So we fishermen (and women) have merely 18 days left to the ply the water in search of trout and salmon in northern New Hampshire after today. Sad and amazing at the same time. Like time, it seems that fishing seasons march on faster and faster as we get older (and wiser) …

Fall is a great time to be on the Connecticut RiverThis is simply a great time of the year to be fishing, or doing anything outdoors in Pittsburg.  Our foliage will peak this weekend, and the colors have been brilliant in the last week or so. Though it might seem that you’re snagging falling leaves with each cast when you’re out on the river, it’s a small price to pay for the beauty surrounding you out there!

What’s happening on Pittsburg’s waters, you may ask?

Here’s the synopsis of what’s been happening on the Connecticut River:

Trophy Stretch – current flow is 145 CFS. The Trophy has remained the same flow for over 4 months now, so these fish have been educated, seen nearly everything we have to offer, and are very aware of their surroundings in that time. Nymphing is still the best way to go right now, and our assortment of egg patterns are still the best thing to try. Run one of them behind a heavily weighted nymph, throw a couple split shot above that first fly, and carefully monitor your strike indicator and you should do just fine.

I know it’s hard to let yourself go down this road (the next step is using Power Bait), but once you start catching some healthy trout and salmon on it, you’ll quickly put your scruples aside …

Dries are probably the next best option (BWO, CDC Caddis, Adams, Stimulators), with streamers last … unless the flow goes up. If the flow does go up, throw a streamer on and fish the lower pools toward Lake Francis. The heavier flow usually brings some bigger lake fish in to the Trophy Stretch.

Murphy Dam and points south – current flow is 315 CFS. This is a prefect flow for wading this section of the river, all the way down to Canaan, VT. Very fishable, and use the same patterns for the Trophy Stretch, but dries and streamers should also do fine down there. Definitely worth a look if you’re up here in the next two weeks.

Magalloway Stretch – current flow is 30 CFS. The winter drawn down for Second Connecticut Lake was completed last week, so they cut the flow back to 30 CFS. See you next year!

Other Waters:

We’ve had a few people catching trout and bass on Back Lake in the past couple of weeks – small spinners and lures (Colorado, Super Duper, Rooster Tail) and trolling flies (Yellow Hornberg, Golden Demon, Mickey Finn). Our cold nights lately have cooled the surface temperature of the lake to an acceptable level for our trout, and this trend should continue until the close of the season October 15.

The outer brook trout ponds can be good fishing at this time of the season (water temps cooling, brookies becoming more active, etc.), but we haven’t heard many good reports to be honest. Could it be that most of our guests have put in their time on the Connecticut River?  Yup, that’s probably the reason. If you head out to fish any of the ponds, we recommend BWO dries and emergers, Adams, and probably even a CDC Caddis. Of course, casting out and stripping in a brightly colored streamer on sink tip line could also work.

We have some openings the next couple of weeks, so give us a call at 1-800-835-6343 if you can get up here for the end of this great fishing season. Hope to see you out there on the water!