Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, and the fishing was pretty good again at Back Lake. The Bateson men, pictured above from their modified “tuna boat”, did very well mostly with copper super dupers, brown rooster tails and phoebes, but other groups continued using the “88” and variations of a soft hackle streamer, with great success. Even Ty Hilton got in on the act, nailing several rainbows on the super duper – nice going Ty!!
Al Guerrera of the Kachician party caught this mammoth brook trout on the lake a few days ago. The exact measurements were 5.25 lbs., 18 ” length, 18″ girth – yes, shaped like a little mini-keg. This group’s been with us a long time and were delighted by the fishing on Back Lake that day. A black and silver colored Rapala brought this obese beast to bay, along with the others in the picture below.
Well, there’s varying reports out there right now on the fishing – some good, some not so good, but everyone having a good time trying. The synopsis is that parts of the Connecticut River have been on the slow side, while some of our lakes and ponds have been pretty good. Here it is in a nutshell:
Well, we survived yesterday’s events. The less said the better on that …
Lots of reports today, from all over Pittsburg, with most on the good side. You know what the saying is: “A bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work”, and we’ve been testing that theory lately. The weather was good today, so maybe that made a difference. We’ll hope there’s more good weather on the way.
Believe it or not, our area has actually escaped the wrath of the rain god over the last few days and we’ve been spared further rising waters in our local rivers. While the Magalloway stretch is running at a nice flow currently (352 CFS as of today), the other stretches are still running on the high side. The Trophy Stretch is ripping along at 512 CFS and south of Murphy Dam the Connecticut flows at 773 CFS – that’s a lot of water, so bring along your supply of split shot and cement blocks if you fish either of these sections. Remember … “slow and low …”
“How high’s the water, Mama?”
“It’s three feet high and rising …”
Johnny was right on about the weather we’ve been having for the last day or so. It’s been raining, sometimes hard and often harder, so that has put a minor crimp in the fishing options in the North Country. Not to bring you down any further, but this weather pattern is supposedly stalled over us for the next few days, so there isn’t a lot of relief in sight. While it is great conditions for a BWO hatch, it can be tough making a cast while you’re standing amongst the trees instead of in the river!