Catching Up

It’s the depths of winter in northern New Hampshire. Frigid cold has been the norm for the last two weeks up here, and the snow is beginning to fall more regularly now. No fishing for me lately, as its been better weather for getting out to snowshoe with my pack, but there have been a few hardy souls angling when the conditions have been marginal. It’s been tough from most reports, but every now and then a lunker reminds you that it is there and remains there after your brief encounter (image courtesy Mickey Cunliffe).

In the meantime, I’ll go through my gear, order more “stuff” if deemed necessary, and perhaps plan an excursion or two for later in the season. Winter is a great time to dream …

Is It Showtime?

As most of you probably know by now, one of the casualties of the recent covid surge has been the wintertime Fly Fishing Show circuit here in the northeast. We at Tall Timber really miss not being able to hang out with our guests and friends at the shows – a chance to talk fishing and get out of the north country winter for a short time.

Not only was the Fly Fish NH Show canceled entirely, but the Marlborough, Massachusetts Fly Fishing Show has been rescheduled to late April this year. While we probably will not have our booth at this year’s show, we look forward to seeing everybody again at next year’s Fly Fishing Show, pandemic pending, of course.

Pittsburg Anglers Association Update

In preparation for the fishing season to come, the Pittsburg Anglers Association (a.k.a “the greatest collection of angling talent in the Northeast”) recently held its annual meeting of the Board of Directors to talk about trout stocking efforts on the upper Connecticut River for 2022.

At the meeting, the P.A.A. decided to expand the stocking program to 900 brook, rainbow and brown trout to be stocked in 2022, a sizable increase from the 570 fish that we had done for the last several years. Stocking day will be on Sunday, May 15, and if you’re in our neck of the woods, we would appreciate any help we can get lugging buckets to the river.

Like last year, the P.A.A. will also sponsor a participant for the 2022 Trout Unlimited NH Kids Trout Camp, to be held in Pittsburg this summer. We hope that the next generation of fly fishers gets “hooked” just like we all did …