May Report: Streamers to bugs, prime time is here!

What we’ve been up to:

We’ve had some great trips as of late. Last week Kevin and I guided a double float for three days with clients Rob Wofchuck, Captain Peter Whelan, Charlie Wu, and Lucas Merrow. It was a fun three days of very different fishing every day. We caught a wide range of fish from large browns and rainbows to trophy smallmouth, wild brook trout, landlocked salmon, fallfish and even a white sucker. Numbers were best on the first day with incoming low pressure and fish feeding heavily almost all day long. On day two we saw a drop in fish activity with a cold front but still hooked some large browns and a nice wild rainbow on streamers. Charlie also landed the biggest smallmouth I have ever seen in NH, an honest 20”er! On day three we set our sights on wild brook trout and salmon and managed a bunch of wild brook trout, a couple wild rainbows and a couple salmon along with a very large white sucker and some fall fish. The fishing was best in the morning on day three as a cold high-pressure system settled in during the afternoon. Still, both boats were able to boat a couple quality fish after lunch.

We had some very good days of fishing the third week of April with all groups landing fish over 20”s. It was a solid mix of streamer fishing and nymph fishing that got it done. It was fun to show how different techniques can be effective on the same day in different water types and at different time of day.

For streamers we’ve been doing best with yellow circus peanuts on sunny days and black circus peanuts, dungeons and the like on cloudy cold days. It seems the fish are still responding best to flies cast tight to the bank and fished with a strip pause motion to let the flies die as they slide into the trough. Nymphing big food ticket items has still been most productive with few fish choosing the smaller nymphs when we have offered them up. Matching indicator or tightline techniques to water types has been highly effective as the indicator allows the nymphs to move better in slower runs while the tight line rig allows more drift control and strike detection in faster water with depth changes.

Pike and Bass:

After three long days of guiding I was ready to take a day off to rest up for another busy week. That is until my good friend Alex Poland called me to tell me he was going scouting for pike this past Saturday. Since the family was out of town I decided to take advantage of the opportunity. And despite my exhaustion made the hour and a half drive to meet Alex on the lower Andro to chase some pike. It was a cold dreary day and I was prepared for slow fishing, so I wasn't surprised when the first six hours went by without a bite. As we continued to do the same thing hoping for different results Alex and I philosophized as to why we like such challenging fishing. We both agreed that it came down to the surprise and satisfaction of success after so much work. This discussion kept us motivated despite the bleak outlook of our day, and we continued to fish well into the evening, knowing that if it were going to happen it would happen late in the day. At 6 pm Alex made a long cast into.

Looking forward:

Warm weather in the 60’s and 70’s over the next few days will transition to cooler rainy weather by the end of the week with highs topping out in the low 50’s by Friday. Expect the best fishing on days with temps above 50 but below 70 degrees. I call this the “Goldie Lox” effect as the fish want things not too warm and not too cold this time of the year. After a consistent afternoon bite earlier in April, bite windows are now all over the map depending on weather and flows. Last week the morning bite was better on most days which is a contrast to mid April when most of our best fish came in the afternoons. I attribute this to an increase in water temps and fish metabolisms. It seems that when the fish do decide to eat early in the day their hunger diminishes as the day progresses. In the afternoon there is often a secondary bite that is good but not quite as good as the morning bite. Of course this will change day to day with the weather. If we have an incoming low in the afternoon there will often be a better afternoon bite.

Water temps on the Andro have ranged from 48 to 53 degrees over the past few days. We expect to see these temps fluctuate in this range for a couple more weeks, with the Connecticut running in the mid-to upper 40’s for another week or so depending on long range weather. This being said I’m expecting the first caddis hatches on the Andro to start around May 15th this year. I expect the hatches on the Connecticut to begin around the same time on the warmer stretches but lag into late May/ early June on the colder sections. That being said there should be good fishing on most of our water for the rest of May and into June. With flows at ideal levels on all rivers we should have a good number of options for a while now.

Dates Left for May and June:

As of this writing Nate has May 6th and 19th along with June 1,2,9,11,15,16,18,24,25,26. Kevin can do May 11, 12, 13, 18,19,20,21,22,23 and June 8,9,10,11. Let us know asap if you would like to get out during any of these prime time dates. If none of these dates work for your schedule please reach out to us with what will work for you and we will see if we can work something out! We look forward to getting out with many of you again this season!

Tight Lines,

Nate