July Report...plenty of water these days!

Hi all, after a productive May and first half of June we have had a good deal of rain through early July. While this has forced us to be creative with where and when we fish, the fish are happy and well fed. I always try to look at the silver lining when we have challenging high water conditions. The fish can be harder to get to and bite windows are less predictable. Fish have a constant stream of food and feed on the rise and fall of each rain event. With low water conditions bite windows are predictable as fish feed on a predictable hatch schedule. When flows are constantly changing fish feed on a wider range of food items and hatches are less predictable and effected more by weather. For example last week we saw fish feeding on a black caddis hatch all day through a light rain. Conversely on this past saturday fish were only eating on the surface very sporadically in the morning and late in the day with nymphs taking most fish early and late as well.

We had some very good small stream fishing last week as flows abated and fish were eager to rise to dries on the first casts into every pool. Once they wised up to dries we were able to get them on BWO nymphs. As of this writing our small streams are back on the rise and it looks like we’ll have to wait a few days for flows to drop back to fishable flows as we are seeing a couple inches of rain tonight.

During high water we’ll look to target bass ponds as well as wild brookies in beaver ponds. We’ll also keep an eye on the dam controlled sections of the Andro and Connecticut as these sometimes provide fishable flows even during high water periods.

So back to that silver lining. The best conditions for fishing are not always the best conditions for fish. Low water means higher predation rates, warmer water temps and less food for trout. Conversely while high flows make fishing more difficult fish are well fed and protected in higher flows. While some smaller fish may perish in extremely high water, trout are accustomed to changing water levels and move to slower water and hydraulic cushions when flows rise. Higher water provides an influx of food items and long periods of high water actually grow larger fish. Considering that trout gain the majority of their weight from May through October these high flows during the peak of growing season will mean we’ll have some fat trout to target once flows abate.

While August can be a challenging time of the year, we will likely have prime time fishing this August whenever flows drop to fishable levels. Fortunately our mountain streams are high gradient and flows drop quickly even after big rain events. We are talking one to three days between rain events for flows to drop to fishable levels.

While we try to get out and find good fishing conditions for our guests whenever possible we always allow cancellations or postponements when conditions are simply too unsafe or unproductive. That being said we encourage you to be open minded and take the advice of our guides. We’ll have some really good fishing whenever flows allow this summer. We look forward to getting you out whenever possible!

Tight lines and pray for a little less rain!

Nate

A nice dry fly fish from late June.

A fat streamer eater from one of many rainy days this June.

Late May Report

What we’ve been seeing:

We have seen a lot of good fishing since my last report. Flows have been ideal on most rivers, with the Andro fishing best as of this writing. Hatches of Hendricksons and tan caddis have been in full swing with some golden stones in the mix as well.

This landlocked salmon gave us a run for our money! We weren’t as lucky when the next big fish ran straight up a rapid and broke us off!

Over the past few weeks we’ve been guiding both the upper and lower andro and the fishing has been good to great. Bite windows have been typically 8am to about 11am and 2pm to 4 or 5pm. On low pressure days the bite windows seem to turn on and off more randomly with good fishing most of the day. We have seen a couple of good dry fly windows on cloudy days. We had a good Hendrickson hatch on the lower river last saturday and a good tan caddis hatch on the upper river yesterday. Fishing a comparadun size 14 in a rusty cream worked well on the Hendricksons and a size 16 tan X caddis got it done for the caddis. We fish this fly on a dead drift with some wiggle and a swing at the end to mimic the emerging bugs. We should see these hatches last another week or so before the Alders and stones become more predominant.

A fine holdover brown taken on a stonefly nymph.

We’ve also been doing very well nymphing a variety of bugs. Our biggest fish yesterday were taken on a Thomson’s double bead stone which does a good job of imitating an Alderfly nymph. We’ve done very well with size 12-14 pheasant tails and large golden stones. Interestingly the fish didn’t seem to want the smaller tan caddis nymphs yesterday but those should also produce at times.

Fish have been spread out in the system with some rising in slower water and eating nymphs in the fast drop offs, runs and riffles. We have been throwing dries when we see fish rising and nymphing when we don’t. While you can still catch fish on nymphs when they are rising I prefer to take the opportunity to get them on dries when they are willing to eat off the surface. We had a blast watching fish slowly rise through the water column to inspect and sometimes eat our dries yesterday.

We’ve been getting some very strong fighting wild rainbows in the upper and lower river. Rainbows are definitely the dominant species in the system and seem to be the best at reproducing in the river. We’ve also been getting some very healthy landlocked salmon and brook trout up north with some browns in the mix as well. We got into a couple very nice holdover browns in the lower river as well the other day. It seems like the browns are holding over a bit more than in the past, perhaps due to the stocking of a better strain of brown trout.

Jared caught the two biggest trout of his life last Saturday. These wild bows put on quite a show!

Looking forward:

It seems we are in for a heat wave starting saturday and going through next week. This will mean early will be best on the andro for the end of may and start of June. Evenings will probably also produce but we prefer to fish in the mornings when the water is colder and the fish are more comfortable.

We are hoping that the next few cold nights keep water temps in the 60’s next week but if things get too warm we will run some trips on the Connecticut river where the tailwater dams provide colder water temps on warm days. We expect the Connecticut to fish very well next week as warm days spur good caddis hatches over there this time of the year.

Beyond next week it looks like a prolonged stretch of more seasonable weather with highs in the 60’s and overnight lows in the 40’s. This should make for some great prime time June fishing on the Saco and Andro.

Availability and Summer Fishing:

If you are looking to book with us this season we are booking through June but still have dates available July through October. July is probably our best month for wade fishing as the smaller rivers are still cold and hatches are prolific. Dry fly fishing small water is one of our favorite ways to fish and we look forward to sight fishing in the gin clear streams of the Whites this summer.

If you prefer to float we have good dry fly and nymph fishing opportunities on the Connecticut river through July and sometimes into August. This river is a bug factory and the hopper fishing can be great as well when flows are up and fish are pushed to the banks. To keep things interesting we will be offering smallmouth trips in late July through August. These fish are eager to rise to frog, dragonfly and damselfly patterns through the dog days of summer and put up a heart pounding fight on the fly rod.

We are looking forward to seeing many of you this season. Give us a shout if you want to get on our calendar.

Tight lines,

Nate

May Report...prime time is upon us!

Over the past ten days we have seen dramatic swings in both weather and fishing conditions. Exactly one week ago the Saco river hit 34,000 cfs. Over 20” of snow fell on the higher summits from last Tuesday to Thursday. Flows on rivers on the eastern side of the state were unfishable last week but are now dropping to fishable flows.

What’s happening right now:

The andro is now at 1800 cfs in Errol and should turn on any day now as fish acclimate to the new flows. Warmer weather mean water temps are hovering in the upper 40’s to low 50’s which means hatches of tan Caddis and Hendicksons are eminent. With highs in the 60’s and 70’s this week bite windows will vary based on fish acclimating to warmer water temps. We find that on the first days of major temperature swings the bite often shuts off for a day with the following day providing fast fishing. Last Saturday and Sunday were a prime example of this. On Saturday water temps climbed rapidly and the fishing was very slow (Like one fish to the net all day slow.) Then on Sunday the fish acclimated, and we were able to boat over 20 trout. We’ve done well on larger jig style nymphs and streamers as of late. Kreelix on the strip as well as our own crafty crayfish have done the job. As flows continue to drop the streamer game will fade in and out with the weather, but the bug game will get more consistent.

Client Tyler Stevens with a brown he battled with the 10ft 4wt the other day.

Looking forward:

We expect all rivers minus those above 1000ft to come into their prime over the next week or so. Warmer temps look to persist over the next ten days which should get fish metabolisms to even out and produce consistent bite windows. Expect the streamer bite to still be the main game on the Saco for the next couple weeks. The northern rivers like the Andro will start seeing hatches of Caddis, Hendrickson’s and March browns in the next seven days. Nymphing said bugs will produce best during sunny hours. Look for low light and warmth to find dry fly bites this time of the year.

Lucky to have our guide Kevin Gordon row me into this fine wild buck while streamer fishing the other day.

Booking status:

We have May 11,19 June 11,20,26,27,28 if anyone wants to get out with one of our guides. We also have dates available in July, a great time to wade or float depending on conditions. We will again be offering smallmouth trips this summer from Late July through Late August. This is some fun fishing for big wild fish! Let us know asap if you are interested as dates are all going fast!

We look forward to seeing many of you this season. It is shaping up to be a great year here in the White Mountains.

Tight Lines,

Nate

Spring is here!

After a snowy March spring has arrived in a big way over the last two weeks. With highs in the 80s late last week snowmelt season is here. Flows on the big rivers like the Saco and Andro are up. With cooler temps flows have started to drop on the Saco but remain high on the Andro. The good news is we should be beyond snowmelt by early May and are looking forward to chasing some post snowmelt trout and salmon on the Andro, Saco and Connecticut rivers.

Right now we’ve been focused on chasing lake run rainbows. We saw one big salmon in the mix on monday but for the most part the salmon have stayed in the lakes thus far this spring. If we can get a good rain some may push into the tribs but we are not holding our breath on that. Fish began moving in with suckers late last week and some rivers still have suckers as of this writing but others have already seen the suckers move out, and along with them most of the rainbows. Streams that are still seeing some higher flows due to snowmelt are the best bet and more northern streams will see more fish enter over the next few days, especially if we get more rain.

John with a fresh lake run rainbow from this week!

Fish have been moving a lot from day to day and different pools will produce on different days so it pays to cover water to find the fish. Yesterday was the first day where we saw the fish really keying in on sucker spawn patterns. Otherwise we’ve done well with squirmy worms, midges and small stoneflies, along with leachs and buggers. It is also worth fishing the mouths of streams into the lakes as lake temps are still in the 40’s and fish are close to the surface. We lost one fish in the lake yesterday but casting was tough with a brisk northeast wind. We have this Friday open if anyone is eager to get out and chase these large lake run rainbows.

The girth of these fish is impressive!

A “small” lake run rainbow.

Looking forward…

We will be out of town in Florida for the last week of April. We are hoping by May that the bigger rivers are dropping to fishable flows and we can chase some big browns as they put on the spring feedbag. We are also looking forward to finding some wild bows and drop down salmon and brook trout on the Andro. The bows should be spawning in early May and fishing for them will be better post spawn probably Mid- late May. When they come back in they are very aggressive. Expect most fishing in the first half of May to be throwing meat or nymphing large food items like worms, stones, leeches and crayfish. As water temps hit 50 degrees the early olives, and then hendricksons will hatch along with tan caddis. This usually happens mid to late May. We will keep you posted on how things progress in our next report.

We have a few dates left the first half of May mid-week. With a few dates through June with some of our guides. We still have plenty of dates in July which is a great time to wade fish and still good for trout floats on the Connecticut with windows for floating the Saco and Andro during summer rains and cold fronts. We will again be offering smallmouth bass floats from mid-July through August. This fishing is a blast so be sure to hit us up if you want to chase these aggressive hard fighting fish!

We are psyched to get out with many of you this spring! Looking forward to a great season!

Tight lines,

Nate

Late Winter update

It has been far too long since I have written a report. I’ve been busy working full time at Attitash ski resort this winter, and spending time with the family. This has left little time to hit the water, but as things warm into spring I’m looking forward to getting back out and updating you all on the fishing.

Arkansas Trip Postponed to 2024:

While we were hoping to run a hosted trip to the White River in Arkansas this spring, we had too many schedule conflicts arise to make the trip happen. We have bumped this trip to spring 2024 and plan to stay at Copper John’s resort and partner with Flies and Guides fly shop. We are booking dates from March 15th through April 6th 2024. If you are interested in booking please let us know asap so that we can plan accordingly. We will take deposits once we have confirmed enough bookings to run the trip!

Current Conditions:

A few of our guides got out in early January and capitalized on some of the milder weather, getting into some nice brown trout. We have a decent snowpack as of this writing, and the long-range forecast is showing a snowy March. If this holds true, we could be in for a more normal spring snowmelt than what we have seen in the past few years. This would mean a slower start to spring hatches but hopefully a longer stretch of high water for throwing streamers to Alph brown and rainbow trout.

Looking Forward:

The higher water years produce more big fish as higher flows provide them with a higher caloric intake. Even just a few months of heavier feeding can result in larger fish throughout the season as trout put on the bulk of their weight gain during prime time feeding months.

Our freestone rivers like the Saco may become unfishable in April with spring run-off but should hold water through May to allow for streamer floats before the summer crowds arrive. Higher spring flows in lakes region tributaries should result in more lake run rainbows and salmon for a longer period of time. Say April Through mid-May vs. low flow years when we only get a couple weeks of lake run fishing.

Cleint Kevin Obrien displays a large spring time brown trout!

The Connecticut and Androscoggin rivers could see a slower start to fishable flows with snowmelt lasting through mid-May but should fish well as they drop with more drop down salmon and brook trout on the Andro as well as chunky bows and browns eagerly taking advantage of dropping water on the Connecticut.

Before snowmelt starts in earnest we may have a window of pre-snowmelt fishing on the bigger rivers. This hinges on colder overnight temps with moderate daytime temps in the 40’s. Which allows for enough warmth to break up ice, but not so much warmth to cause snowmelt to drop water temps and PH levels. Fortunately, when our northern rivers enter snowmelt our southern lake run tributaries usually see an influx of salmon and rainbow trout as these lower elevation streams warm faster and the bump in spring flows triggers sucker migrations with rainbows and salmon close behind.

Bugs and Brews!

We will keep you posted in the coming weeks as spring conditions begin to unfold. If you are looking to get ready for the spring season check out Bugs and Brews @ledgebrew (Ledge Brewing Company) in Intervale NH. I will be their featured fly tyer on Monday March 13th and I’ll be tying one of my most deadly brown trout flies! If you’ve fished with me over the years you might recognize this signature “bug”. Bring your own vise, scissors and thread and you can purchase the materials for a small fee at the event! I look forward to seeing you there!

Spring and Summer Bookings going fast!

Our prime-time dates are going fast for May and June 2023. If you are looking to get on our calendar now is the time to reach out! If you can’t get on our calendar for May and June, we have more dates open in July and we typically have great wade and float options in this month as well!

We look forward to fishing with you in 2023! Have a great rest of your winter and start thinking fish!

Tight Lines,

Nate