The proverbial calm after the storm

Irene came and went. Luckily for NH she stayed to the west over VT.  Even so, there was unbelievable flooding of the Pemigewasset, Ellis and Saco Rivers.  You can check out some of these YouTube videos to see what happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU1I6A1zkM0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap3VqsC2HPM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLNTJ7J3KF8&feature=related

Yesterday I made the rounds of some spots on the Pemigewasset River in Franklin, Bristol and North Woodstock.  It is still real high, but the further upriver you go, the better current conditions.  I am certain the Pemi in North Woodstock is fishable today (don't expect to find a lot of fish though!)  I imagine I'll have to learn the new contours of the riverbed, too.  At least the ponds were not affected.  There were fish rising on Sky Pond, Profile and Echo lakes.
As the nights get short and cooler, the fishing in some of the rivers should pick up. In particular the upper and lower Androscoggin, CT river from Pittsburg down through North Stratford and the Contoocook and Sugar Rivers.  Hopefull NH Fish and Game still has a few fish they can put out to sweeten the fall fishing.

Reality sets in

Since returning from Labrador I have taken out four different beginner clients.  One to the Swift River and three to the Saco and Ellis Rivers.  Now I know what sports commentators mean when they say, "[insert name of all-time great star]____________ plays a different game than the rest of us."  Well, Labrador is different brook trout fishing than anything I have previously experienced.  Am I "ruined" for local fishing?  I don't think so.  It is still fun and rewarding, but definitely different.  There are contrasts in the size of fish, the remoteness and "pristineness" of the rivers, but after you get past the scale of things, it is still fly fishing. Still fun. Still connects you to the environment and still done in beautiful places.  Also, the folks that learned how to fly fish and caught their first trout on a fly were just as excited (maybe more so!) than I was catching 5+ pound brook trout in Labrador.
And just like I was out of my familiar locale in Labrador, these folks were far from their homes in Frankfurt, Germany, Brooklyn, NY and Cleveland, OH.  To them, our New England trout streams are  exotic, pristine and beautiful, and their enthusiasm and wonder are contagious.  Not a bad version of reality, huh?

Workin' on Labor Day

Tough job, but somebody has to do it. Today it was a guy from Philly attending a wedding at the MT Washington Hotel who needed to cure his hangover with a half-day of flinging a fly. I met him in Glen and we fished the Ellis for a couple hours, then moved down to the Saco River. Tally for the morning was three12" brooktrout landed, and an equal number of missed strikes. One on a SSH (Shadan Soft Hackle) and the rest on dries (small para-Adams, elkhair caddis.) We found a pool on the Saco River with a few nice trout swimming around. Very sporadic rises and he was only able to garner a couple strikes with no hook-up, but the sun was high and the fish spooky, so it was still a fun trip. After sending him on his way, I took out my Sage LL 7'11" 4-wt, tied on a beetle pattern and went down and caught one of those finicky trout - a 14" inch brown! Also gave my new Olympus underwater digital a workout.
Here is an underwater video.

Scouting trip pays off

This week I went on a "scouting trip" (this is what I tell my wife I am doing when I go fishing) with my buddy Dick and guiding partner Jim. We each had trips scheduled for Friday, so we checked out a few spots on Thursday. We found the flow levels and water temps to be ideal (mid-50F) on the Pemigewasset, Saco and Ellis Rivers. We found the most fish in the Saco and Ellis, but we really didn't spend any time fishing the Pemigewasset. On Friday I started the day on the Pemigewasset in North Woodstock and after an hour of flogging the water in my best spot with no fish seen, I made a quick decision to head across the Kanc and hit the Ellis, which turned out to be a good move. We found plenty of brook trout willing to hit a fly, but they were too quick for my client. Hopefully this rain we are having in the south will not be too heavy up north. A little rain up there is good, but 3 or 4 inches will spoil the fishing for a couple weeks or more. What I am really looking forward to is a real good nor'easter around September 10. I have a trip to Maine planned for the following week and a good soaking rain will get the salmon moving from the lakes up into the rivers in anticipation of their spawning run. There is nothing like hooking into a two or three pound land lock on my 4-wt rod on a fast flowing river like the East Outlet, Moose or Magalloway Rivers. That reminds me, I need to sit down and tie some streamers and blue-wing olives for the late-season fishing in Maine and in Errol on the Androscoggin River. We have our "virtual fishing lodge" going again the last week in September and still have some good slots open, in case anybody wants to sample some great early Fall fishing in the Great North Woods of NH.

Keep the rain coming!

All the rain we have had may be messing up the beach vacations, but it sure is helping the fish. I was guiding the Saco, Ellis, Pemigewasset and Androscoggin Rivers this week and we had late-spring conditions, instead of mid-summer doldrums. The rivers in the White Mountains are running at wadable levels with water temps under 60F. Perfect! There were enough BWO, little yellow sallies and sulphers to keep the trout interested, as well as some caddis. I had both very experienced anglers, as well as beginners and all got some nice fish - almost all on dry flies. I hope the warmer weather in the forecast doesn't spoil the fishing.

Ellis and Saco River Bonanza

Yesterday I guided a very experienced salt water fly fisher for a little NH trout fishing. He was staying in SW Maine, so we agreed to meet near North Conway, where the water has been dropping after all the rain we had in June and early July. The water on the Ellis was 59F - perfect! We had a mid-day start with a plan to fish until dark. A couple of places I scouted in the morning before we met had rising fish, so I knew it would be a pretty good day. Well, that is an understatement. Apparently they have been emptying the hatcheries and the Ellis and Saco are now home to a good part of the excess trout. There was already a good supply of holdover and previously stocked fish that would rise to a well-fished fly, so when we tired of hauling in the recent stockers, we found some finicky browns, a 14+ inch rainbow and a number of 12+ inch brook trout to test mettle. Here is a really nice brook trout that took a beadhead caddis pupa.
There were not a lot of insects on the water until early evening. There were a few Little Yellow Sallies, a couple BWO spinners and later on, some sulphers. At any given time, we were likely to see a rise or two, but nothing really consistent. We fooled fish on a wide variety of flies, including my favorite chartreuse Usual, some sulpher emergers, soft hackles and comparaduns. We are now reaping the benefits of earlier rainfall, with ideal temperatures and water flows. Get out there while you can before the hot weather takes a toll on the fish.