Today was Free Fishing Day in CT - - you needed a license to fish, but you could order it online for free - - so I drove down this morning and fished the Farmington most of the day.
Nearly ideal weather - - sunny, blue skies, pleasant temps (about 70) - - but a little on the "breezy" side.
On the drive down, I saw two turkeys, and shortly after I arrived I saw a great blue heron,
I fished in Burlington from about 10:45 AM to about 1 PM.
There were a lot of fishermen out, but for whatever reason no one seemed to be doing much.
Next, I drove down to Unionville and did a bit better - - landing four small- mouth bass and one brown - - before heading home around 2:45 PM.
On the way home, I stopped at the evocatively named Satan's Kingdom in New Harttord..
It's a State park/recreation area that I've passed a few times, and always wondered what it looks like, but never stopped there till today.
Since Satan's Kingdon is primarily known for tubing, I just planned to buy a postcard or grab a brochure and keigep going - - but, once I arrived, the water didn't look bad, so I figured "As long as I'm here anyway . . ." and tried a few casts.
After a few minutes, I felt the characteristic tap of a fish on my line, so I focused my next few casts on the same run, and a minute or so later was gratified to reel in my big fish of the day - - a 14" brown trout.
Continuing my journey home, I got cleaned up and my family took me out to AJ's Pub for Father's Day.
For some reason, the place was really packed - - I've always thought of Father's Day as more of a "cook out" than a "dining out" kind of holiday, so I wasn't really expecting it to be that busy.
There was a bit of a wait - - but my meal (the stuffed pepper special a pint of Switchback ale) was worth it.
Finally, we all headed home for me to open my Father's Day presents - - including (to end on an angling note) a new Fenwick (Black Hawk) spinning reel and a box of trout magnets.