Payback …

Payback for some tough days of fishing in the north country came yesterday – one of the best days of fishing that I’ve had in Pittsburg’s waters, and perhaps anywhere, for that reason.

Mickey’s beautiful and very energetic laker was the icing on our proverbial cake …The drift boat came in handy yesterday, allowing us to access water that normally is impossible to fish if you’re wading – I’m sure that our day would not have been as fruitful if we were slogging it out the old fashioned way.

We started at Lake Francis Inlet, and after a period of slinging streamers with no success, we switched over to nymphs – Jon Howe’s Weight Fly (think of a big, heavy Pheasant Tail), followed by a small Flashback Pheasant Tail was the ticket for me, but Mickey also had success on another flashy nymph with lots of red and black in it. No name for that fly, as Mick had it tied and sent to him by a friend of his in Japan – it’s good to know people.

It was sunny and breezy at times, so we figured that nymphing might be the best option, and the multitude of healthy rainbows and even a few salmon must have thought so too. Several of the rainbows were in the 16″ range and the largest salmon was 17-18″, with some shoulders on it – all were released to prowl the depths once again.

Next we moved to First Connecticut Lake to fish the inlet where the Connecticut River joins the lake. I haven’t actually been on First Lake in a few decades (yup, that’s decades), and it really is an amazingly beautiful body of water – stunning, actually. All I could think of is that this is how guides and their “sports” must have felt when venturing out for a day of fishing back in the good ole days …

It took a bit of time, but Mickey eventually broke the seal with a nice salmon, and that started a long string of fish brought to the boat – an Olive Wooly Bugger on sink tip line was the setup. In the two hours we were there, Mickey probably landed around ten salmon, while I only managed to land one and lose a couple of others. They were fired up, as evidenced by their frequent acrobatics.

The highlight however was Mick’s 24″, 5 lb. lake trout that he landed – it was a nice fight, as the laker dogged down hard as they are known to do. Very healthy fish, and we both thought it was surprisingly beautiful for a fish that is generally not known for its looks.

In Other News …

Dam flows went down at First Connecticut Lake dam (from 405 CFS to 312 CFS), and also at Lake Francis (1400 CFS to 977 CFS). Wade carefully if you’re going in to either of these stretches of the river, and nymphs and streamers on sink tips might be your best options if you do.

The dam flow at Second Connecticut Lake went up from 178 CFS to 338 CFS yesterday, due to the rain we received Sunday and Monday, which could help keep the salmon in longer in this stretch.

Word is that the lakes are nearly at the desired water levels, so we expect a tapering off of flows in to more desirable wading levels soon.

The Pittsburg Anglers Association will be stocking the Trophy Stretch on Sunday, so we should have good fishing in at least this stretch next week.

Stay tuned …