Hitting the ground running

This has been a busy few days.  We wrapped up our first Beginner Class of the Northeast Fly Fishing School yesterday.  As usual, the new fly fishers were an inspiration to us old guys.  It was fun sharing our knowledge about the sport we love.  Comparing our pictures from this class to those from April 2012, last April had leaves on all the trees and bushes - obviously not the case this year!  The water in the

Squannacook River was 51F, which is not too bad, but the air was the same temp. Our next class May 4-5 should have more leaves and more trout-food flying around.  Think like a trout, act like a bug!
Yesterday was also the day my partner Jim and I were quoted in the Boston Globe Travel section about beautiful spots in NH.  As I told the reporter, I actually revealed my fourth or fifth most beautiful spot, since I was not ready to share the very best ones.  Truth be told, I could name hundreds of "most beautiful" spots.  On any given day on the water there are bound to be multiple awe-inspiring views. As they say, "God didn't put trout in ugly places."  So fortunate to able to hang around in beautiful places with such nice people.
And tonight we have our New England Fly Box presentation at the Greater Boston TU meeting at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA.  Hope to see some of you there.
UPDATE:  There were over 30 people at the meeting last night, who attended our presentation.  At least a couple are regulars here on my blog. Thanks for coming and saying hi.  I hope you enjoyed the presentation.  I would be interested in your feedback, either as a comment, or via email if that is more comfortable to you. 

Finally feels like spring

There is still snow in the woods and a few vestigial plow-drifts at the shady end of a few driveways, but today it finally felt like spring. My guiding partner Jim and friend Dick and I scouted a couple rivers today for our upcoming Northeast Fly Fishing School classes.   Last week the Squannacook and Nissitissit River in Massachusetts and the Souhegan River in New Hampshire were stocked.  Stone flies and a couple mayflies were buzzing around on the Squannacook River.  We all stung a few fish and some were even landed.  We ran into to David (Hi David!) who had been fishing since early morning.  He probably caught every fish in the river at least twice!  David attended our Fly Fishing School a few years ago and then we guided him on the Androscoggin River at our lodge.  Our prize student!
The water temp in the Squannacook was 47F and the flow was about 200CFS. If you got deep and bounced a fly on their nose, they would take, but weren't in the mood to chase anything.  After hitting a few spots on the Squannacook we hopped over the border to fish the Souhegan DHZ in Greenville. Water was 48F and the flow reported for Milford was 560CFS, although up in Greenville it would have been a lot less. Stocking occurred the week of April 1, but no fish were evident in the two spots we hit.
Next Monday, April 22, my partner Jim and I will be on the program at the Boston TU Chapter April meeting.  We will be presenting our New England Fly Box presentation, which describes our favorite flies, the hatches they target and some rivers to fish them. The meeting is at Drumlin Farm on Rte. 117, Lincoln MA. Doors open at 6:30PM.  We hope to see you there!

Local trout rivers are finally . . . Trout Rivers!

I had heard that the trucks would be rolling this week to the Squannacook and Nissitissit Rivers.  I couldn't find any evidence of trout on the Squannacook River yet.  It was running quite high, and there were no anglers at any of the early stocking locations in Townsend.  Either it hasn't been stocked or the locals are holding off until the water level drops a bit.  On the other hand, the Nissitissit was stocked yesterday, April 10.  There were plenty of people and trout at the Prescott Street bridge and the oil company.  I walked into Gilman's Pool in the FFO section and saw no trout or fly fishermen.  The only place I actually fished was the run downstream of the 111 bridge, along with four other guys.  I was too lazy to put on the waders, so that is a spot where I could cover a little water without wading.  Using a white clouser-bugger, I found a slot that yielded 6 strikes, with four landed - all nice, colorful, chunky rainbows.  The biggest was over 12 inches and the smallest probably 10.  Hopefully there will be a few fish still left in the water when it warms up next week.
Last week the Souhegan and Piscataquog Rivers were stocked. Both are running VERY high.  They should also drop by next week.  Finally, we will have lots of choices of where to fish.  In a couple weeks we should start to see some quill gordons and that will mark the real beginning of the fly fishing season on local waters. Get out there and educate those fish before they all get taken home as table-fare.
We still have a couple spots open in our May 4/5 fly fishing school as well as the Intermediate class. 

Breaking the ice on the new season

Last Wednesday I got back from Florida to a chilly homecoming.  The first five days back I don't think the thermometer got to 40F.  Finally the forecast got friendly and I needed to get my trout fishing itch scratched.  I checked all the stocking schedules, FF forums and fishing reports, as well as tapping into the informal network of fishing buddies. Cold water, no stocking, not a fish to be found.  Then I saw the MASS Wildlife stocking report and noted that the trucks had rolled to Ware and Palmer. I tied a couple flies; packed up the gear and headed to the Swift River.  After parking at the route 9 bridge area I hiked up to the Y-pool, noting any sign of trout on the way.  I counted only 6 fish - not good.  There were a few trout lethargically cruising the Y-pool, but none in the bubbler arm.  I worked my way back to the car, hooking one fish in the cable pool area.  Not a total skunking, but not what I had envisioned. But hey, it was a beautiful day, there WERE some fish to been worked, and it was just great getting onto a river again.
After checking the run from the bridge down to the duck pen, I found a couple guys working a pod of recent stockers without much success,  The fish were kind of milling around, chasing their buddys' tails and doing what recently stocked trout do.  Not much fun to be had there.  Then it was off to the always-reliable hatchery pipe - hopefully the meat hunters hadn't cleaned it out before I got there.
There were a few cars in the parking lot, but considering the usual pressure it gets, it wasn't too crowded.  Three guys congregated below the pipe and two more fishing across from each other in the run-in to the fallen tree pool.  One of them was the ubiquitous George. I was able to prevail upon the kind generosity of Dick L. to join him at close quarters in the tree pool.  George soon reel-up, but soon returned with Bob O who set up across from Dick and I.  We had a great time educating a large quantity of trout and enjoying the day and enjoying the shared experience.  After an hour or so, Dick observed that fly fishermen were really nice folks. That has been my experience, too, but when you think about it, how you you be cranky or rude in such a beautiful environment?
Dick left first, then Bob O and finally, after my feet went from cold, to numb, to painful, I took the hint and started to leave.  Well, maybe a couple drifts up by the hatchery pipe, since the folks there had left shortly before.  I got into position and where I could usually see a half-dozen or more fish, I could only spot one trout.  After about 5 drifts through the run, the chunky rainbow took the orange size 20 soft hackle.  As soon as the fish felt the hook it took off down-river on a short run. I hadn't taken any pictures until then. Although it wasn't the first trout of the year, or the largest trout, it was probably the most energetic.

 With the weather improving daily, it looks like more rivers will get a fresh supply of salmonids, so next week we should all be able to fish close to home with some expectation of success.  Have a great season, and leave a comment telling us about your local FFing experiences.
Also, our Androscoggin River package is almost booked out, but we have a couple openings if you want a shot at the Alder fly hatch, the most prolific hatch in the northeast. And if you know someone who wants some formal fly fishing instruction we still have a few openings in our Beginner and Intermediate fly fishing classes.

Manatees, Gators and Snook

No I didn't catch any manatees or gators, but there were plenty around where I was fishing.  I had a day off free from tennis, golf or beach responsibilities and the weather cooperated, so off I went to the canals along the Tamiami Trail in the Everglades.  There are a limited amount of places where you can usually find some fish without a guide and/or boat.  When they built the highway from Tampa to Miami in the 1920s the section from Naples to Miami cut right through the Everglades.  To raise the roadbed above the water line they dug canals which were linked to the Gulf of Mexico.  Now these canals teem with aquatic life.  The water is brackish, so there is a mix of freshwater species, such as bass, gars and alligators and saltwater species, such as snook, tarpon, and manatees.  In the winter the saltwater species are seeking refuge from the cold water in the Gulf and hang out in the canals which warm quickly.  In the video you will get a feel for the area. To get the right effect, put on your long johns, fleece and a couple heavy wool sweaters so simulate the 86F temperature. (Sorry, I couldn't resist that jab at all my frozen buddies!) Although the video shows some huge snook swimming by, the biggest I caught was about 18 inches. White and chartreuse Clousers were the favorite fly, which I discovered after trying about a dozen other patterns. Next week I hope to get out with my buddy Dick on Charlotte Harbor. While I am fishing for redfish and seatrout next weekend, I suggest you head to the Fly Fish NH Show at Pelham Fish and Game Club on Simpson Mill Road in Pelham, NH on March 2 and 3. There are lots of exhibits with fishing guides, outfitters, fly shops and organizations. Also continuous seminars and even a class on how to build a fly rod. Be sure to stop by the NH Rivers Guide booth and say hi to my partner Jim.
Show flyer.

2012 Wrap-up/2013 Preview

As you may have noticed, we have been having some strange weather the last couple years. I guess we are experiencing “The new normal.”  Last year we had a dry spring and summer – same this year.  Last year we had a late season hurricane.  Same this year.  Last year we had an early snow storm. Same this year.  Last year we had a warm, dry winter.  This year? (Maybe not so warm!)  I sometimes feel like I'm a farmer, always watching the weather; second-guessing the weatherman; worried that it will be too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry.  Having been fly fishing so long, I've learned to adjust, based on conditions.  We always hope that we can execute Plan A, but we are always plotting Plans B, C and D as contingencies.  Last year we had to implement Plan B more than once.  Over the years, we have also learned that sometimes Plan B or C can be as much or more fun than Plan A.  We have found that oftentimes trout ponds are not as severely impacted by aberrations in the weather as rivers are, making them a great “Plan B” resource.  We are fortunate that New England in general and New Hampshire in particular has some beautiful trout ponds.  These ponds are deep, clear and cold remnants of the last glaciation period. My guiding partner Jim and I haul our canoes into some ponds each summer to fish the evening rise. There is nothing like fishing to rising brook trout on a NH trout pond.  We plan to haul a boat we just purchased into a fly fishing pond that is a short hike-in from a logging road. We fished it a couple times in September and were amazed at how many darkly colored brook trout were willing to rise to our flies. Let’s hope they are as willing to be caught when we fish for them next June!

Both our June and September Androscoggin River All-inclusive Special Package trips were a lot of fun.  The Alder Fly hatch was a little early again in June. We fished over rising fish for the entire two weeks, although the last few days we really had to work hard, since the fish were full of the plentiful zebra caddis that they had been feeding on for over two weeks. The hexagenia hatch on the ponds, as well as the evening rise on the river, also provided some stellar fishing. Here is a link to the overview photo-album of the June 2012 Androscoggin Trip.

The September Androscoggin Trip was also a lot of fun.  When we arrived in mid-September the trees were all green with just a touch of color. When we left two weeks later the trees were ablaze with color marking full-foliage in The Great North Woods.  Here is the September 2012 trip photo album.

We are well underway with plans for our Northeast Fly Fishing School and Androscoggin River Trips.  Dates and information about the intermediate and beginner classes are posted on the website.  Information about the Androscoggin River trip with availability calendar is also found on the website. You will note that we are already booking spots for the June trip, and the  last two years we booked-up early, so pick your dates and let us know ASAP.  For regular guided trips, we have limited weekend availability through June, but plenty of open spots on weekdays.  If you are limited to weekends and want a trip this spring, contact us ASAP before all the spots get filled.

For the next couple months there are plenty of opportunities for you to expand your fly fishing horizons.  Jim is leading some free fly tying classes in Manchester and Hooksett, NH.  There are also a number of presentations that we have scheduled between now and the end of April. Complete list of events and dates.   Finally, Jim is the chairman of the 11^th annual Fly Fish NH Show to be held March 2 and 3 at Pelham fish and Game Club. There are booths with fly shops, fishing guides, authors and other vendors; continuous seminars and demonstrations and other activities. This is a fun event that I can highly recommend to you.  Flyer with complete details.

If you are more into online than real world activities, check my YouTube Channel for fishing videos.  

Cap and Camera Found

I got an email today from Bob, a FFNE regular.  Bob found a video camera attached to a cap on the Squannacook River a few days ago. If you lost a camera-equipped cap, just send me an email describing the hat and camera and it will be returned to you.Gerry's email

Thanks Bob!

Fish still to be had

November has seen a real mixed bag of fishing. The Squannacook and Nissitissit were real low when the late September stocking was done and stayed that way most of October. The rivers settled down pretty quickly from Sandy, and I think the fishing actually improved a bit with more water.   I caught a few fish off and on, but my buddy Dick has done pretty well, with at least two or three fish on each outing the last week or so.  He and I had "sparse pickins" at the Cocheco and Lamprey last week.  The water was really cold and the fish had spread out from the stocking - at least that is the story I'll go with for now!
I have made three trips to the Swift River in central MASS the last couple weeks and each one has been terrific.  My orange size 20 soft hackle has been the real producer, but I tied up some other patterns that have turned out just as good:  size 22 gold-wire brassie tied with orange thread: size 24 black thread body and single turn of peacock herl collar; chartreuse soft hackle;  olive soft hackle. I use 7x tippet and a tiny pinch of tungsten putty about 7 or 8 inches above the fly.  If you use an indicator, use a white one.  If you watch the fish closely, they tend to move out of their feeding lane when they see any other color than white coming downstream.
Happy Thanksgiving!    

The Woolly Daddy

This September I had a occasion to stop into the LL Cote mega-mall-of-the-north in Errol, NH.  I was cruising the fly shop to pick up some tippet and see what bargains and/or novelties they had.  The guy behind the counter (Jason?) asked how the fishing was and when I said it was good, he asked me what they were biting on.  When I named the different successful patterns, he asked me what they looked like, because they didn't have any of them in stock.  Some of the successful flies were the woolly-daddy, rootbeer woolly bugger, red soft hackle, and the bruiser-bugger (black and blue woolly bugger.)  Until then, I had not given it much thought, but a lot of my go-to flies are not commercially available to my knowledge.
As I look over my fly box, I see a lot of hybrid, mutant patterns.  A lot of times I take elements from two or three successful patterns and combine them into a new pattern.  One of my earliest and still successful examples is my Black Ghost hair wing Clouser that has been a successful landlock salmon and brook trout flies for over 15 years. My Bruiser bugger has a blue glass bead for a head and black chenille with blue flecks, a fly that is especially effective catching rainbow trout. (I read somewhere that rainbows like the color blue and now I am a firm believer.) The Wood Specials in my fly box include the classic tie, but also some wing variations: Arctic fox fur,  white maribou and white bucktail.

One of my most successful flies went through a gradual transition.  I started with the plain old brown woolly bugger.  When I tied it with orange/black variegated chenille it became the now-famous Rootbeer Bugger.  That fly gets modified with different color bead heads: brass, tungsten, coneheads, yellow or orange glass and clouser dumbell in yellow or red.  Then I started adding rubber legs and some red squirrel tail and voila! The Woolly Daddy crawfish fly.  When I mentioned this fly last week on one of my favorite blogs Millers River Fly Fishing Forum, blogger Ken Elmer asked if I would share the pattern. Here goes. I put together a little slide show on YouTube with list of material and step by step instructions.

Let me know what you think and also share any hybrid/mutant patterns that you successfully use.

October Salmon Bonanza

If you saw my YouTube Channel you saw a couple videos of fishing for broodstock Atlantic salmon in the Pemigewasset River.  These fish are excess to the breeding program to restore Atlantic salmon to the Merrimack River watershed and get stocked in April and October.  They are not terribly difficult to catch if you know how and where to target them and have the right flies. (I guess that can be said of just about all fly fishing!) The trick is to cover enough a water with enough flies to determine where they are and what they want to eat on any given day. Some days they seem to want orange, others white, yellow, green or something else. You can't have weight incorporated into the fly or added to the leader, so plenty of mending is the order of the day, with a sink-tip line an added benefit.  I'll be headed back up in a few days to find out what color fly they want and the whereabouts of their current location. Stay tuned.

In addition to the broodstock Atlantics, I was pleased to make the acquaintance of some beautiful Maine landlocked salmon and brook trout earlier this week. (See video.) We stayed at Maynard's in Rockwood.  My fishing buddies (the BSC) have stayed here a number of times and this time we caught more larger fish than any previous trip.  (At least some of us did :-)  My buddy Jim brought his drift boat and one day we drift-fished the East Outlet and the next day we drifted the Kennebce River from The Evergreens Campground in Solon to North Anson. The Evergreens has campsites, cabins, a restaurant and offers a boat launch and shuttle service, which we took advantage of. On the East Outlet most fish were caught on streamers (Wood duck orange and Woods Special were most productive for us.)  While on the Kennebec drift, I caught most fish skating a caddis dry.  Since it was so late in the season, we didn't have to contend with a lot of other anglers, in fact, we were the only boat drifting the Kennebec in Solon. I had not fished this section of river before, and I was really impressed.  In fact, in both sections of river the fish were very healthy looking.  We didn't catch any small salmon, most were 16 to 18 inches and looked to weigh two pounds or more - a lot of fun on a 5 or 6 weight rod. In between all these salmon trips, I had a few beginner-lesson trips to the Squannacook, Nissitissit and Swift Rivers.  All have received a fall stocking, so a lot of people caught their first trout on a fly this month.
This Tuesday night we will be speaking at the Squan-a-tissit TU chapter meeting in Pepperell, MA.  The topic is "The New England Fly Box - Fly patterns and the hatches they match." No admission charge, all are welcome. Hope to see you there!

Androscoggin Produces

I just got back from two weeks in Errol, NH guiding and fishing the Androscoggin River.  The dog days of summer are definitely behind us and the Andro has rebounded nicely.  Water temps started in the mid-60s and steadily dropped to the mid-50s - perfect!  It seems that every day the water temp dropped the foliage color increased, until both were at peak condition. This boded well for the fishing, which was much better than last September, in the aftermath of Irene. Early on there were some large orange caddis (about a 12), small black caddis (size 16) and a few Isonychia mayflies.  Later in the trip I saw some small tan/gray caddis. We caught a lot of fish on dries that imitate those insects.  The other big producers for me were woolly buggers (my woolly-crayfish and bruiser-woolly.) Some also were caught on soft-hackle droppers of the streamers and dries.  A couple days we had some free time, which I spent exploring/scouting/fishing. One day my partner Jim, his wife Barb and I spent a few hours drift fishing, which is shown in the video.  It was probably the best day of the trip.  We caught a lot of fish and had a great few hours on the water together.  Most of our time together is spent entertaining clients in the lodge or doing behind-the-scenes work, so this was a welcome diversion.  We also spent a couple hours fooling wild brook trout on a FFO pond.  I hope to get some time to put together some pictures/videos from that trip, as well as a few more foliage and client/fish pictures. 

TU Exit 31 Restoration Project a Winner

Last Saturday I pulled a double shift - beginner client half-day in the morning and experienced client full-day noon-to-dark.  Both were visiting NH on vacation - from Long Island NY and Arizona, respectively.  Luckily it was a pleasant day with temps in the 70s and a few clouds.  Also, there were enough fish involved to keep it interesting.  The beginner wanted a half-day lesson, so as not to be away from family all day.  We worked on casting and techniques for a while and then put the fly over a few fish.  Skating a small Stimulator drew three or four strikes without a hookup and then it all came together with a beautiful rainbow.
For the afternoon, I was going to take him to Jackson to fish the Ellis River, if the morning session turned out to be a dud.  Since we found some willing fish, no use burning daylight with a round trip over the Kanacamagus.  Since the water temp was pretty good (64F) I decided to fish the "Exit 31 Project" area.  This is one of the real NH TU success stories. Follow the link to learn more about it. (Also, has anybody fished that section lately?  Curious as to your results.)
 In any case, we fished that half-mile stretch of river in the afternoon.  Being an experienced angler, the strike-to-hookup ratio was better than the morning session.  After a late lunch we finished the day fishing a pool further upstream in Woodstock. All told, there were only three or four misses with about a dozen or more hook-ups.  From morning to night, every fish was caught on a dry - Stimulator, Elk hair caddis, or parachute ant. (Except for one on a brown softhackle dropper.) In the morning, as part of the learning process, we fished streamers and nymphs under an indicator without a strike.
Videos of both trips are found on my YouTube Channel.
PS. I am not into "spot-burning."  This report includes a lot more information than my usual reports.  I did this mainly because the Pemi below the convergence of the main stem and East Branch is a pretty large river with lots of places for the fish to hide.  Hopefully after seeing what can be done, it also might inspire others to get involved with their TU chapter and roll up their sleeves.
PPS. FYI, Still a couple spots open on the Androscoggin Special Package Trip beginning the end of this week.

Special note: The Pemigewasset TU chapter is sponsoring a Film Festival September 14-15.  Go to their website for full details.

Hardy natives

This afternoon I took a drive to the local farm stand for some corn and tomatoes.  As luck would have it, my trip took me past one of the two streams in town that are designated by NH Fish and Game as wild trout streams. Since the season on my little gem of a stream closes after this weekend, I thought I would see how the wild ones fared this summer, considering the heat and lack of rain.  We have had no appreciable rain in weeks, so the  flow is incredibly low, and there is almost no current. The water is crystal clear and if I had the patience, I could have counted the dozens of brook trout holding in the pool.  I had a small Alder fly dry on my 6'6" 2 wt rod, since I had one of my grand-kids using it yesterday fishing for sunfish. I tossed the fly into the center of the pool, gave it a couple twitches, waited a couple seconds and WHAM! Little wild brook trout came to hand.  Although there were plenty of fish and I had seen a couple of them take insects off the surface (ants?) I was concerned that I would be stressing the fish.  I stuck my stream thermometer into the inlet of the pool and it showed 58F.  No wonder this stream qualifies as a designated wild trout stream.  I caught a couple more, just to see these little gems up close and then cut off the fly and went home. I'll be swinging by there every now and then to make sure nobody is poaching them, and let them spawn in peace and quiet this fall. 

Like an oasis

If you took a map of New England and circled all the places with good river fishing this summer, you would see quite a few little circles separated by a lot of space. I spent most of the last 2 months trekking between the White Mountains and the Swift River, with a few side trips to the Connecticut River.  Even reports from the usually-dependable Farmington River don't hold a lot of positive news.  Same story everywhere - low flows and warm water.  It looks like the string of 90F days has been broken.  Can the rains of September be far behind?  (I guess I should be careful about what I wish for - remember Irene from last August:(
Last weekend I spent a few days in the Mount Washington Valley teaching fly fishing on the Ellis River and exploring a few cold water tribs on my own.  Here is a picture of a father/son team that learned the way of the skinny-stick, caught their first NH brook trout on a fly and had a great time together. Here is a link to a video of their trip. This was the third father/son(s) trip I had last week,  What a pleasure to share my passion/obsession/addiction with some folks that will have a lifetime of fun together in the outdoors.
Here is a picture of another fly fishing team that came to NH from Florida to hike the Whites and learn to fly fish. Quite a change in altitude, topology and just about any other thing you would like to compare between Florida and NH.  It is funny to think that our hottest summer here would be a cool one in Florida.
One observation I have is that even though there a limited choices for summer river fishing, there is still plenty of room to fish in solitude, if that is what you are after. There were times when I was almost ready to skip fishing a few of "my spots" because there were cars at the parking areas, but often they were not anglers, but dog walkers, hikers, picnickers or general sight-seers.  For the most part, we had the rivers to ourselves. even on weekends.

Gerry with typical "pipe rainbow"

This held true yesterday when my friend Dick and I headed down to the Swift River for a try at some nice Massachusetts stockers.  We went directly to the hatchery pipe area and one guy was leaving as we got there.  A couple times in the course of the afternoon another person stopped by for a while, but we had the whole area to ourselves most of the time.  (As we left to head north, there were over 15 cars spread along the route 9 parking spots, so the Y-pool probably did not offer much in the way of solitude!) The hatchery pipe run trout were very cooperative, too.  Quite a few nice rainbows fell victim to an assortment of soft-hackles, scuds, etc. I also got a brown and a couple brook trout to round out the variety of species.
The "Maven of the Millers" Ken Elmer, famous for his Millers River Fly Fishing Forum stopped by to share some ideas about fishing the Swift.  What a pleasure to meet in person an angler whose exploits I have followed on the Internet for a number of years.  He is as nice a guy in person as he comes across on his blog, and just as knowledgeable, too.
Well, this weekend will bring another trip north to indoctrinate another beginner in the way of the willowy wand.  Let's hope the White Mountain oasis continues to deliver its trouty bounty.
PS We still have a few openings in our Northeast Fly Fishing School class of September 8 and 9 in Henniker, NH. This is suitable not only for beginners, but self-taught anglers of a year or two who need help with casting, presentation, knots and entomology.
PPS Our Special all-inclusive package trip to the Androscoggin River the last two weeks of September still has a few prime dates open. Check the webpage for details and calendar of open dates.

Still in the rut

There have been a few isolated T-storms, but no real relief from the drought yet.  Last week I spent a day on the Ellis River and another on the Swift (MA) River.  The day in Jackson was with a hiker up from NYC who wanted to do some fly fishing before hitting the trail to an AMC hut.  As we all know, the Ellis, just like all the other rivers was running low, but had a water temp of 62F.  I showed my client the stonefly husks on the boulders and explained that we were going to skate Stimulators to see if any of the resident trout were looking up.  They were. We soon landed a couple nice rainbows and brookies. He had fly fished a couple times before, but had never skated a dry.  I taught him how to work the pocket water skating a Stimulator through all the likely looking spots.  I think he'll be trying that technique the next time he fishes the Catskills.
The other group was a father and two sons who wanted to learn the way of the skinny stick.  Since the only other cool water was 3+ hours away, I took them to the Swift River.  After going over the basics of the gear, dry land casting, knots, etc we stepped into the river for some practice with "live ammo."  I always like to start beginners in an area where they can make a backcast, safely wade and be away from the crowds.  That usually means a spot down river from route 9.  There were a few sulphurs coming off and some fish feeding on them.  We were able to capture a few flies to examine and learn how to identify it as a may fly and come up with a fly pattern to match the natural. A couple fish took a whack at their flies with no hookups.  After practicing in private all morning, we moved above route 9.  Surprisingly, we found plenty of places to fish over pods of rainbows. After a few fly changes, they each landed some nice fish on size 20 soft hackles and size 22 brassies.  We are lucky to have these cold water resources available to fish through a hot, dry summer.  Tonight I tied up some more soft hackles (even some purple ones) for my next trip to the Swift River. Still in the rut.