Attack of the Lunker Brown!

Yup, that’s Chuck DeGray of North Country Fly Shop with a beautiful (and big) Connecticut River brown trout – what a fish! This isn’t Chuck’s first rodeo either – he’s brought many a big brown or rainbow to justice in the wintertime over the years, and this one was a spectacular 25″ specimen. yes, this big guy prowls the depths once again …

The river flows out of First Lake Dam and Murphy Dam are high for this time of year, mostly because of the high lake levels. We expect these higher than average flows for a little while, until the lakes are restored to normal levels.

As usual, smelt patterns are working best for streamers, either dead drifted or swung through the slow water. Nymphs fished “slow and low” also work well, so that is a good back up plan in case streamers aren’t floating your boat.

Watch the weather and try to make it up if you can – you may catch the fish of a lifetime!