Overview:
Conditions this June have been all over the board. From high water and cold temps to hot temps and average flow we have done a lot of work to figure out the ever changing behavior of our trout. Our clients have worked hard as well and have landed some impressive fish on both floats and wade trips. See below for a synopsis on our fisheries right now.
Androscoggin River:
Fishing on the Androscoggin river has been good overall. The fishing has been most consistent further north where flows have been most stable. That being said flows have recently become more stable on the lower river and we have had some great success on recent trips there. Right now we are seeing a variety of golden stonefly, green and tan caddis fly, sulfur and red quill mayfly hatches depending on conditions. Terrestrials like dragonflies and beetles are filling in the space between hatches. The Alder fly hatch has yet to start as of this writing but should begin any day now. Look to fish the nymphs this week to see if the hatch is on it's way.
Charlie Houghton caught this guy on a stonefly nymph.
Client Shelly Seagers landed this beauty on a dry fly!
Cleint Robin Taylor of England with one of many big fish he landed to complete an Andro grand slam!
Robin Taylor with his biggest landlocked salmon of the day.
Saco River:
The Saco river has seen a slow start to dry fly fishing this spring. While we have had some epic hatches the trout have taken their time in looking up. As I write this more positive reports have been coming in as to more rising fish. Our guess is that the major fluctuations in temperature and flow had the fish in a funk for a bit. With another rainstorm today it will be interesting to see how this effects the fish. The silver lining in all of this is that if you are willing to forego numbers of fish and hunt for big fish these higher flows bring out the bigger wild and holdover browns. With freshly stocked trout in the water don't be afraid to throw large patterns up to 8". One of our friends recently watched an eight pound brown blow up on a school of new brook trout!
Client Garry Kolanda with a wild Saco River brown.
Ellis River:
The Ellis river has been slow as well. Flow changes due to dam construction put the fish in a funk but it appears the dam has been fixed and fish are being taken on a more regular basis. Fish are well spread out through the river and searching for good habitat vs. trying to track down exactly where the state stocks will pay off in the long run. Caddis hatches have been picking up along with yellow sally mayflies. Streamers have been deadly on colder cloudy days.
Smaller streams:
Our smaller streams are fishing well right now especially later in the day. While these streams fish better than the bigger rivers middle of the day you will still catch more and bigger fish later in the day when hatches are more prolific and sun angle is low. The other day we were on a bigger mountain stream and fished through a good pool around 4pm. We landed one fish the first time through and moved upstream. On our way back downstream we fished through again at 6 pm and caught 6 more trout. Needless to say timing can be everything.
Summary:
If you were unable to book a trip with us this spring we have dates available through July and August. With a rainy forecast our fishing should continue to improve as we get into the summer months. Thanks to all who have booked with us this season. It is turning out to be another record breaking year of trips!
Tight lines,
Nate