It is interesting how many people do not know that the White Mountain National Forest crosses over into Maine. Not just the Evans Notch area but a section that contains several waters managed by Maine Inland Fisheries for trout. Specifically brook trout.
As the Jeep turned off the pavement, the driver reached down and shifted into four-wheel drive. The road into the remote pond had deteriorated over the years and the days of using two-wheel drive and low clearance vehicles had long passed.
The first grasshoppers were spotted in the garden this week. That sighting quickened the pulse of this trout angler. Fly fishing with a grasshopper pattern is the last chance to cast big meaty dry flies for this fishing season.
Over the 50-odd years of fly fishing, there have been many fly patterns studied and tied with the hope of catching a fish. Some of these flies are one-hit wonders. They fish great for one season and catch nothing the next year. There are the tried and true patterns. These flies seem to work …
Musings and observations while anglers enjoy one of the nicest Julys that have occurred in recent memory.
Every year, after we have been operating the shop for seven days a week, ten hours per day and we return to the shop being closed on Tuesday, it has been tradition to take the day and go to Pittsburg and fish the favorite pond of my dad. As we have gotten older, it has turned into an overnig…
Happy Fourth of July and happy birthday, America. Many of you have travelled great distances to fish the beautiful waters of the Mount Washington Valley.
Fly anglers experience certain anticipatory events over the course of a fishing season. Ice out. Hendrickson hatch. Mirus hatch. Alder flies. But the most anticipated event of the season is the hatching of our largest mayfly, the hexagenia limbata.
Troutman pulled into the Old Timer’s driveway. He shut off the engine on the jeep and sat for a moment. For many years the two had spent Father’s Day fishing. Great fun and great stories always seemed to happen. Troutman was hopeful that this year would be no different.
Every fishing season is different. River conditions vary based on snowpack, rainfall, and air temperatures. Pond conditions vary as well. Ice thickness and the number of warm sunny days will dictate how and when a pond turns on to memorable fishing.
Today is free fishing day in New Hampshire. Anyone can fish in the state’s waters without a license. It is a day funded by the excise tax that anglers pay on every piece of fishing equipment they purchase. Yes, anglers pay for many of the angling opportunities that we all enjoy.
There is the memory of my dad sitting at the kitchen table and spooning coffee into my glass of milk and opening the paper bag and sliding a chocolate-glazed doughnut across the table. That was the “breakfast of champions” before we would head out on a search for trout.
Memorial Day weekend is the start of the prime fishing season in the Mount Washington Valley. No matter what your preferred fish is, trout, bass or pickerel, this weekend has options for all these great gamefish.
“Where ya’ been?” said Salmonman as Troutman walked through the camp door.
Musings and observations while waiting for the waters to warm and the trout to come to life.
One of the great things about having grandsons is being able to join them on their life journey. Getting to share their highs and their lows. Sharing wisdom with the hindsight that makes them better human beings and laughing along with them as they try to develop and grow.