Upper Connecticut River Fishing Report: 6/18

Things are pretty good here on the Connecticut River in Pittsburg, N.H. lately. The weather’s great, the flows are steady, and the caddis and mayfly hatches have been robust. There’s even been some fish willing to “play the game”, and longtime TTLer Carl Thum found out that there are some lunkers in there as well.

Carl’s 28″ rainbow trout took a size 18 Zebra Midge, under the excellent guidance of Chuck DeGray of North Country Fly Shop. Must have been quite a battle, especially since the Zebra Midge was most likely on 5X or 6X tippet – I’ll get the full story out of Chuck later …

The Trophy Stretch continues to flow at 150 CFS or so and has plenty of trout and salmon in it. Relevant mayfly hatches have encompassed Blue Winged Olives (when the weather dictates), Light Cahills and even some small Sulphurs, sometimes all in the same pool and occasionally at the same time.

The caddis hatches have continued to be strong, and there have also been some stonefly hatches (Yellow Sally) as well. In short, bringing a wide selection of summertime dries, along with their larval stage and emerging stage equivalents is the best strategy – something is bound to work.

Streamers and attractor patterns (San Juans, Egg patterns) would be a good plan when you’re not seeing caddis or mayflies coming off.

Back Lake Hexagenia Hatch Update: Nothing to report yet, but it should be any day now. The hex hatch usually coincides with warmer temperatures and beautiful weather, which we have had for a few days in a row now. A few more days could provide the spark that we need to get the hex hatch off and running.