Wallingford Recreation Department, 6 Fairfield Blvd, Wallingford, CT 06492 at 7 pm.

For the seventh time in ten years, October so far has been far warmer than normal. Daily temperature records are being broken by 5 degrees or more. In central Maine, we have had one frost and one frost only as I write this. Of course, it has been very dry as well with only a few rainstorms in the last several months. Some small streams are very low. It would be much worse if it was still the growing season.

For lakes, ponds, and rivers with adequate flow, the fishing has been very good with water temperatures staying above 50 degrees. I have seen more rising trout this month than I saw in May. My son-in-law and I have caught rainbows, browns, brook trout, and landlocks on streamers, nymphs, and dries. The fish have been new stockers, holdovers from the spring, wild, and multiyear holdovers.

I have been neglecting other priorities to go fishing. I keep saying, ” I have to go fishing today because it is sunny and 70 degrees. Then the next day dawns with the identical weather so I go fishing again, and so on. Not only has the weather been stellar, but the foliage colors have been stunning this year after a few off years, and the leaves have stayed on the trees a long time because of the lack of rain or strong wind.

Of course, for us gardeners the warm weather has meant ridiculously late harvests. This week I picked cucumbers and beans alongside cold weather crops like swiss chard, radishes, carrots, cabbage, and leeks.