Happy Halloween everyone! We’ve had some pleasant late fall weather as of late. We’ve been fishing on a variety of waters for a variety of species over the past few weeks. From Landlocked Salmon to our south, to Northern Pike on the Connecticut and smallmouth bass and trout on the lower Androscoggin. Although the regular trout season here in NH is now closed there are still plenty of fishing opportunities available to the angler looking to wet a line before the snow flies!
Lize with a fine first fish on the fly rod!
Lower Androscoggin:
The lower Androscoggin in NH from Berlin to the Maine border remains open to trout and smallmouth fishing year-round. Flows on the lower Andro are slightly above average for this time of the year but have dropped over the past couple of days from 3,000 cfs to around 2, 500 cfs. With warm daytime highs and cold overnight lows you can sleep in and still catch the daily bite window. Expect the best fishing this time of the year to be from late morning to around 4pm. Warmer days will result in longer bite windows and colder days will typically mean shorter ones. The next seven days are looking prime! Fish will be most concentrated in slow deeper water as well as shallower riffles where the sun warms the water quickly. With the higher flows we’ve been doing well with streamers like Mr. Kreepo’s in olive and white, Olive, black, and brown buggers, as well as zoo cougars, Bob’s better baitfish in whitefish, and Kreelix. Nymphing larger “high protein flies” like pink squirmy worms, mops, hellgrammites, prince nymphs, eggs and golden stones has produced results. The Andro should fish well until at least Thanksgiving or when water temps fall below 40 degrees.
This late October bow ate a large hellgrammite fly.
A fine Andro smallmouth that smashed a kreelix streamer.
Pike Hunting:
While many outdoors people hunt for deer in October and November we prefer to chase an equally elusive creature, the Northern Pike. We’ve spent the last three years studying the feeding behavior of these predators. While Pike rarely feed all day long, we have found that almost every day provides bite windows in which pike do feed. We plan our days fishing around these bite windows ensuring our guests get as many chances as possible at hooking these apex predators. Lately we’ve been getting between two and six eats daily with one to two pike landed on most outings. We should see the pike bite improve with colder overnight temps. We have found that, like trout, Pike do not like large swings in weather patterns but prefer colder nights to slightly warmer days in which water temps rise, but only a degree or two. Last week we saw water temps swing from 46 to 54 degrees in just a couple days. While this slowed the pike bite, we still got chances each day. This week I’ll be experimenting with adding stinger hooks to our more productive pike flies to see if we can increase hook-up percentages. Hook-ups are always tough with a fish whose mouth is made of bones and teeth. The key to increasing hook-ups is to pause on the initial take, which often feels like a subtle tap as Pike don’t so much as bite but inhale the fly. From here the angler needs to strip fast with quick 20 strips until the is in the net. Since we are using 40lb test to 30 lb wire there is little need to worry about a pike breaking the line. Still, we hope to give anglers even better odds through experimenting with different hook configurations on our flies. With the best pike fishing still ahead of us give us a shout if you want to test your skills against these amazing fish! We are booking through Thanksgiving and will continue booking until the waters freeze up!
This pike ate right at the boat and Kevin Brandon did a fine job of keeping the pressure on!
Kevin O’brien worked hard and was rewarded with this fine 30” pike.
Arkansas 2023!:
After receiving a lot of inquiries about guided trips on the White and Norfork rivers in Arkansas, we have decided to head back to the Ozarks in March 2023. We will be staying at Copper John’s Resort in Bull Shoals Arkansas where our good friend Jeremy Hunt owns and operates Fly’s and Guides fly shop. Jeremy and his team will be helping us with larger group trips. Copper John’s resort, as well as their other property, Newlands will provide a wide variety of accommodations to ensure that you have a fishy and comfortable stay! We are currently booking dates for March 16th to the 31st so please let us know asap if you want to get on our calendar for Arkansas!
Dick with an example of some Arkansas butter. Come get some next March!
In Closing:
I hope you are all able to get out a few more times before the real cold of winter sets in. Just a heads up, if you are looking to get on the calendar for next spring now is the time to book. We are already filling dates for Late May through July so if you want to get your prime-time dates don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you to all who fished with us in 2022 we greatly appreciate your support and friendships! Looking forward to seeing you again soon!
Tight Lines,
Nate