Upper Connecticut River Fishing Update: Discovery

Good fishing and easy wading continues up here in New Hampshire’s north country. As a result of all of our great weather, the flows remain low out of all of the dams on the Connecticut Lakes, allowing us to access areas that normally are hard to get to.

Yesterday was one of those “exploring” days, and I took advantage of it by finding some new water in North Stratford, NH – about 45 minutes south of Pittsburg.  Here the river is usually “big”, pushing the limits of what we call wading water, and just a bit south of North Stratford, the Connecticut really becomes a river for drift boats and canoes. However, the recent low water allowed me to wade and cross the river with ease.

The “discovery” of new water can be exhilarating, especially when you’re successful catching a few fish, almost feeling like you’re the only person to know about a particularly exciting secret. Within a few minutes, it was apparent to me that others had also found the beauty of this spot (boot marks in the sand, campfire on the shore), but that didn’t dampen my discovery. Quickly landing four trout at the first pool, the exploration continued and several more browns, rainbows and brook trout were caught and released – nothing big, but pretty nonetheless. There were also a few long distance releases that I would have loved to have had up close and personal. The killer fly for the trout was a Rolled Muddler, and the switch rod was a great asset for some of the spots on yesterday’s adventure.

In fact, the largest fish of the day wasn’t even a trout – it was a two pound chub that filled my net and apparently found my white woolybugger irresistible.

What ????

It had fins!