Upper Connecticut River Fishing Report: 9/22

We’re down to the nitty gritty now for the fishing season – including tomorrow, there are only 23 fishing days left on the Connecticut River … this makes us sad …

The beautiful brookie in spawning colors pictured above took a Scout this morning on the Trophy Stretch – what a fish!

Flows remain relatively constant in two sections of the upper Connecticut River – 175 CFS out of First Lake Dam and 350 CFS out of Murphy Dam at Lake Francis.  The one change was made today at Second Lake Dam, where the flow was dropped to 93 CFS (from 160 CFS). There should still be some salmon there, but who knows for how long?

I spent a couple of hours on the Trophy Stretch this morning, and while the fishing was challenging, I did manage to land a foolhardy brook trout on a Gray Soft Hackle Streamer, and a very healthy salmon took my size 18 UV2 Midge Baetis which was trailing Jon Howe’s Weight Fly. I also lost a couple of brook trout (they were aggressively attacking the streamer) as well, so it wasn’t too bad.

The weather this week has been remarkably beautiful for this time of year, but that pattern will change tonight, as a strong front will blow some rain and colder temps in for the weekend – perfect for salmon!

Heard a couple of good reports at Coon Brook Bog, as it appears that the brook trout are in full “feed bag” mode. With the cooling water temperatures, I would assume that most of the outer ponds are probably fishing well right now. They provide a good option if the river’s too crowded.

While I was lazy and forgot to take a water temperature on the Trophy Stretch, I managed to take a temperature in the “No Kill Stretch” between Second Lake and First Lake – 58 degrees, and that number should drop a bit this weekend.