Connecticut River Fishing Report: 9/3

It’s starting to look and feel like fall in the north country lately – there’s a few maples starting to change color along the river and in the high country, and there’s even been a few nights in the 40’s over the last week or so. This is the stretch run fishermen and fisherwomen, so you might want to think about coming up before it’s over!

Yesterday was a good day for Don Eigenbauer on the Connecticut River – first he plied the waters of the Trophy Stretch and caught some brookies, salmon and a couple of rainbows, and then he moved to the stretch below Pittsburg for some afternoon nymphing.  Sounded like the Jailbird was the fly of choice for Don in the warmth of the sunshine yesterday afternoon. The Yellow Micro Spawn was also producing very well, with some voracious strikes, but my fun was abbreviated once I lost my two Micro Spawns in fish.

Note to self: always go out with more than two really good flies!

All stretches of the Connecticut River are easy to wade right now, as the flows haven’t changed up here in more than three months. While these conditions can be good (easier to wade and cross in most areas), it also tends to consolidate our trout and salmon in the major pools, making them skittish at times. There is some serious rain coming tonight and tomorrow however, so we’ll see how the rain affects the river.

Choosy trout certainly didn’t bother our guest Kurt Kimbler last week, as he did great on the Trophy Stretch. Each night Kurt would come back with a full and detailed report for us, and there were two flies on which he caught the majority of his fish: the Orange Micro Spawn and the Goomie Worm. There were many other flies that also worked for Kurt, but these were his two standbys. Needless to say,  the Goomie Worm and Orange Micro Spawn were both in high demand last week.

The fish are still there for sure, as long as you have the right fly with the right presentation …