The weather has turned nice and fish are being caught. As has been commented in other NH blogs, it seems that the NH F&G has been remiss in stocking activities this year. Some key areas have seen no fish.
Several weeks ago, I was down on the Squannacook (MA) and luck was the order of the day as the stocking truck pulled up as I was arriving at the Cable Pool. For the next 2 hours, I caught over 40 fish - browns and brookies. Mass F&G do a great job as the browns were all 2+ lbs. Great fun.
I finally found the FFO zone on the Sugar River but no fish and this was on May 23. A little disappointing. However, the ponds seem to be getting a fair amount of fish. The fish we have been catching sem to be going for nymphs - Hare's Ear and BH Pheasant Tail. I have had good luck with Hornbergs, as well.
Water levels are getting uncomfortably low in some streams. Time to head to northern NH for a change of scenery.
Finally, the NH high school boys' lacrosse season is coming to a close. Playoffs start on June 3 at the top-seed home fields. I think we're headed to Hanover - a long drive.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
January Cold
It's a cold January with heavy rain forecast for the end of this weekend. 
As I drive around, I see lots of open water on streams and wonder if any trout are down below. Midges, nymphs? Size 20, 22? Slow, real slow?
I spend evenings catching up with my usual internet fishing sites: http://millersriverflyfishingforum.blogspot.com/, http://therustyspinner.blogspot.com/,
http://flyfishnewengland.blogspot.com/. It would seem that 2009 was successful for most. From the perspective of the purist, just being on the water anywhere is great. Bringing a trout to the net now and again adds the icing.
Winter fly tying is ongoing. Lots of beadheads - nymphs, Prince's, Hare's Ears. I like to tie the CDC caddis. Great on the water and a good buggy look. However, when they're gone by late spring, I go to the County Store in Milford where flies are $1.29. Good flies, great price. And for a hardware store, a very good selection of dries.
Here's to enjoyable fishing in 2010.
As I drive around, I see lots of open water on streams and wonder if any trout are down below. Midges, nymphs? Size 20, 22? Slow, real slow?I spend evenings catching up with my usual internet fishing sites: http://millersriverflyfishingforum.blogspot.com/, http://therustyspinner.blogspot.com/,
http://flyfishnewengland.blogspot.com/. It would seem that 2009 was successful for most. From the perspective of the purist, just being on the water anywhere is great. Bringing a trout to the net now and again adds the icing.
Winter fly tying is ongoing. Lots of beadheads - nymphs, Prince's, Hare's Ears. I like to tie the CDC caddis. Great on the water and a good buggy look. However, when they're gone by late spring, I go to the County Store in Milford where flies are $1.29. Good flies, great price. And for a hardware store, a very good selection of dries.
Here's to enjoyable fishing in 2010.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Batten Kill Browns
I ventured to the Batten Kill on Tuesday, September 29. It was early evening and chilly. Rain came and went early in the day. The river was at a good level and cold. The leaves were in full force on the water making any kind of dry presentation improbable. There was a good caddis hatch coming off but no risers.
Thinking of what to use, I remembered my first fly tying class five years ago that I took through Hunter's out of New Boston (Now Stone Creek Outfitters). The instructor was Dick Talleur. The two-day class was great and fun. One pattern we tied was the Morrish Mouse - a lesson in hair stacking and using foam. I have carried it with me for 5 years and decided to give it a go. On the first cast, the pictured brown exploded out of the water and took it. About 10 minutes later, I took the second brown, both about 14".
I was fishing on the NY/VT line off Rt. 313 - a great stretch of water. The Vermont Batten Kill closes October 30 while the NY side is open all year.
Batten Kill browns are always a challenge but two in one evening was great fun.
Monday, September 28, 2009
It's Fall!
Fall is arriving and the trout will be looking to go one more time before snow blows. Upcoming trips include the Pemi in October for the broodstock salmon. Always fun and the fish are lively. Depends somewhat on how and where NH Fish & Game stock both the Pemi and Merrimack, but normally, it is a good time.
Many trout waters close on October 15 in NH so a final trip to Sky Pond is in order with maybe a quick run to Profile. Out of the area visits will include the Battenkill & Mettowee in VT, Au Sable in NY, and Raritan in NJ.
Back In NH, we will visit both Lamprey and Cocheco Rivers and maybe some final striper action on the seacoast vis a vis waders.
We will update our trips as they happen. Battenkill tomorrow so I will post something later this week.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Swift and UMass
July 17 - My son and I left early afternoon to head to Amherst, MA for a 2-day lacrosse tournament. He was driving (for the first time ever) and since he did such a good job, time-wise, we headed for the Swift River.
It has been a few years since I was on the Swift and this time, there seemed to be many more visible fish than I remembered. Maybe the extended high water mentioned from other posts has contributed to the early season low catch rates, but the number of fish was impressive.
We parked near the Rt. 9 bridge and walked up towards the Y-Pool Any place we stopped, we saw fish in the river. There were a total of 9 fishermen spread along the river. We got to the Y-Pool and the fish were everywhere. As we watched one gentleman, he threw a #18 dry and hooked into a nice rainbow.
We headed back to the car and stopped to look at another flyer just south of the bridge. Where he was standing there were no less than twenty trout in front of him. Then I saw the Swift River trout I remembered well - not one taker on anything he offered.
I am now looking forward to heading back to the river to try my luck. As an aside, my son's team went 4-1 at the tourney.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Catching up on Some Fish Tales
It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been out there pulling in some fish. I’ve been out three times since my last post so I’ll try to catch you up quickly.
June 20th
I went out on my own to see what I could catch in the way of a few fish. To say it was somewhat of a frustrating day would be an understatement! Have you ever been out there with fish jumping all around you but for some reason they just won’t hit what you’re throwing out there for them? Well that is what this trip was for me. Seriously, at one point a fish almost got tangled in my floating line but still didn’t hit what I had out there. No, really, I had just cast a fly out there and a fish jumped about a foot away from it, landed on the tippet and nearly got tangled in the leader but nothing, and I mean nothing, would hit my fly. Another thing, many of you may know the feeling but do you have any idea what it’s like trying to tie on a fly with fish jumping all around you? Frustrating, trust me!
In any case, I finally started getting some action with a fly I made up one day at the bench. I’m sure there is a name for it but I have no idea what it is. I tied a few of them on various hook sizes ranging from 12 to 18. Basically it has a yellow quill body, beige rabbit fur thorax, dirty red hackle wrapped around it with a mallard wing. It kind of looks like a small hex fly but not if you know what I mean. In any case, that’s what they hit and it took about 12 attempts at various fly’s to figure it out. Fish and Game must have just stocked that week because the fish were on the smaller size, about 9” and a little thin, they certainly needed some fattening up. But once they started hitting it was fun. I brought about 6 to hand before time for my adventure had run out and I had to head home. Over all the day ended up nicely but I sure got a new appreciation for ‘matching the hatch’!
June 27th
Jeff and I went out together this time. The day was beautiful but the fishing was slow. I suspect that the pond got somewhat cleaned out of the small stockies as the only thing we were hooking into were small mouth bass. Got a couple of hits, all on top but only landed this Small Mouth.
July 3rd
A beautiful day!
Light mist on the water when we got there but the day cleared up nicely. Jeff tied up a third kayak as we invited another friend of ours, Jamie, along for the morning outing. We got on the water and almost immediately Jeff hooked into a small mouth. You know how when you get a quick bite after getting on the water you immediately assume the rest of the day is going to be great? Well, let me tell you, often, it is not! Jeff and Jamie had no luck the rest of the morning; I was getting a good amount of hits but couldn’t seem to hook anything, and even when I did hook into a fish, I wasn’t able to keep it on and land it. I did catch a small mouth but most of the morning they would hit and spit, hook and spit, again a frustration morning. But at least I was getting some hits which is more than I can say for Jeff and Jamie, things just went dry for them. It was getting close to quitting time and I was working my way along the shore of the pond when I saw some fish rising. Still, couldn’t get them to bite. I tied on that fly I mentioned earlier in this post, the one that was along the lines of a small Hex. Looking around my two partners were gone, apparently, they had decided to pack it in and, with just one more cast in mind I threw out the mini Hex. WHAM! I hooked into a nice 16” Bow, beautiful fish! The fish took to whole fly right down its throat, I had to cut the line or risk killing the fish. I only hope I can recreate the pattern from memory, it has served me well the last few times out.
So I’m paddling in, thinking these two guys went in just a little too early, and when I got to shore and told them of my last fish I was greeted with total disbelief. Imagine they thought I was telling a fish tale! Who most surprised me was Jeff. If you’ll recall I have always believed his fish stories even when most of them couldn’t be backed up because he often ‘forgot’ his camera. But even when I told him I had a picture he said, and I quote, “It better have a date on it!”
Thank god my camera automatically displays the date and time when viewed from the screen.
June 20th
I went out on my own to see what I could catch in the way of a few fish. To say it was somewhat of a frustrating day would be an understatement! Have you ever been out there with fish jumping all around you but for some reason they just won’t hit what you’re throwing out there for them? Well that is what this trip was for me. Seriously, at one point a fish almost got tangled in my floating line but still didn’t hit what I had out there. No, really, I had just cast a fly out there and a fish jumped about a foot away from it, landed on the tippet and nearly got tangled in the leader but nothing, and I mean nothing, would hit my fly. Another thing, many of you may know the feeling but do you have any idea what it’s like trying to tie on a fly with fish jumping all around you? Frustrating, trust me!
In any case, I finally started getting some action with a fly I made up one day at the bench. I’m sure there is a name for it but I have no idea what it is. I tied a few of them on various hook sizes ranging from 12 to 18. Basically it has a yellow quill body, beige rabbit fur thorax, dirty red hackle wrapped around it with a mallard wing. It kind of looks like a small hex fly but not if you know what I mean. In any case, that’s what they hit and it took about 12 attempts at various fly’s to figure it out. Fish and Game must have just stocked that week because the fish were on the smaller size, about 9” and a little thin, they certainly needed some fattening up. But once they started hitting it was fun. I brought about 6 to hand before time for my adventure had run out and I had to head home. Over all the day ended up nicely but I sure got a new appreciation for ‘matching the hatch’!
June 27th
Jeff and I went out together this time. The day was beautiful but the fishing was slow. I suspect that the pond got somewhat cleaned out of the small stockies as the only thing we were hooking into were small mouth bass. Got a couple of hits, all on top but only landed this Small Mouth.
July 3rd
A beautiful day!
Light mist on the water when we got there but the day cleared up nicely. Jeff tied up a third kayak as we invited another friend of ours, Jamie, along for the morning outing. We got on the water and almost immediately Jeff hooked into a small mouth. You know how when you get a quick bite after getting on the water you immediately assume the rest of the day is going to be great? Well, let me tell you, often, it is not! Jeff and Jamie had no luck the rest of the morning; I was getting a good amount of hits but couldn’t seem to hook anything, and even when I did hook into a fish, I wasn’t able to keep it on and land it. I did catch a small mouth but most of the morning they would hit and spit, hook and spit, again a frustration morning. But at least I was getting some hits which is more than I can say for Jeff and Jamie, things just went dry for them. It was getting close to quitting time and I was working my way along the shore of the pond when I saw some fish rising. Still, couldn’t get them to bite. I tied on that fly I mentioned earlier in this post, the one that was along the lines of a small Hex. Looking around my two partners were gone, apparently, they had decided to pack it in and, with just one more cast in mind I threw out the mini Hex. WHAM! I hooked into a nice 16” Bow, beautiful fish! The fish took to whole fly right down its throat, I had to cut the line or risk killing the fish. I only hope I can recreate the pattern from memory, it has served me well the last few times out.
So I’m paddling in, thinking these two guys went in just a little too early, and when I got to shore and told them of my last fish I was greeted with total disbelief. Imagine they thought I was telling a fish tale! Who most surprised me was Jeff. If you’ll recall I have always believed his fish stories even when most of them couldn’t be backed up because he often ‘forgot’ his camera. But even when I told him I had a picture he said, and I quote, “It better have a date on it!”
Thank god my camera automatically displays the date and time when viewed from the screen.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Out and About
Left NH for several trips. First visit was the Raritan River in NJ. Water had been high but was fishable when I visited. Specific location was the Ken Lockwood
Gorge area. Great spot. Lots of boulders, runs, riffles and pools. I probably turned a dozen trout in my 2 hour fishing stint. Lots of caddis in the air. I caught fat browns and brookies. Give it a look if you are in western NJ.Next stop was the Battenkill in Arlington, VT. Always a difficult river. As one local told me years ago, it is a river that will 'beat you up'. It is frustating as there are big fish here but extremely smart and fly-shy. I spent 3 hours on the water and caught 2 native brook trout. Oh well, I'll save the fabled browns for another day.
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