Unless there is beer involved!
Just Going to drop this here.
flyfishing
What now?
Now I will be tying flies for spring. I will start with streamers, because I may be able to use them at some of the places that are still open.
I found the fly on the bottom stuck on a branch on the streamside
New Water
I thought that I would try some new water today. The East Branch of the Saco is across the street from my house. I have not had any luck in the lower stretch by my house. Not a nibble. So I went upstream into the White Mountain Nation Forest. T picked a spot where Slippery Brook joins the East Branch. Rumor has it that this is a good spot for wild brookies. This is a little less than 5 miles from my house. I parked at a twin campsite that I will surely check out next spring. I started fishing slippery Brook heading downstream to the East branch of the Saco. I saw several grasshoppers jumping in the streamside rocks so I changed from a bead head prince to a hopper/dropper rig. The area looked very fishy but no fish came to hand.
I had no luck so I explored a bit. I traveled up stream a couple more miles to where the road crosses the East Branch. I found a little concrete damn that formed a bridge pool. I made a couple of dozen casts upstream into the pool with a dry /dropper. Again no luck.
The day turned out to be a good recon trip for the spring, but the lesson learned was don’t prospect during the marginal season for trout. Go to where you know there are fish.
Summer Trout
Unlike New Jersey trout season really never shuts down for the summer. Some rivers may get warm, but you just have to move upstream. Most rivers have their source up in the mountains. I never found water warmer than 64º. The reason I did not fish on hot days was that I was uncomfortable.
When I hit the mountain streams, the Ellis River being my favorite so far, I mainly caught wild brook trout. They are not big, but they are plentiful.
The Ammonoosuc River up by the Mount Washington hotel and downstream by Lower Falls, I did well drifting a big Royal Wulff dry flies or swinging a streamer. I had several double-digit days. When I say days I mean 2 hours after work.
Mainly fairly big stocked brookies with a few rainbows peppered in. I understand the state had a shortage of rainbow trout to stock this year. But I’m very happy with what I caught.
I am mainly a catch and release fly fisherman. However, I did take two home for the grill this year. One big stocked Brookie one big stocked rainbow.
Summer is over in New Hampshire!
I went out to fish today. Probably one of my last days in the official trout season. Just a couple more weeks left. It seems that weather and schedules conspire against me.
After a full day of downpours, which we need, fishing was tough. First I went and checked out the Ammonoosuc River up in Bretton woods. Checked a few places where I had done well though out the summer. All washed out. So I moved on to a new location in the Zealand Camp ground area in the White Mountain National Forest. The Zealand River is much smaller than the Ammo and a river I wanted to check out all summer but “you don’t leave fish to find fish”.
This is a beautiful area. I would love to camp here next spring. No fish. The water was still high for a small stream. I was battling high winds and temps in the low 40s. I tried my hand at a very small stream that comes down off the Presidential Range in Jefferson Notch. Mount Jefferson to be exact, Jefferson Brook. The weather had gotten worse. Fog or light rain the dirt road Jefferson Notch Road seemed to be getting slick. The stream is a high gradient pocket waterand water fall stream. I fished a few pockets. It was hard to get any kind of drift in the fast water. The weather got the best of me and I decided to move on and find some fishable water.
I move over to the East side of the Presidentials to Pinkham Notch. The weather was much better on this side of the mountains. Sunny scattered clouds, no rain or fog. It was like the mountains squeezed the rain out of the clouds on the west side. it was still a bit cold and the wind was gusting hard. I did really well here all summer, so I was optimistic. I started fishing where the New River comes into the Ellis River. The water did not seem as high and I could get some good drifts with a heavy tandem nymph rig. I fished down the river for about a quarter of a mile. Drifting my rig through every slot, pocket, and run I could. Not a tap. I tied on a Mickey Finn streamer and worked my way back upstream swinging that streamer through some of the pools and runs. No Luck. I decided to call it a day.
Finished up my day with a local Coffee porter watching the clouds drift by. Hopefully, I’ll be out again next week.
First fish of the year!
I find it amazing how different the Fisheries are here in New Hampshire compared to New Jersey. My buddies down in New Jersey have been posting tons of fish porn for about the last month and a half.
Things are just popping off here now as if someone flipped a switch. I hooked this beautiful brookie on about my second cast.
First day out this year!
I got out on the water for the first time this year. No fish, but I felt like I was fishing on a postcard card.
Trout Fishing is a bit different here.
Well, when I was in New Jersey, I could fish for trout pretty much all year round. Here in New Hampshire, to my surprise, the last day of trout fishing in the rivers is October 15th. My boss heard me say this and gave me a half day off so I could wet a line.
I fished two local streams, the East branch of the Saco River and the Ellis River, both to no avail. It was certainly nice to get out and feel the cool stream around my legs. I will certainly do some more exploring come springtime.
Wild Trout
I love fishing for wild trout. Most people don’t think of New Jersey when they think of wild trout, but I caught these beauties in a local stream. I’m told this stream has not been stocked in at least 30 years.
Tap 'n' Trout 