It’s been a long, cold one all over the northeast this winter, but it seemed especially ridiculous up here in northern New England. In fact, we had some below zero temps just a couple of weeks ago, but it appears as though we may have turned the corner this week – it’s been beautiful to say the least.

This great weather has led a few of us to try our luck on the Connecticut River south of Lake Francis. Not a whole lot happening, with the low river flow at the moment (180 CFS as of today), and the exceptionally cold water temperature (right around 37 degrees), so it’s really hit and miss at the moment.  Margaree Rich caught and released that beautiful brownie a couple of weeks ago, so it’s worth it if you can handle the water temp!

The other stretches of the river are largely unfishable, for a variety of reasons. It’s mighty high and dirty south of any of the major tributaries (Indian Stream, Hall Stream and the Nulhegan River are all kicking in some seriously dirty water right now), so that’s out. The Trophy Stretch flow is very low at the moment until the lakes start to fill up from the runoff, and the No Kill Stretch between Second Lake and First Lake is also running very low and don’t forget your snowshoes to access either of these stretches.

In a few weeks though, we’ll probably start having some action on the Connecticut and our first major dry fly hatch of the season is usually the Hendrickson. Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions has produced an excellent video showing a good tie for this traditional pattern. Check it out!

https://vimeo.com/63109421