June - Life on a river

We had it all in June - heat and rain; high water, low water, hot water.  Any given day was a challenge, but on average: perfection!

The rains of May carried into June and the ensuing high water had us scrambling.  Our early June Northeast Fly Fishing School class in Henniker was great, but the Contoocook River was too high to fish, so we moved the on-stream session to the South Branch Piscataquog River in New Boston, NH.  There were still plenty of fish in the river and the students caught a few.  Here is a link to the class video. It was good to have some youngsters and women in the class.  They did quite well and added a lot to the personality of the class. If you haven't fished the Piscataquog River, you should give it a try. I fished it alone and with clients a few times in May and June.  I also spent 7 days in April and May on the tributaries doing volunteer culvert assessment data collection with our local TU chapter.  This river is a real gem, and I hope our project pays off in the future by improving the habitat to the point where the wild brookies in the headwaters are able to populate the main stem of the river and return to the refuge of the tribs as needed.
I just got back from two weeks guiding in Errol at our "virtual fishing  lodge."  More about that in the next post.
Did any of you folks have some fish tales to relate about your June fishing?

Time flies when you're having fun (on the water!)

Wow, May has been like a blur.  Ideal weather and water conditions gave way to rain and high flows and then back to ideal. Between the Northeast Fly Fishing School, guided trips, "scouting" trips and volunteer days, I have been on the water 18 days during the last three weeks.
Early in May we had a Beginner and Intermediate class.  We held the on-stream nymph/streamer/dry lesson on the Squannacook, Nissitissit and Souhegan Rivers.  All the rivers fished pretty good with many students fooling one or more trout.

Then in mid-May I had a father and two grown sons travel from PA to fish with me.  Of course this was in the middle of the rainy/high water spell.  In previous years the Hendrickson hatch was in full glory on the Contoocook River, so I had them stay in Henniker.  THIS year the river was too high to fish the entire four days they were here.  The first afternoon we fished the Squannacook River in the Bertozzi WMA. They landed some trout and had a good start to the trip.

Then we fished the Sugar River FFO area on a drizzly Tuesday.  They each caught fish in tough conditions.

The Sugar fishes pretty good at 800CFS and below.  I checked my RIVERFLOWS app on the Android when I picked them up at the Henniker House where they were staying.  The river seemed higher than that, but who am I to argue with the USGS gages.  On the ride home I checked the graphs again - 930CFS!  They must have started releasing water from Lake Sunapee as we traveled to the river.  Bummer!  At least they were able to catch a few fish and see a beautiful (high) river.  Then Wednesday we headed to the DHZ on the Piscataquog River.  Bingo! The river was full of fish.  They landed many fish, mostly on woolly-buggers, but some on soft-hackle droppers off the bend of the streamers.   They had so much fun, they opted to return on Thursday morning before they drove back to PA.

The next day I took my friend/client George to the Sugar River.  The level had dropped, but was still a little high.  George had three or four nice fish on, but we couldn't get them to the net.  Then later in the afternoon we found a pod of browns that were willing to whack a dry fly. I must have netted 8 or 10 before we reeled-up and headed down the trail to the car.

Then this past weekend we held another Beginner Class.  This was our first class that we had the classroom portion at Morse Sporting Goods and the on-stream portion on the Contoocook River.  Fortunately, the river flow was right, the weather was excellent and the class learned a lot, had fun, and caught a few fish. I think the high water moved the fish around a lot, which should bode well for helping to hold them over and stay away from the hook-n-cook crowd. If we get a little rain every few days, we should enjoy good conditions right into July.
Too optimistic?
I hope not!
See you on the water.
PS Still a couple openings in our June 9-10 class in Henniker and on the Andro trip.

Rain at last! The trout are "breathing easy" for a while

The welcome rain of yesterday and today takes a bit of the pressure off our trouty friends.  This weekend we had the April session of the Northeast Fly Fishing School and the on-the-river fishing lesson portion of the school got a little damp yesterday afternoon - but it didn't dampen the spirits of our students. Here is a link to the class pictures.
(FYI we still have a few spots open in the May 5-6 class in Hollis with on-stream instruction on the Squannacook River and the Intermediate Class on the Contoocook River.)

Also on Friday I took out a couple who recently retired and plan to travel and fly fish along the way.  They are related to a close friend of my son David.  They had a great time and Sue even caught a brown trout on a dry fly - the first fish she ever caught! Here is a video of the remarkable event.

 Earlier in the week I took my friend and client George to fish the Pemigewasset in Bristol and Franklin.  The week before we had fished the Farmington River over the VERY early Hendrickson hatch and caught some real slabs of rainbows and browns on dry flies.  This time he caught two of the most beautiful rainbow trout I have seen in New Hampshire and a couple broodstock salmon.  The rainbows were measured at 17 and 18 inches respectively. Here is George releasing one of the rainbows.

These rainbows were thick bodied with beautiful spotted fins and fought like salmon.  I am certain the mild winter was a major factor in their condition.
     In between those two trips, I took a couple airline pilots laying over in Manchester for a day of fly fishing.  One was a beginner and had never caught a fish on a fly. We took care of that!  We spent the day on the Contoocook River and the first half of the day was spent working on casting technique, looking at bugs, etc,  After lunch we saw some rising fish and both caught NH brooktrout on dry flies and soft hackles. Here is Mike with his first trout on a fly.

His buddy TJ also got a couple nice NH brookies on a fly.

Drought update

Wow, we are now getting payback for the warm dry winter.  Rivers are incredibly low.  Fish have been stocked just about everywhere, but because of limited holding water, they have been decimated.  In the last week I have extensively scouted the Farmington, Squannacook, Nissitissit, Souhegan, Sugar, and Contoocook Rivers.  I have been in contact with my network for the Millers, Pemigewasset, Saco and Winnipesaukee Rivers.  The best fishing has been on the Farmington - no surprise there.  It is a tailwater and even though running low, it is large enough for fish to have some refuge.  Also, the Hendrickson hatch is about a month early and if you can fish it on a calm, sunny afternoon, you will be rewarded with some good dry fly action, as occurred this past Tuesday.  On Wednesday, it was cloudier and breezy, so the hatch was a lot weaker and fewer fish were actively feeding.
We have all heard it before - its all about habitat.  When we don't have runoff from snowpack and spring rains, the suitable habitat shrinks, the fish are more vulnerable to predators (including us!) and fishing experience diminishes.  The bright side is that historically, things average out.  Dry summer, wet winter - dry spring, wet summer, etc.  Let's hope that when the pendulum swings the other way, it isn't too severe.  I remember 2009 summer when we had a dry spring and floods from mid-May until mid-July.  Luckily, I spent a lot of that time on the upper Androscoggin which was not affected as much as the southern tier of New England rivers. Also, did a lot of trout pond fishing, which isn't affected nearly as much as the rivers.
Let me know how you have found things on your local rivers and streams.

Secret spots revealed

My partner Jim and I have spent years pouring over topo maps and Delorme Gazeteers; following unmarked logging roads; hiking into remote brooks and streams; and privately enjoying the benefits of our hard work.  We have found some great spots to fish.  Places where fish rarely, if ever, see a fly, lure or worm. Many of these places are not far from popular access points, but have been overlooked by the casual angler.  Other spots are far from the crowds and would never be found, unless you studied the maps, followed lots of dead-end trails and got lucky.
We have not previously shared these spots with friends, clients or close family members.  Prior to now, we have agreed to not even talk about these spots in our presentations or classes.  Never before have these locations been seen in print.  Most have never even been hinted at in private conversations.  But we believe the time is now for all to be revealed.

We had considered shopping these contents to publishers and magazine editors to see what kind of offers we can receive. We have even been in discussions about hosting a reality TV show, where we would visit a new secret spot in each episode, bringing along some lucky angler, who would experience the  most fantastic fishing of their life.  All of that sounded good, but rather than go through all of that; becoming famous and having to put up with autographs, paparazzi, fly fishing groupies, etc, we decided to cut to the chase and put it all out here for your information.
We have included maps; photos, directions and descriptions of the fishing to be found in each spot.  We hope that each time we go to one of our favorite spots, we will find a few of you there enjoying the great fishing.  Feel free to tell your friends, spread the word at your local fly shop and post a few of the better spots on your favorite spot-burning online forum.
Tight lines, and I hope to see you on the water soon!
Gerry

Click here for all the juicy details!

Time to get to work!

My winter vacation in Florida is over. We point the Prius north at o'dark:30 tomorrow AM. Played a lot of tennis and a little golf and just a smidgen of fishing.  Tuesday Stan and I visited my old buddy Dick in Punta Gorda.  Dick and I used to work together and are both alums of the BSC (Bull Salmon Club - google it for more details.)  Dick organized the first conference of the BSC in September 1989 at Maynard's of Maine. But I digress . . .

We met Dick at his place and launched his flats boat on Charlotte Harbor.  We stopped at a few spots - caught a lot of Ladyfish and a few trout.  We tossed flies for a while, but when the wind picked up we wimped-out and chucked a few spoons.  The water depth ranges from about a foot to about eight feet.  Most of the places we fished, we could see the fish chasing our flies. (Or NOT chasing our flies! :-(   We were hoping for some redfish, but none showed their spots.
Stay tuned for reports from MA and NH (and maybe NY and CT!) 
We still have a few openings in the Northeast Fly Fishing School classes -  Beginner Class and Intermediate Class
Our Androscoggin Special Package trip is almost sold out for June, with only a few spots open, and we are starting to book September trips. 

To-do list for 2012

It isn't too early to plan for the 2012 season - plenty of stuff to get in order.  Although Christmas is just passed, it also isn't too early to draw up a list for your "Gift-askers." If you are like me, you are always getting the request of "What do you want for (fill in the blanks: anniversary, birthday, Father's Day, etc.)?"  Here is a list you can copy, edit to fit your personal needs and leave where the "Gift-askers" can find it:

2012 Fishing License:
Connecticut
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire

(In the spirit of full-disclosure, following are a few services I provide ;-)
Intermediate fly fishing class: tune up your cast and learn a few new techniques.
Fishing trip in northern NH:  Alder flies in June, foliage and hungry fish in September
Plan a fishing trip: Lots of ideas for all seasons

Here are some ideas to fight the shack-nasties: Winter cabin fever fighters (mostly FREE): Attend a free fly tying class or watch a fly fishing presentation this winter

I'll be heading south to Fort Myers in a couple days, so stay tuned for some inshore saltwater adventures.
Happy 2012!
Gerry

Whatta November!

Since I got back from the New York trip, I have been out fishing almost every day.  This amazing weather has extended the local fishing season beyond belief.  Most days I go to the Nissitissit River in Pepperell, which is only about four miles from my house.  Today I only got one fish, a surprising 13" brown without a mark on him.  It was surprising, because browns have not been stocked there since early June. This one took a bite of my rootbeer BH woolly bugger.  I lost about 8 or 10 flies, because the water level is now fairly low and there are lots of limbs and branches in the water from the storms of a couple months ago. The last few times I fished there I got at least 5 or 6 fish - all rainbows, mostly on some variety of egg pattern or a small softhackle.
Yesterday Jim and Dick and I fished the Sugar River in Newport, NH for a couple hours.  Nothing.  The water is still pretty high there - probably from snow-melt.  There is still 8 or 10 inches of snow on the ground there.  They were in the heavy snow belt from the storm last week and the warmer weather is melting the snow.  The water temp on the Nissitissit River was about 44 today and 40 to 42 most of the last couple weeks.  Pretty cold, but trout will still feed if you bounce something right on their nose. 
Another presentation is coming up Thursday evening at the United Fly Tyers meeting in Woburn, MA.  The topic this time is Fly Fishing NH.  Say hi if you make it to the meeting.

Small water - BIG fish

For three days this week my buddy/guide partner Jim and I fish some small Lake Ontario tribs near Rochester, NY. We have fished the Salmon River before and heard there were other tribs with big fish that are not as crowded. We confirmed that fact!
We did the 6.5 hour driver from So. NH arriving around noon. After checking into the motel, we met up with friend/client/FFNE-blog-follower Matt (hi Matt!) and fished a local spring creek for wild browns. Somewhat similar to the Swift River in MASS, I coaxed a half-dozen beautiful wild fish to net using small soft-hackles and BWO emergers. The next day we met our guide Jason Franz on the river and proceeded to learn a lot about the fishery and about catching these large lake-run browns and rainbows. There were even a few lingering Chinooks around, as well as a few Atlantic salmon. Jason has access to some private water, so we enjoyed targeting some really big fish at fairly close range. The spot we fished was not far from the lake estuary, so the fish had not run the gauntlet prior to hitting this section of riffles and pools. The large male browns (some over 10 pounds!) were fighting for position around the females and putting on quite an aggressive show. Unlike my experience with LL salmon, they weren't territorial in the sense that they would attack a well-placed streamer fly. If they were defending territory they were not interested in eating. But once females started dropping eggs there were plenty of male and female browns and a few rainbows there to gobble them up. I had a couple takes but no good hookups on bunny streamers, and all the hookups and landings were on eggs.

These are a couple of the larger fish we caught with Jason.  We each had larger fish on, but they came unbuttoned before we were able to land them.  We also fished a few spots on public access water in order to learn more about the river and discover some places we could fish on our own.  Jason is an excellent guide and we learned quite a bit about the fishery and the river.  He has an uncanny knack for spotting fish and selecting the correct approach to fish to them.  It was great for a change to have someone else rigging gear, pointing out holding lies, and untangling snarls, landing fish, etc.  

On Thursday morning we fished on our own at a couple spots Jason showed us and also did some exploring based on advice from locals we met on the river.  In about 15 minutes I netted three almost identical female browns (two on consecutive casts!) from a very productive pool. Jim is pictured holding one of them.  I also had three other larger fish on for a few minutes, including one giant fish that we believe to be a very large female brown.  It wasn't dark and scarred like the Chinooks we saw. Wasn't dark and colored-up like the large male browns. And didn't run and/or leap like a steelhead.  By process of elimination, probably  a large female brown. Who knows?  I only know that it was hooked in the mouth; we both saw it close-up and it was much larger than the male browns pictured above. (BTW we both accidentally foul-hooked Chinooks and broke them off, so we know it wasn't one of them.)  If you want to sample some great big-fish fly fishing and don't want to put up with the hassle of the Salmon River, contact Jason at Troutnabout Charters   - In the summer months he also operates a charter boat on Lake Ontario.  Right now through December is a great time to fish for the big browns and steelhead, and again in April and early May before the water warms and they head out to the lake.

This Tuesday 11/22 at 7:00PM I will be presenting my Labrador Trip at the Squann-a-tissit TU chapter meeting in Pepperell, MA.  Free admission - come check it out. 

Presentation next week

Next Tuesday at the Merrimack River Valley TU meeting in Manchester,NH I'll present my trip to Labrador this summer. Dealing with the power outage and snow has been a challenge to get the presentation together. Of course, like all things I waited too long to get started on it.If you want to attend, admission is free and it will be at 7pm at the Sweeney American Legion Post 251 Maple St Manchester, NH.
Locally, I went out to the Nissitissit River yesterday with my buddies Jim and Dick. Got a few rainbows to the net on nymphs. The water was a little high but very fishable. Afterwards we stopped into Evening Sun flyshop to stock up on some tying supplies. Charlie got in some new materials that look pretty interesting.
Hope to see a couple of you Tuesday.
Ps still no cable or internet so I am composing this on the Droid tablet I got for my wife. Truly painfull on the tiny screen and touchscreen keyboard.

What happened to fall?

It seems like we went directly from summer to the edge of winter. The local rivers are still fishing really well.  I was on the Nissitissit River quite a few times over the last few weeks and the month of October was a lot of fun.  The late foliage and late leaf-fall means that the fishing has been good and the catching has also been good.  Find the pocket water and you will find the fish.  The Isinglass fished well, too, but not so much the Lamprey, which is usually one of the best for late-season fishing.  The Wiswall dam area is closed off, due to work on the dam and abutters posting their land.  This meant that area could not be stocked.
Tuesday I stopped in Riverton, CT to check out the Farmington River.  Water temp was 60F, but it was windy and the water was loaded with leaves.  I only fished about a half hour in a couple different places and caught mostly leaves.  It was supposed to rain yesterday, so Stan and I cancelled our plans to fish there, but once again the weather man screwed-up.  The weather next week looks pretty reasonable, so maybe the Swift River will be worth the drive.   Lots of choices, so let's hope winter holds off a little longer.
BTW, thanks to the Boston TU chapter for hosting our presentation Monday night.  We had a great turn-out, lots of questions and lots of interest from the members.  Thanks!

Salmon and Rainbow on the Pemi

Today I took some time away from guiding and treated myself to a couple hours fishing. Saturday I had guided on the Squannacook and Nissitissit Rivers and found a few fish in the slightly high water. Then Monday and Tuesday it was off to the Isinglass and Cocheco Rivers for some SE NH rainbows (and a brook trout!)  My client is from Australia, near Perth, and attended a conference in Ottawa.  He loved the foliage, the river and the fish. The trip for today was rescheduled for a couple weeks to let the water settle down and because it was forecasted to be mostly rainy.  Well, the water was at a wadable level and 54F (perfect!)  I only fished one spot in Bristol and found a salmon and a surprisingly large rainbow trout.  The salmon took the Black Ghost streamer and the rainbow fell for the Mickey Finn. Take a look at the rainbow.

Tomorrow we pick up a couple grand-kids (and a grand-dog) in CT, while my oldest daughter and her husband visit Colorado for a week. I hope to be able to sneak away next week for a day of fishing on the Farmington River - stay tuned.
Also, my guiding partner Jim and I will be the featured presenters at the Boston TU meeting next Monday evening at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA. Info and directions at:Greater Boston TU We will be doing our Fly Fishing in NH presentation that covers just about the entire state of NH. Hope to see you there.

Autumn splendor

Last week we had our Autumn all-inclusive Sporting Lodge trip  to  the Androscoggin River in and around Errol, NH.  Nine days in a row with maximum capacity every day have Jim and I ready to take a break.  Jim and Duchess (his English setter) are waiting out the rain to go bird hunting.  I am busy booking trips for tomorrow, Friday, Sunday and next week!  The Androscoggin was running high and warm - 2,710CFS, versus a normal 1,500CFS and 64F to 68F versus 55F to 60F normally.  Either because of the real hot summer, or the high water from Irene and other unnamed storms, the fish were spread out.  Also due to high water, I couldn't get to all my good wading spots.  That being said, we still had a great time and some pretty good fishing. Everybody got some fish and a few (that means you Kevin and George) got a lot of fish and some real nice ones, too! Here is Susan from Pepperell with the largest trout she has caught on a fly, a beautiful 14-inch rainbow caught on a soft-hackle as a dropper behind a Stimulator.  She landed a 12-inch rainbow about 10-minutes later - nice job Susan!  Earlier in the trip, Kevin and Mike got into some nice fish, including this nice brookie that Mike is holding in the photo above. As usual, we had quite a few beginners and novices
with us and it was gratifying to see the progression in their skill.  There were quite a few "first fish on a fly; first on a dry fly; first brookie" so the excitement level was always high.  Fun for the clients and fun for Jim and I. We had a few clients that are experienced and have fished out west and around the world.  They enjoyed the beautiful river, foliage and NH fish.  Here is Shawn having a great time with a NH brook trout.
We caught a lot of fish using soft-hackle droppers off the bend of dries or streamers.  Others took the dry or streamer.  On the boat, Jim also had quite a few on nymph rigs with indicators. I took dozens of pictures that I will send to the clients, but these should give the flavor of the river, the fish and the foliage.
The MA rivers are receiving their fall stocking this week and the SE NH rivers will get their fall load of trout on Oct 15 and 16.  They should also be putting in the broodstock Atlantic salmon soon.  NH Fish and Game biologist Matt Carpenter said that since returns of sea-run fish was so good this year, there would probably be extra fish stocked.  I can't wait to get one of them on and hear the drag singing!  Tight lines!

Now appearing . . .

Just a quick heads-up - my guiding partner Jim and I will be presenting our "New England Fly Box" presentation at the Central Mass TU meeting tomorrow night in Worcester.  Click the blog title to access their website with directions.  Hope to see you there!

Also, we had the September session of our Northeast Fly Fishing School this past weekend.  On Sunday we did the on-stream instruction portion of the school on the Squannacook River.  Guess what?  Yes! Some of our students actually caught trout!  The river had been as low as about 25CFS this summer and then we had a tropical storm and still there were trout willing to eat a fly.  A brookie and rainbow were landed by students and last night I stopped by for an hour and got a nice brown on a dry fly (Royal bomber.)  In a couple weeks the fall stocking will top-off the tank with a fresh crop of trout, boding well for fall fishing.

Opportunity Knocks

Guys, some may be aware that our all-inclusive trip (lodging, meals, gear and guided fishing) to the Androscoggin River in the Great North Woods of NH has been sold out for over a month.  Today we had a cancellation, so we now have an opening for three people to arrive September 27 in the afternoon and fish with us all day September 28.  This is the only day we have an opening for the last week of September and beginning of October.  You can find the details here. The water has cooled and the fish are still there, since the Androscoggin didn't experience the high water from Irene and also fared better over the summer than did a lot of rivers in the hot/dry summer.  This is prime time in the north country on one of the premiere rivers of the northeast.  Some of the regulars on this blog have fish the Andro with us and none came away disappointed! Here are a couple pictures from last September. NOTE: ALL SPOTS ARE NOW FILLED ! Thanks!

Right before Irene came rolling through I fished the Sugar and the Pemigewasset Rivers and found fish in each.  I also found a couple fish in the mainstem Pemi AFTER Irene, but unfortunately, I think most south/central rivers will need a visit from the stocking truck before we see fishing return to optimum conditions.