It’s been downright dreary lately in northern New Hampshire. Feels like that movie “Groundhog Day”, where Bill Murray wakes up unendingly each morning to relive events from the day before, and that’s how our weather has been: gray, rainy, sometimes cool or muggy, for what seems like days on end. In other words, it’s been good for fishing, but a change at some point would be nice …
What a difference a week makes! From 85 – 90 degree, sunny and dry conditions last week to rainy and cold conditions this week, it’s done a complete 180 in fishing conditions for anglers. The fishing, especially on the Connecticut River, has been pretty good however, despite the change in the weather.
The title of a favorite Toots & the Maytals song is also appropriate for our change in the weather this weekend. The recent stretch of summer-like weather is over for the moment, and we can look forward to daytime temps in the 50’s and 60’s for the next week. It was HOT this past week, reaching 85 (perhaps even higher) several days in a row, making for challenging conditions for the anglers that were with us.
When you live and recreate in northern New England, you look forward to the sun coming out. It seems like there’s some months when it rarely, if ever, makes an appearance, so when it’s out you tend to take advantage of those occasions. If you’re an angler though, the sun can be a hindrance to your fishing pursuits. It usually results in wary fish, afraid to be discovered by predators, both aerial and on two legs.
I’m not big on endings, and never have been. The finality of an ending is something that my personality has a hard time dealing with, so I prefer the French saying, “à bientôt” much more – “see you soon”, when dealing with friends, family, dogs, etc. I’m not sure when I’ll see you, but someday I will. Sadly, yesterday we bid “au revoir” to the New Hampshire trout fishing season, but in two and a half months, the 2023 fishing season will open, and we’ll be back at it again.
We’re down to the nitty-gritty of the fishing season in northern New Hampshire – only five days (as of this writing) to get out there and be on the water. The season is officially over at the end of legal hours on Saturday, October 15, and we’ve generally had a good fall. The salmon are present in the Trophy Stretch, in ever increasing numbers, as well as some brook, brown and rainbow trout too.