Drifting Away …

The fishing season is grinding away here in northern New Hampshire, but there’s still about seven weeks left to pursue trout and salmon. Don and I were fortunate to get out on a drift with Bill Bernhardt of Lopstick Outfitters, and it was an interesting and enlightening experience as always.

While I was primarily slinging a streamer with soft hackle trail fly off the back (Golden Retriever and Hatching Pupa) all afternoon, Don went back and forth with a combination of dry flies as well as streamers.

The weather was typical for northern New England – a combination of sun, clouds, and driving rain at times, all made for an interesting mix. When you’re in a drift boat however, you’re committed to your fate, so onward we went, towards our destination. Kind of reminded me of that old saying about the US Postal Service (“Through rain, through sleet, through snow …”).

As for the fishing, it was just as good as advertised – plenty of fish rising and taking dries, but lots more under the surface, waiting for a juicy morsel to come through. The streamer fishing was good, though the majority of our fish landed were on the soft hackle trail flies , instead of the streamers themselves.

The real excitement started when we were about an hour from the take out. Don expressed a desire to throw mouse patterns as the light faded and darkness took over. He had done a “mousing” trip on the west branch of the Delaware, and it had simply become somewhat of an obsession for him. Bill also seemed fascinated by the possibilities with this type of fishing, so he did his best to accommodate Don.

The theory behind mousing is to simulate a mouse swimming across the river with your pattern and cast. Casting as close to the river bank as possible, the angler strips at a moderate pace to entice a predatory brown trout to strike. Also in this theory is that darkness is when the larger fish in the river are willing to come out and feed.

While Don didn’t catch any large browns that evening, he did land one rainbow and had 5 – 6 other fish strike his mouse pattern. The takes were violent, and unsettling when you’re in near pitch darkness, and Bill did an amazing job of navigating the dark to get us out. They were definitely interested in his offering, and “mousing” just could be in my future too.