It's a little long but hopefully a worthwhile read.
This is rugged, beautiful country with absolutely no cell phone coverage (I just loved that). A little background on the area first, before the fishing report.
We were in the town of New Hampshire, several miles North of the 45<SUP>th</SUP> Parallel (the halfway point between Equator and North Pole). It’s the last town in NH before the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
Pittsburg</st1:City>, <ST1
New Hampshire</st1:State></ST1
<ST1
Quebec</ST1</st1:State> border and this area is actually north of the VT/Quebec border. There are more miles of snowmobile trails and also logging roads than miles of paved road. Believe it or not I felt like this was where I was meant to be!
<O
We stayed in a small cabin at Lopstick Lodge and Cabins, right on the shores of 160ft deep <ST1<st1laceName w:st="on">First</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Connecticut</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Lake. </st1laceType></ST1It’s an 8-9 hour drive from our area but well worth it. The river and lakes are totally coldwater fisheries; landlocked salmon, brook, brown, & rainbow trout and lake trout too. The area is teeming with moose, eagles, osprey, fox, porcupines, river otter, etc. It’s also home to some beautiful wildflowers and several insectivorous plant species. Tamarack swamps and spruce forests abound. With the <ST1<st1:State w:st="on">Connecticut</st1:State></ST1 lakes and river, countless streams, & backcountry trout ponds you could fish this place for weeks and not fish the same water twice!
<O
With record rainfall just about all season naturally they have experienced record high flows, making fishing difficult most of this year. We arrived Wednesday to better but still high flows. But the weather finally broke for them, it was actually sunny & low 80s until Saturday and Sunday. They finally began to reduce flows to safer wading levels on Friday afternoon (all bottom release dams on the <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1Connecticut</st1:State> lakes.) The flows in the trophy stretch made wading tough and much more difficult to slow the damn fly down long enough for a fish to see and take it!
<O
We drifted a lower part of the <ST1Connecticut River</ST1 trout water on Thursday. It was our first-ever driftboat trip and really my dad’s first-ever flyfishing experience. Our guide, Bill Bernhardt, was so damn knowledgeable, friendly, and very patient. Nothing rattled him. The fish were finicky for that time of year and rather than larger nymphs and streamers we needed tiny nymphs, dries and emergers. We fished nothing but tandem rigs on the float trip, even my rookie Dad. For me the best combo was a #16 light cahill trailed by a #18 or #20 black ant or “almost BWO” emerger. All but 2-3 fish came on the trailing emerger. We also swung woolly buggers trailed by tiny nymphs on sinking lines.
<O
On the float I worked fairly hard to honestly land a dozen hard-fighting and gorgeously colored rainbows and brookies. I tried so damn hard to complete the trout slam, but my Dad caught the only brown trout- a pretty wild brown to boot! The biggest fish landed on the float was my 15” inch rainbow. I did lose one early that made the guides eyes get real big! Favorite catch was one of my last. After at least 15 casts to this fish, it finally took my light Cahill… after I made a perfect 60ft cast to put the fly 2ft in front of the fish. Not only did I surprise myself with the cast but the guide was just as excited, then the fish slammed the fly to seal the deal! We started at 8AM and didn’t get off the water until 8:30PM! Our shore lunch of steak and fixin’s was superb, including a terrific salad and appetizers. I was pleased with the fish I caught but more happy that my Dad(Bill) landed 4 trout in finicky conditions. He probably lost at just as many by fumbling with his reel and line while the fly was on the water. The phrase of the day from the guide became “Bill, set the hook! Set the HOOK!”
<O
Our guide also gave us more tips and places to try on our own the rest of the trip. The next couple days we explored & fished some wild pocket water and runs and continued to pickup brookies and rainbows before I got into several landlocked salmon on Saturday. The fishery is just so awesome and diverse and the people so down to earth and friendly. I already made plans to return, hopefully annual spring and fall trips.
This is rugged, beautiful country with absolutely no cell phone coverage (I just loved that). A little background on the area first, before the fishing report.
We were in the town of New Hampshire, several miles North of the 45<SUP>th</SUP> Parallel (the halfway point between Equator and North Pole). It’s the last town in NH before the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
Quebec</ST1</st1:State> border and this area is actually north of the VT/Quebec border. There are more miles of snowmobile trails and also logging roads than miles of paved road. Believe it or not I felt like this was where I was meant to be!<O
We stayed in a small cabin at Lopstick Lodge and Cabins, right on the shores of 160ft deep <ST1
<st1laceName w:st="on">First</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Connecticut</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">Lake. </st1laceType></ST1It’s an 8-9 hour drive from our area but well worth it. The river and lakes are totally coldwater fisheries; landlocked salmon, brook, brown, & rainbow trout and lake trout too. The area is teeming with moose, eagles, osprey, fox, porcupines, river otter, etc. It’s also home to some beautiful wildflowers and several insectivorous plant species. Tamarack swamps and spruce forests abound. With the <ST1<st1:State w:st="on">Connecticut</st1:State></ST1 lakes and river, countless streams, & backcountry trout ponds you could fish this place for weeks and not fish the same water twice!<O
With record rainfall just about all season naturally they have experienced record high flows, making fishing difficult most of this year. We arrived Wednesday to better but still high flows. But the weather finally broke for them, it was actually sunny & low 80s until Saturday and Sunday. They finally began to reduce flows to safer wading levels on Friday afternoon (all bottom release dams on the <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1
Connecticut</st1:State> lakes.) The flows in the trophy stretch made wading tough and much more difficult to slow the damn fly down long enough for a fish to see and take it! <O
We drifted a lower part of the <ST1
Connecticut River</ST1 trout water on Thursday. It was our first-ever driftboat trip and really my dad’s first-ever flyfishing experience. Our guide, Bill Bernhardt, was so damn knowledgeable, friendly, and very patient. Nothing rattled him. The fish were finicky for that time of year and rather than larger nymphs and streamers we needed tiny nymphs, dries and emergers. We fished nothing but tandem rigs on the float trip, even my rookie Dad. For me the best combo was a #16 light cahill trailed by a #18 or #20 black ant or “almost BWO” emerger. All but 2-3 fish came on the trailing emerger. We also swung woolly buggers trailed by tiny nymphs on sinking lines. <O
On the float I worked fairly hard to honestly land a dozen hard-fighting and gorgeously colored rainbows and brookies. I tried so damn hard to complete the trout slam, but my Dad caught the only brown trout- a pretty wild brown to boot! The biggest fish landed on the float was my 15” inch rainbow. I did lose one early that made the guides eyes get real big! Favorite catch was one of my last. After at least 15 casts to this fish, it finally took my light Cahill… after I made a perfect 60ft cast to put the fly 2ft in front of the fish. Not only did I surprise myself with the cast but the guide was just as excited, then the fish slammed the fly to seal the deal! We started at 8AM and didn’t get off the water until 8:30PM! Our shore lunch of steak and fixin’s was superb, including a terrific salad and appetizers. I was pleased with the fish I caught but more happy that my Dad(Bill) landed 4 trout in finicky conditions. He probably lost at just as many by fumbling with his reel and line while the fly was on the water. The phrase of the day from the guide became “Bill, set the hook! Set the HOOK!”
<O
Our guide also gave us more tips and places to try on our own the rest of the trip. The next couple days we explored & fished some wild pocket water and runs and continued to pickup brookies and rainbows before I got into several landlocked salmon on Saturday. The fishery is just so awesome and diverse and the people so down to earth and friendly. I already made plans to return, hopefully annual spring and fall trips.
Last edited by a moderator:
