Connecticut River Fishing Report: 9/2

Quite a motley crew of fishermen on the Connecticut River a couple of days ago – lots of trout, laughs, and a few bottles of the finest refreshments that the British Isles can produce got us through our full day drift. There were a few toasts as well, from “the greatest collection of fishing talent on the Connecticut River between Colebrook and Columbia on August 31”.

This was, after all, a bachelor’s party drift on the river – yes, one of us bids farewell to the single life next Saturday, and the participants were all too happy to see him on his matrimonial way.

How did the drift go?

Pretty amazing at times, with a vast array of trout slurping down spent cinnamon ants on the water’s surface. In certain stretches, it was nothing short of amazing to watch the river come alive with feeding trout, and I’ve only seen sights like this on the Missouri River in Montana during a baetis hatch.

The trout were receptive to our offerings as well (sz. 14 Cinnamon Ant), and we had probably landed and released 20 trout (mostly rainbows) by lunchtime, thanks to the efforts of our excellent guide Jon Howe.

After halftime (a particularly succulent shoreline cookout), we switched to terrestrials. While my hopper wasn’t doing too much, Chris did very well with a Cicada, so it wasn’t long before I switched to the same thing. Once again, we caught and released nearly 20 more trout late in the afternoon in to the evening.

The vast majority of the fish were rainbows, but there were some brookies sprinkled in there too, as well as a couple of small browns.

We finally hit the wall near dark as we were casting size 18 BWO’s to some very finicky trout. Chris caught one on that pattern, but I took the bagel.

Thanks for a great day guys, and next time we do this drift, I’ll be married …

River flows below Second Lake Dam and First Lake Dam in Pittsburg have elevated slightly this week, but remain at excellent levels for wade fishermen. The fishing’s been good too – lots of brookies and some nice salmon in the no kill stretch, and the rainbows, brookies and salmon have been active in the Trophy Stretch.

The flow below Murphy Dam was reduced a bit this week, but it’s still excellent if you like to explore the river on foot.

While dries (Elk Hairs, CDC Caddis, Klinkhammer, BWO) are working well, don’t forget those terrestrial patterns as well. A nymphing set up with a beadhead nymph up front with a soft hackle wet, egg pattern, or Goomie Worm as a dropper is also effective.

We’re also entering the time of year when streamers are pretty good as well – if you need some Soft Hackle Streamers, we’ve got ’em!

Stop in if you’re in Pittsburg this Labor Day weekend – only 42 days left in the 2015 fishing season …