End of August Report

It is the time of year when the first hints of fall become evident. On the trout streams this comes in the form of cooling waters and fall hatches. This week we saw our first ant swarm of the season. I've probably written and talked more about the fall ant swarms than any other "bug event". Although not truly a hatch the mating of fall ants triggers perhaps the most prolific feeding frenzy of the year in almost all of our area waters. These ants come out on humid late summer/ early fall days and according to my records begin on or around the last week of August. In-fact it seems that the date of August 24th is often when I see the first of these bugs.

Although prolific when they are mating these ant swarms are unpredictable as they have more to do with weather conditions than time of the year. That being said it is always a good idea to fish cinnamon ants in sizes 18-14 and chocolate ants in size 18-26 this time of the year. Even if you don't see them on the water trout remember these delicious bugs and take notice.

A small stream wild rainbow trout taken on a cinnamon flying ant by client Frank Virnelli 

When the ants aren't on the water there are a plethora of other bugs for the trout to choose from. Yesterday my client Jack Sins and his sons Nate and Cam did well all day fishing October caddis imitations including orange stimulators on the surface and October caddis nymphs underneath. Jack even had a large rainbow break his line when he finessed a drift by a downed tree stump. 

Cam admiring a nice brook trout that ate an October Caddis nymph.

On the Androscoggin river the isonychia have been hatching and should become more prolific as we head into September. These large mayflies hatch sporadically throughout the day and fish take advantage of every one they happen by.  Isonychia nymphs are one of the fastest swimming mayfly nymphs and fish will often take them as they swim to the surface for emergence. I like to dead drift a heavy isonychia nymph under a buoyant Purple haze dry fly, I then let the flies swing at the end of the drift. I complete this presentation with some quick strips before re-casting. Often times fish will strike on the last strip. 

A 14" wild rainbow caught this week by client Richard Johnson. taken on a swung Isonychia nymph.

This time of the year it is also a good idea to keep some large golden stonefly nymphs and dries in your box. It is easy to forget these bugs as they tend to emerge right at dark but if you see just one bumbling through the air it is a good idea to tie one on. It is a rare occasion that I don't get action on these bugs when I see even just one on the water. 

The forecast for this week calls for daytime highs in the 70's with lows in the 40's and 50's.  This should drop water temps in a hurry and get fish on their fall feeding routine.  Unlike waters in southern New England our rivers are at average and ideal flows for fishing. Some rain mid week should help keep things that way. Fall is our favorite time to guide in the White Mountains. Days are cooler, fish are active, crowds are low, and the best fishing is often in the middle of the day. We are booking fast for September but still have some dates available. October still has availability as well but will fill quickly. Don't hesitate to call if you'd like to enjoy some great fall fishing! Below are some memories from last fall! Based on what we found this spring, 2016 should see some even bigger trout.

Tight lines,

Nate

End of July/ Early August report

It has been a great season so far here in the Whites. Last week I had the pleasure of guiding my father and brother for our annual day on the water. Last year dad landed the biggest fish so he was gung ho to repeat that feat. He told my brother, "Okay today it doesn't matter who catches the most fish, the winner is the one who catches the biggest fish." After my brother landed this solid brown trout my dad got a little worried.

"Okay the winner is the one who catches the biggest fish of the most species...so if you catch the biggest brook and rainbow trout I win." My dad did get a couple good browns but none that matched Jordan's fish.

In the afternoon the  sun came out and so we moved to some smaller streams. We started off with some smaller wild brook trout and then dad missed some bigger brookies and rainbows in a larger pool. Finally landing a small rainbow and brook 8" brook trout he was ahead in those categories and made sure we knew about it. Of course Jordan quickly caught a bigger brook trout and rainbow to shut dad up. Dad wanted to keep fishing but Jordan said he was ready for dinner...quitting while he was  ahead. 

As of late the fishing been challenging. My brother and father made it count when the fish struck landing 4 out of 5 browns that cautiously ate their flies. The best fishing has been early and late in the day when the sun is off the water. Clouds during mid-day have provided decent action as well. With sunny bright conditions your best bet is to micro nymph some of the smaller streams. Takes have been very light with small indicators or high stick nymphing techniques being crucial to success. With cloud cover terrestrial patterns have been taking fish. Fishing tight to boulders and in the head of bigger pools is the key to finding success with these flies. 

A small stream brown taken on a beetle pattern cast to the edge of an undercut boulder. 

The good news is that there are plenty of fish around. The wild rainbow trout populations seem to be doing well this year and when we get some rain fishing should improve dramatically. I spent the last two days floating the Andro and noticed that green caddis and Isonychia hatches are already starting. These fall hatches should continue to improve heading towards September. On the Saco there are plenty of brown trout around if you can find the deeper pools and colder water. Again with any rain we will see fish activity increase.

Wild rainbows like this have been common in the small streams this season.

Typically August is a big transitional month. Long days get shorter and temps cool towards the latter half of the month. We should start seeing more flying ants as the month presses on. As waters cool more isonychia, BWO and October caddis will activate. If you are looking to book a trip for August let us know asap as dates are limited. September and October dates are available, please book in advance as these are two of our most popular months. 

Tight Lines,

Nate

Mid-July Report

Fishing has been good to great on our mountain streams, and bigger rivers. Cold fronts over the past few days provided some hot fishing for clients. We are now into terrestrial season with big chernobyl ants, beetles, and regular ants all taking fish. Another find has been that the trout are keying in on Dragon flies. Fishing a dark colored chernobyl ant with an active retrieve has been effective in taking fish keying on these large bugs. 

When the fish are not coming to the surface dead drifting and stripping buggers, and small to mid sized streamers has done the trick. On the smaller streams we have found great success using small indicators above buggers and stonefly nymphs.

Client Jacob Meder recently nymphed up this chunky 15" wild rainbow out of a small mountain stream. 

While on the bigger rivers a deep nymph rig with a bugger and small nymph like a serendipity or Pheasant tail has been a bread and butter strategy. 

On the Ellis Caddis have been important with both nymphs and dry fly versions taking fish. We've had good success with an X-Caddis both dry and wet. 

Thunderstorms have provided pulses of water that get the fish more aggressively eating streamers on all waters. It looks like we have another round of these coming through tomorrow. 

We have a few dates still open for July and more in August so if you are looking to wet a line and learn more about summer trout strategies give us a call! Here are some more pics from the last week. 

June Wrap up and July report

Well it has been some time since we've written a fishing report. Honestly it has been hard to find time with the amount of guiding we've been doing. We've put over 50 trips on the books over the past 30 days. In that time we've seen some great fishing. In fact this year has been the year for big fish. With more fish over 18" than we've seen in the past and our biggest client caught fish to date. Our regular client Charlie Houghton landed this behemoth 28" rainbow trout on an Alder fly on June 17th.  

A fish like this would be amazing to catch on any fly and Charlie was able to get her on a dry fly. While fish like these don't usually eat small bugs and even more rarely take dry flies a prime hatch can bring them up. Prior to this trip the Alderflies had not arrived. However I'd been finding big fish eating alder fly nymphs a few days prior and with a warm front coming through I predicted that the 17th would be the day. Armed with a variety of Alder patterns we headed north. As we launched the boat the trees were coated in Alder flies. During the first half of the day the rises were sporadic and we honestly only landed one 16 inch salmon. Then after lunch the wind picked up and the fish zoned in. In two hours we landed a dozen fish from 14-20" With his arm getting sore from fighting so many large trout Charlie said we should probably head out. But there was one more pool I wanted to explore before rowing to the take out. As we dropped downstream I slid the anchor out and watched for rises in the slack water of an eddy. I saw some splashy rises...and then I saw the head....then dorsal...then tail of this fish. Not only was she feeding on top, she was gorging. Making rises every few seconds. Charlie made a good cast and I swore I saw the fish eat his fly, but when he struck there was nothing there. Fearing he might have missed the fish I told him to cast again. This time I got a good bead on the fly and watched the fish swallow it. Charlie got a solid downstream hookset and the fish rumbled to life, shooting first upstream then moving downstream and burrowing deep. We managed to pull her up and then she shot around the boat looping the line around the stern. I dove into the back, flicking the line off and Charlie expertly side pressured the fish under the boat and back into the eddy. For what seemed an eternity we worked to pry the fish off the bottom, every time I went to stab with the net she would dive and I would pull away. Finally I got the net under her...but my fish-pond nomad could barely hold her girth and she nearly flopped out. We agreed I'd hold the fish and Charlie would shoot. Hoping we could get a couple of good shots without dropping or hurting the fish. We are happy to say she swam away to be caught another day.

Along with this fish we have seen many other large trout caught on dries, nymphs and streamers. Here are a few.

Along with these big fish we've caught good numbers of trout as well. Of course there have been some slower moments but the key to fishing out of the boat is to stay positive and know that if the fish aren't biting in the moment...they will at some point. I can't tell you how important timing is...especially when chasing these bigger fish. Large trout don't feed all the time but if you are patient and focused you will be ready for when they are.

So June was one for the record books and July is looking good as well. With a cold front hitting us today water temps should drop and fish should become even more active. On the hotter days we've been impressed to see trout rising to dragon fly and damselfly dries and nymphs. A large Chernobyl ant works well to trick fish on the dries and buggers swung and stripped work for the nymphs. With this cold front look to see more mayfly activity with Isonychia and bwo's both a possibility. On the Saco fish will be on the streamer bite if and when we get a bump in flows. Bob's better baitfish, zoo cougars and Drunk and Disorderlies will all take fish. At lower flows we are now into terrestrial season on the Saco, ants, beetles, hoppers, crainflies etc, will all be important from now through early September. If you are looking to experience more of fly fishing in the white mountains we have dates available from now through November. Do be sure to book soon as we are getting calls daily.

Tight lines,

Nate

late May Report

Well the season has gotten off to a great start here in the Whites. After a week of guiding over wild brook trout and lake run rainbows I was able to get out on the Androscoggin River on Saturday May 21st with local anglers Steve and Woody. I had a hunch the caddis and mayfly hatches might be on and I was right! We were on fish from the get go with browns and rainbows in the boat from the first anchor drop. As we fished a low pressure system began to creep in and the nymph bite slowed down, so I had Woody switch to a white streamer to see if we could find a big brown. 

One thing I learned while fishing in Arkansas is that big brown trout are not on the same feeding cycles as other trout. Large browns prefer larger meals so their feeding is not always dictated by bug activity.

As we fished down the river I coached Woody on the retrieve and how to focus casts in front of the boat. As we came upon a deep log filled pool Woody had his rhythm down and sent a cast just ahead of the boat tight to an overhanging tree. On the third strip there was a jarring strike and a golden brown flash under the frothy flow. Woody kept pressure but when the brown ran towards the trees he eased up, "Pull him out!" I yelled. " You've got twelve pound test on there." With confidence in his tippet strength Woody muscled the fish to the boat and we netted this 20" brown. 

Woody with his Andro gold bar...

Browns were hungry from the put in.

As we floated down We missed a few big rainbows on the streamer and then a good caddis hatch hit and we landed some nice rainbows and browns on dries. 

This wild rainbow made three blistering runs and two cartwheels before being landed.

On Monday I guided Paul of Montreal Canada. Paul was interested in learning the Saco river and how to dry fly fish...two things that go together nicely. We started off at 7am on a large pool that I know holds large trout. These fish were rising from the get go but getting a cast to them was a challenging matter. After working on casting to these large trout for about an hour the wind picked up and the bite slowed. I told Paul that we could hit some wild brook trout water and, if he was interested break after lunch and take the boat out in the evening for better casting positions. Paul agreed. After arranging a shuttle and getting the keys to my private take out we met back up at 4:30 pm.  

The fishing was slow to start but around 6:30 we began seeing rises, and a solid caddis hatch materialized. We found a good pod of risers and Paul worked on perfecting his dry fly presentation. After tricking a few that came un-buttoned Paul got tight for good and landed his first dry fly trout, a solid 13" brown. Soon the caddis hatch transitioned to a mayfly spinner fall and Paul missed a few then landed another fish on the mayflies. Paul is excited to continue dry fly fishing in the future.

Paul's first trout on a dry fly

Tuesday I guided Clint from Austin Texas. With an unsettled weather forecast I elected we meet earlier instead of planning to fish until dark. After landing one rainbow right off the bat the fishing slowed. This didn't surprise me much as there were no bugs in the air. The Andro turns on and off like a light switch with bug activity and it is usually a matter of switching to streamers until you see bugs begin to pop. After landing a wild rainbow on a streamer we began seeing caddis come off the water, and a dead drifted and swung caddis nymph resulted in a dozen rainbows. As a low pressure system exited and windy high pressure set in the fishing slowed a bit but we still managed a few more rainbows and a gorgeous wild brook trout on the nymphs as well as a silvery wild rainbow on a caddis dry fly. Clint was pleased to catch fish on nymphs, Dries and Streamers and I was very impressed that he didn't lose any flies throughout the entire trip. 

A rare wild brook trout from the Androscoggin 

So that's what the fishing has been like in a nut shell. Good hatches should continue into the future with warmer days meaning solid grey drake mayfly hatches on the Saco with Caddis and assorted mayflies on both the Saco and Andro. As July approaches we can look forward to golden stoneflies on the Andro and great Terrestrial fishing on the Saco.

If you haven't booked your trip with us yet this year we still have dates available with Steve and our newest guide Tom for June. Nate has availability from July through November. We look forward to seeing you catch fish this year!

Tight Lines,

Nate