December Report

Thank you all for making 2020 bearable!

What a year it has been. From the stress of the pandemic to the surprisingly busy guiding season. We are very thankful to all of you who cautiously made it up to fish with us this season. Thank you for helping keep us afloat through these unpredictable times. We also want to thank those who planned to fish with us but could not due to health risks. We hope you stayed healthy this year and look forward to seeing you in 2021! We want to let you know that Hill Country Guides will remain open year round for guiding through the winter months and early spring. We’ve spent the past few years exploring fishing options for late fall, winter and early spring. With our knowledge and help of our StealthCraft skinny skiff these colder months provide us opportunities to guide you over some very large fish. Speaking of which…on to the December report!

Kevin Brandon with a hard earned pike. We lost a few early in the day and finally landed one in the last hour!

We have spent the months of November and December researching New Hampshire’s pike fisheries. We took this year to really dial in this fishing because our new Stealth Skinny skiff is the perfect craft to explore these waters. The challenge of pike fishing lies in finding the best holding water for these Apex predators and being in that zone when the bite turns on. Like all apex predators pike don’t eat all the time but when they do it is some of the most intense fishing we have found. It is common to go from catching nothing for hours to landing multiple fish over 30” in a matter of minutes. Pike prefer to ambush prey and when water is cold their prey are slow moving. Fishing neutrally buoyant fallfish, trout and perch imitations with a slow strip and pause retrieve is most effective. When pike strike you will often simply feel a subtle bump as the fish inhales your fly. At this time the key is to pause before striking with a strong strip set. Once a pike is hooked strip as hard as you can until the pike is in the net. I write this advice in hopes that some of you will read it and begin to mentally prepare for your first pike trip with us. It is a challenging, exhilarating and rewarding pursuit.

HCG Guide Kevin Gordon with a fine December specimen.

As waters cool pike remain active but bite during even more specific time periods. While the fishing can be slow, we were able to land at least one pike on all of our trips through mid-December. The best fishing we’ve had this fall was last week.  This bite coincided specifically with the new moon and when we saw ideal conditions emerge for Monday, December 13th we reached out to interested clients and booked the day with Chris Piatek and his son Sabin.  Chis and Sabin landed 5 pike in the first hour of fishing with two fish at 34” and 36” respectively. While smaller pike are often quick to surrender, fish over 30” will put an 11wt to the test. Luckily both Chris and Sabin had experience fighting large fish and were able to keep the pressure on.  The bite lasted from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and then the fish shut off. We probably could have hit a bite right at dark but we were all satisfied with the day.

Sabin Piatek with a 36 “ beast caught on December 14th.

While many view fishing in the winter as a crazy endeavor I’ve fallen in love with these short but adrenaline filled days. Hitting the water during these colder months can be an incredible experience as long as you prepare for the day. Since we fish from the boat, waders are not required but heavy pants and boots are a must along with nitrile gloves to keep your hands dry and fingerless wool gloves to keep hands warm. This is a great time of the year to keep a close eye on the forecast and book days last minute that are on the warmer side. A calm day in the mid-30’s is quite comfortable if you dress correctly. We have the ability to guide on most days this winter so let us know if you see a day that looks good. We’ll keep you posted for ideal days on our Instagram page.

Chris Piatek with a girthy specimen that shreded his 10 inch fly (note the material hanging from this fish’s lip).

Looking forward:

We have one more pike trip this Tuesday December 20th. We will be out tomorrow scouting to make sure we can navigate the boat around or through any ice that has formed this week. We will probably have too much ice to target pike shortly but we will be prepared to hit pike water any time we have a thaw. That being said trout season opens on January 1st for ALL waters in the state. Last year we found some very large trout willing to eat in January. We plan to spend the first two weeks of January scouting trout water and will begin offering winter trips starting mid-January. We have a high level of confidence in this fishing and want to test out some theories before we begin guiding. We will keep you all posted as we explore winter fishing options and we recommend following our Instagram page @HillCountryGuides for even more up to date reports.

Winter is a great time to target trout that are measured in pounds rather than inches.

Gift Certificates:

We are currently offering gift certificates for the 2021 season. We can send gift certificates via pdf so if you are looking for a last minute gift that will arrive before Christmas we’ve got you covered!

Happy Holidays! Hope to see many of you in 2021!

Tight lines,

Nate

November = Time For Pike...And More Trout

While it has been a while since I have posted a report it is not due to lack of time on the water. We’ve been busy over the last month guiding over trout and scouting for pike. As is always the case with November we have had a wide range of conditions over the past month.

In Review:

The end of October provided a few opportunities to explore some new trout water and I was able to get one day on the water guiding for landlocked salmon. We were able to land one very nice hen and saw a few other nice fish come unbuttoned. A warmer than normal November has given us some unusually comfortable days for trout trips as of late. We’ve been happy to give people a late shot of vitamin D and bent rods over the last week. When not guiding over trout we’ve been exploring some of our local pike fisheries.

A landlocked salmon from this past season. We have good opportunities for these fish in April, May, and October.

Trout report:

Nymphing has been our most productive method when chasing rainbows and browns over the past few weeks. Mop flies, eggs, worms, prince nymphs and hellgrammite patterns have all been productive. Honestly any fly that has a high protein profile with good inanimate movement in the water seems to get the job done. Trout have definitely moved out of the fastest water and are concentrated in the larger pools, such as below dams and anywhere the river slows and deepens. Fishing the slower edges of bigger riffles and slow pockets near faster water has also been productive. Swinging streamers such as spruce flies, buggers, and zonkers has also been productive, especially on warmer days. With last nights rain fishing might be slow until flows start dropping. As flows drop nymphing with worms and eggs should get some eats as fish will be looking for these food items in the run-off.

A custom hellgrammite jig that has been deadly this fall.

A fine Bow from late October….view our instagram page for more recent pics!

Tom Pines with a nice brown from a mid-November float trip.

Kevin O’brien with a fine wild bow from an early November float trip.

 Pike Report

While we’ve been guiding for trout, we’ve spent our research days focused on chasing pike on the fly. Many do not realize that pike are a cold-water fish and prefer water temps below 55 degrees. In summer months pike spend most of their time hunkered down in the deepest parts of the river. As fall arrives, and waters cool they move to banks and drop offs where they can ambush baitfish that winter over in these slower warmer parts of the river. Locating areas where there are good ambush points is key to finding pike. Aquatic vegetation, drop-offs and woody debris can all provide ambush points for pike. The challenge lies in determining which type of structure pike prefer on any given day, or time of year. Sometimes they will be tight to woody debris while other times pike will prefer to hold on drop offs, still other times they will concentrate in shallows and backwaters.

HCG guide Kevin Gordon with a thick Pike. This fish maxed out the 10wt with four blistering runs.

When it comes to fly selection, Pike offer a refreshing simplicity compared to trout. In designing flies for pike, the focus lies in producing baitfish patterns that kick, hover, and stall over the bottom. While trout flies are often designed to get to depth, pike flies are designed to suspend. A suspending fly Allows the angler to animate the fly with even the slowest retrieves.  A fly that suspends well and has bulk up front to provide a good “kick” also allows anglers to slow twitch a fly when a picky fish is in pursuit. To facilitate the puppet mastery of presenting a pike fly, attention to rod and line selection is paramount. We have found that a stiff 9 or 10 weight rod, coupled with an intermediate or full sink fly line allows for the best control of pike flies, both when casting and retrieving.  The Thomas and Thomas Exocett Predator rod was designed to deliver large bulky flies with control and ease while also providing the stiffness needed to twitch the fly and set the hook on a fish that has far more teeth than flesh. The Rio Costal Quickshoot intermediate line or Scientific anglers Sonar Intermediate lines are good choices for pike that are suspended in less than 6 feet of water. To fish deeper water a 400 grain Sonar or Orvis pro streamer line will get the job done.

HCG guides Nate Hill and Kevin Gordon with the rewards of a day hunting for pike.

The art of hooking and fighting Pike is a challenging one to master. For one thing pike will often swipe at your fly multiple times before inhaling. It is very common to set the hook too quickly on the first bump, moving the fly out of the strike zone. When a fish is in pursuit try slowing the retrieve and impart small twitches to trigger a strike, rather than the erratic jerky retrieves that you would use to entice a trout. Sometimes the act of simply stopping your retrieve is the key to getting an eat. Detecting the eat is obvious when the fish is in sight but sometimes surprisingly subtle when the fish is out of visible range. Pike often take the fly coming straight towards you, giving the feeling of zero resistance on the retrieve. If you feel any change in resistance take a deep breath to give the mouth time to close and then strip HARD. Once a pike is hooked a low rod angle and hard pressure are key to keeping the hook set.

An average sized pike is in the 26”-30” inch range.

When landing pike a very large net, a pair of long pliers and hopefully barbless hooks will allow for a safe release and “fewer” teeth wounds to the angler.

 For the best bite windows look for calm cloudy days during minor moon phases. Fortunately, even on sunny days it is common to get at least a few pike to eat, especially as the sun begins to dip in the afternoon. If you’d like to take a shot at chasing pike this fall, we still have a few dates open. We will guide these trips right up until the waters freeze in December.

UPDATED COVID 19 Protocols:

With covid-19 case numbers on the rise we will continue to follow our covid guidelines. We ask that all clients wear masks when in vehicles. We are now requesting that all clients bring masks on the boat and wear them for the duration of the trip. We have previously allowed masks to be taken off when outside but feel that the nation wide rise in cases over the past few days warrants further precautions. Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions about our covid protocols.

Tight lines,

Nate

October = Streamer time

In Review

We had a great month of September throwing dries to wild rainbows, landlocked salmon and brown trout. Now it is October and we have been doing a lot more streamer fishing. While BWO hatches will still bring fish to the surface, water temps in the lower 50’s have fish hunting for bigger meals. Nymphing still has its place and larger offerings such as stoneflies, hellgrammites, eggs, worms and mops will get the job done.

Alec caught this fine wild rainbow nymphing the head of a large pool. This fish put up an incredible fight.

Client Rob Wolfchuck gave guide Nate Hill a chance at this dry fly eater in early October.

Late Season Trout Fishing

While many people associate streamer fishing with high water, fish will also take streamers in low water when conditions are favorable. In fall this is especially true as fish are hunting for larger meals to store up calories for the winter. Also, browns and brook trout are generally more aggressive as they get ready to spawn.

While rivers like the Saco have been on the lower side of average, rivers like the Andro, while not high, are still running at 1,000 cfs on average. This is plenty of water to throw larger buggers, muddlers, zonkers, and zoo cougar style flies on sink tips and full sink lines. In skinnier water or when the sun is bright, we have done better by sizing down our offerings to smaller muddlers, wood-duck herron flies, woods specials, and olive leech patterns.

Client Kevin O’brien had this fish smash a small streamer rigth as a thunderstorm was rolling in.

With just a few days left of the regular trout season it looks like a shot of rain today may give us one more chance at streamer fishing on the Saco and its tributaries. Late season rains like this are some of the best times of the year to get larger trout.

As the storm got closer we switched to a larger Mallard’s Better Baitfish pattern and this fish crushed it!

Although the regular trout season closes on October 15th, we will continue to guide on the Lower Androscoggin which remains open year-round. Late October and November offer some of the best chances of the year to chase larger trout on streamers.

Extended Season Landlocked Salmon Fishing

If we get enough rain, we will venture over to some of our lake tributaries that remain open through October 31st for landlocked salmon and rainbow trout. With the current forecast it looks like this fishing will turn on any day now.

HCG Guide Kevin Gordon with a LL Salmon caught in mid-October of 2019. This fishing should turn on any day now!

Time For Pike!

With the help of our new Stealthcraft Skinny Skiff we will be scouting out the NH pike fisheries this fall and plan to begin guiding for pike asap. We will keep you posted on our progress!

Mountain High Fly Owner Jon Zukowski with an October Pike from 2019. We’ll be hunting these fish in the coming weeks!

While the foliage is almost over the fishing season will last on. We hope you all stay safe and healthy, and keep fishing as you are able. Let us know if you want to get out before the snow flies!

Tight Lines,

Nate

Tight lines,

Nate

Late September Report ...Rain Incoming!

UPDATE

The last week of September provided some great dry fly -fishing opportunities. With water temps in the mid to upper 50’s the trout have been looking up during our afternoon Isonychia hatches. Right now, we are seeing good dry fly bites between the hours of 2 and 6 pm on most days. We’ve done well with pheasant tail nymphs and Nate’s soft hackle Iso early in the hatch. Grey and purple CDC deer hair Compara-Duns in size 12-14, along with parachute Purple Haze dries are taking fish when the duns are on the water. On cloudy days smaller streamers like Woods specials, which do well to imitate small brook trout and emerging October Caddis, have taken some good fish. Olive buggers, muddler minnows, and leeches have also done well.

A recent bow that took a Wood Special Streamer .

Looking Forward

With big rain in the forecast for this week we should have some good streamer windows on the Saco and Andro. Get your seven weights out as this window can be brief. Bright flies like Zoo Cougars and Drunk and Disorderly streamers should do the trick. October is a great time to target our larger browns and rainbows as they become more reckless in searching for meals before the colder months. If streamers aren’t your thing be sure to have some prince nymphs, San Juan/ squirmy worms and eggs on hand as the fish will feed on these brighter colored flies during run-off. We especially prefer brighter nymphs in the fall as they seem to help fish distinguish them from all of the leaf litter in the flow. As waters drop from heavy rains, we should continue to see good dry fly fishing. As October progresses BWO’s will begin to dominate over the larger Iso’s. We have waters open year-round and we have dates available. Let us know if you want to chase wild bows on dry flies this fall.

Tight lines,

Nate

This healthy wild rainbow slammed a Nate’s Iso Soft Hackle on the strip!

This wild rainbow sipped a well presented compara-dun during a recent afternoon Isonychia hatch.

September Report Fall Fishing Is Here

It is our favorite time of the year here in the White Mountains. September means a decrease in crowds, cooling waters and more active trout on our larger waters. We had a very good cold spell the last couple weeks and our water temps dropped faster than normal meaning an early start to fall fishing conditions. We quickly shifted from wade fishing early mornings to float fishing the larger waters with bite windows falling from 9am to as late as 2pm on some days. We have found good fishing on all days by being patient in waiting for the bite. Here is what’s going on with all of our waters.

Recent wild rainbow caught by our Client Mark Varveris. The bite on the Andro has been hot on most days.

Saco River:

The Saco becomes a more challenging fishery in the fall. The larger terrestrials are still around but fish also begin to key in on midges and BWO’s on cooler days. Fish finer tippets and emerger patterns such as small klinkhammers when the fish are stubborn. Warmer days this time of the year can mean some of the best dry fly fishing of the year. Be sure to have a good selection of cinnamon, chocolate and honey colored ants in size 14-22. When the ants come off just about every fish in the river will eat them. The larger female ants will come off early in the afternoon followed by the smaller chocolate colored males later in the day. Fishing can be challenging when the males hit the water as they literally coat the surface and fish can pick and choose which ones they want to eat. If you don’t see any ants a good hopper imitation should do the trick. This has been one of the best hopper seasons we have ever seen!

The Andro:

The Andro is coming into prime-time fishing right now. With low flow fish are concentrated in the bigger riffles, deeper runs and pools. We have been seeing the Isonychia mayfly hatch starting between 10am and 2pm depending on the day. Cooler sunny days mean later hatches but great evening bites. Cloudy days, especially warmer ones mean longer bite windows. Along with Isos we are also seeing some good hatches of Rhyacophilidae (green caddis). We enjoy running both olive caddis larvae and pheasant tails to see which one the fish prefer. On most days they like the pheasant tail best but sometimes the larvae prevail. Later in the evenings we are seeing some large golden stones coming off. September is a good time to fish these bigger bugs as both dries and swung nymphs. Bottom line, now is the time to book your fall float trip! We still have dates available through October but they are going fast!

Mark with another fine wild rainbow from his second trip with us this past week.

Mountain Streams:

September can be hit or miss on our small streams. If you hit them on a warm day the fishing can be great, on cooler days wait until late in the day for the bite to turn on and don’t be surprised by slow fishing. An orange stimulator can work well to mimic October caddis which sporadically hatch this time of the year. Be sure to carry some hi vis flying ants as these are around on warmer days as well.

Wild Brook Trout Waters:

The slow spring fed streams and beaver ponds are still fishing but the fish are already on the move to their fall spawning locations. Don’t expect to find fish in the same lies they were in during the summer and be prepared to cover a lot of fishless water before finding areas of high fish densities. Be aware of fish redds and paired up trout and try to avoid fishing over spawning fish. Small ponds are your best bet right now as the fish tend to spawn later and are not migratory like river trout. Be sure to carry some brighter small streamers like baby brook trout and woods specials as wild brook trout become more piscivorous in the fall.

A Wild Native Brook Trout from one of our spring fed streams.

Trophy Trout Waters:

Right now the larger trout are active mostly during evenings. We are waiting for some rains to help trigger these fish to feed more aggressively. The best time to target trophy trout is in October. Although large hatches or ant swarms can mean big fish during the day, and we always enjoy the surprise when we get them. Hooking a trophy trout isn’t nearly as hard as landing one. When you see the pictures of the big fish keep in mind that many others are lost in the process of getting the ONE. October is prime time for hunting Alpha trout.

A large male brown caught on an Alpha trout hunt last October.

Looking forward:

The cool late summer weather should mean good float fishing from now through October. With low water nymphing and fishing dries and dry dropper combos will be the ticket to get into fish consistently. If we do get a good rain the streamer bite will turn on. While we are already seeing bites shift into the afternoon hours due to the recent cold snap, warmer days will result in earlier bites in the near future ie. today and tomorrow. As fall progresses and days cool bites will shift to the warmest hours of the day. By late September the majority of fish will be caught between 10am and 4pm. This fall we plan to do more exploration of NH’s pike fisheries. We are excited to begin offering pike trips this fall. Our new Stealthcraft skinny skiff will make this fishing even more productive. All of our guides calendars are filling fast for what looks to be one of our busiest falls on record, so book now if you want to get a date!

Tight Lines,

Nate