The surest sign of spring

Some would say it is the robin. Others declare it upon the last dirty snowdrift disappearing. Opening day of baseball season is the surest sign of spring for the Red Sox faithful. For others, it is still the dead of winter until the stocking trucks roll. Notwithstanding the few dirty snowdrifts, I declare spring to be officially here. I took my granddog for a ride this afternoon to search for signs of spring and found it in Townsend on the Squannacook River. The Nissitissit River in Pepperell showed nothing but suckers at the Prescott Street bridge, but spring was in full bloom near the Dunkin' Donuts on route 13. Having slung a variety of woolly buggers at them, they voted the tungsten beadhead rootbeer color as their favorite. The chartreuse variety fooled a couple, but the rootbeer was the clear winner. Must have looked like a giant hatchery pellet.
The Squannacook was 46F and running about 250CFS, just a tad high for comfortable wading. The Nissitissit was 47F and running about 225CFS, a little high, also. Both should be in good shape for fishing this weekend.

Rivers look ready to fish

I just got back from taking a ride around the local rivers. The Squannacook near the Dunkin' Donuts on route 13 in Townsend was 46F and looked clear and fishable, but hasn't been stocked yet. The Nissitissit at the Prescott Street bridge was the same. USGS gauge says Squannacook is running at 304 CFS and Nissi at244 CFS. My local wild brook trout stream was 50F. Couldn't see any fish there either.
Also, the Pepperell FD was running some kind of water rescue drill with a number of cars, FD trucks and a couple red FD trailers full of gear. They must have been pretty cold, because they consumed some large Dunkin' Donuts coffees and left the cups laying around at the parking spot. I picked them up, but if you know any Pepperell firemen, you can let them know that among their ranks there are at least a couple idiot pigs.
Some of the local rivers should be stocked this week if we don't get flooded from the rain that is coming in the next few days. Be sure to bring a trash bag with you to pick up after the idiots out there who don't pick up after themselves.
Remember, we all live downstream.

Progress made in fight against Rock Snot!

Good news! Apparently, researchers have made progress against rock snot. <Article>
Anybody check out that picture? Nasty-lookin' stuff!!

Farmington River Trip

Wednesday Stan, Ron, Richard and I made a pilgrimage to the Farmington River in the upper TMA. It was pretty brisk with a stiff breeze blowing off and on all day long. We found a few fish rising to Winter/Summer caddis, about size 20. They seemed to be rising just out of reach, since we seemed to always be casting into the wind. Nobody got any fish, but it was a fun day. I was able to collect some small caddis and stoneflies for my class this week, so it was at least somewhat productive.

Golden Oldie St Paddy's Fish Story (Click here)

This is a fishing report of sorts from St Paddy's Day 1995. Leave a comment if you have ever had an on-stream experience like this.

Learn to Fly Fish Class - Still openings - Pelham, NH

If anybody is interested, or has a friend/spouse that would like to attend a FREE Learn to Fly Fish Class, we have a few seats open at our full-day class in Pelham, NH on April 4. The Nashua class is full. I will stack this class up against any commercial class costing $300-400. This class is not only for beginners, but Intermediates who have had no formal instruction and want more knowledge about fly fishing. There are eight hours of class room instruction and a two hour casting lesson on April 25. Send me an email if you want more info or want to register. gerry@flyfishnewengland.com

Terrific Presentation Tuesday March 10 - Noted author/photographer Thomas Ames, Jr.

Gang, thanks to all of you who stopped by to chat or came to my presentation at the Fly Fish NH Show this weekend! Another event is coming up soon that you won't want to miss. The March meeting of Merrimack River Valley TU in Manchester, NH features author/photographer Thomas Ames, Jr. Mr. Ames is the author of a couple books that should be in every fly fisher's library: The Hatch Guide To New England Streams and Fishbugs a "coffee table" book full of beautiful photographs and descriptions of aquatic insects found in New England. I promise you that Mr. Ames' books will make you a better fisherman and his presentation will too. The meeting is held at the Sweeney American Legion Post at 251 Maple St., Manchester, NH. (Admission is free!)

Fly Fish New Hampshire Show (click here for flyer)

Next weekend, March 7 & 8, be sure to attend Fly Fish New Hampshire, New Hampshire's only Fly Fishing show. The show once again will be held at Pelham Fish and Game Club, 300 Simpson Mill Road, Pelham, NH. My guiding partner Jim and I will give a presentation each day, as well as have a booth in the exhibit hall. There will be lots of fly shops, outfitters, lodges, etc. Get your 2009 license at the NH Fish and Game department booth, or enroll in the Saturday morning rod-building class. Plan on spending the whole day.
Stop by NH Rivers Guide booth and say hi!

Tarpon on the Fly!

Stan and I made a couple "not-much-to-report" trips to the Charlotte Harbor flats with only a couple small trout to show for it. Then yesterday we took a drive down to the canals near the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades. We fished there briefly a couple weeks ago when Stan caught a Jack. This time it wasn't too windy; was a little warmer and the fish (and gators) were more active. The gators were sunning themselves in some of the good fishing spots.
I saw schools of baitfish "raining" on the water, so I knew that they were getting spooked by a predator, probably a tarpon, since we had seen some rolling on the surface. I had put on a weedless, white tarpon fly and tossed it about 20 feet in front of me into some cloudy water at the end of the canal, where the baitfish were swarming out of the water. The line came tight and I set the hook hard and the fight was on. This thing ran, jumped, jumped some more and generally went berserk! This big gator made a beeline towards the commotion and stopped about 20 feet way from us.I put a lot of pressure on the tarpon to keep it away from the gator. It was hard to land the fish, since the bank of the canal is about two feet above the water, and I was not about to get down into the canal with that hungry gator! I was using a 12-pound redfish leader, with 18-inches of 30-pound fluorocarbon as a bite-tippet to protect from abrasion from toothy critters and sharp gill covers. Here is some video Stan shot.


As I was pulling the tarpon up the bank, it lunged and broke the leader. I estimate it to be 24 to 26-inches and somewhere a little less than 10 pounds. Two-bites for a gator!
After making a few more casts, we decided to move down the canal a ways and fish another spot, where we had seen another fly fisher earlier. When we got there he was putting his gear away in the truck and I noticed it had Maine plates. As we pulled up, he turned around and I recognized Danny Legere, proprieter of the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville, Maine. We chatted for a while, exchanging info on some local spots. You never know who you are going to run into on the water!
This is probably my last report, since we are leaving Saturday to head back north. Hope you enjoyed this mid-winter interlude, even though it is "off-topic" from New England Fly Fishing.

Learn to Fly Fish - FREE - Pelham, NH

We have added another class, this one an all-day (8:30AM to 4:30PM) Saturday class at Pelham Fish and Game Club in Pelham, NH on April 4. In case you couldn't work one of the other classes into your schedule, give this one a try. These classes are for beginners, but also intermediates who want to learn more. We will cover everything from equipment basics, knots, safety, ethics, coldwater conservation; trout food (not Purina trout-chow, but mayflies, caddis, stoneflies, etc.) and strategies and where to fish. There will also be a casting class on-the-water on April 25. There is no charge for the class, but you need to register by sending me an email.

Charlotte Harbor odyssey

Saturday Dick took Stan and I out on his flats boat. Sorry no pictures :(
We cast the flats along the inlet of Alligator Creek with no action. We then hit the flats north of Burnt Store marina. This is a great place for stalking redfish. We saw loads of redfish and Stan hooked into a real bruiser. He couldn't move the fish with his 9WT rod and the fish kept rubbing his mouth on the bottom to try to dislodge the fly and wore through the leader. We then cruised down to Boca Grande pass, saw a bunch of dolphins and stopped near Turtle Bay to try for some trout without any luck. A great day to be on the water. We are going to try to get out early tomorrow morning. Maybe we can entice some fish before the sun gets high in the sky.

More Charlotte Harbor Flats Fishing

Stan and I got up at o' dark:30 and got out to the flats at sun-up before the wind started blowing. Actually, it was a very foggy morning and the fishing wasn't too bad. We each landed nice speckled seatrout.
This is the trail through the mangroves down to the flats.
It was real foggy, which was kind of cool.

Stan took this video of me landing a nice speckled seatrout.


This is what the trout looked like.

Tamiami Trail - fishin' and gators

Stan and Deborah wanted to 1. see some gators (Deborah) and 2. catch some fish (Stan.) I could guarantee with a 99.9999% certainty that Debbie would see gators, but guaranteeing fish is not in my nature. Well, we saw hundreds of gators, some manatees, and some fish. Here is one that was on the end of Stan's line.

More Learn to fly Fish Classes - Amoskeag Fishways - Manchester, NH

Monday evenings beginning March 23 there will be FREE learn to fly fish classes at Amoskeag Fishways in Manchester, NH. Click the title above to access the Amoskeag Fishways website for information or call 603-626-3474 to register.

Learn to Fly Fish classes - Manchester, NH

To enroll in the classes at Manchester Public Library, click on the title to this entry and go to Events>Calendar>March and scroll to March 26. Classes begin March 26 for four consecutive Thursday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. My buddy Stan Jodziewicz is the primary instructor for this class.