Sun’s Out …

Smoking hot out there the last couple of days. Sweltering for someone like me that prefers the cool of spring and fall to the heat of summer, but summer is what it has felt like up here lately. We had 4″ of snow fall just a few weeks ago, so this has been quite amazing. While an excessive amount of vitamin D has been great, especially after winter, the high sun has affected the fishing a bit, as most of the fish are staying low in the water column.

Lake Levels

Before getting in to the report, a few words about our current lake and river levels. If you fished northern New England last summer (pretty much anywhere), you probably took note of the low lake and river levels everywhere as a result of a dearth of snow the winter prior, and a lack of summer rain. The resulting drought meant we were behind the eight ball all year, and never really caught up, making for some tough angling. The fish were wary of anglers, even in the hardest to get places, as everyone could wade to those spots.

To this point in the season, we are experiencing the opposite for conditions. The Connecticut Lakes are brimming with water this May, in part due to a considerable amount of water content in the snow we had this winter, and an April with a good amount of precipitation. That’s great news for the property owners on those lakes, but it is also a welcome development for us river anglers. River flows should be more normal this summer, if we get an average amount of precipitation … that’s a big “IF” …

River Flows

Second Lake Dam – The flow below has been reduced to 48 CFS, which may spell the end of the salmon run. The run was difficult to assess due to the high lake level and abnormally sunny and warm weather we had this week. However, we are supposed to finally get some rain early next week, which could get them running upriver again over there. We shall see …

First Lake Dam – Currently flowing at 217 CFS, which could fluctuate a bit depending on the amount of rain we get next week. This is a great flow for fishing, but can be a little high for those that prefer to cross the river in spots. Bring the wading staff. The good news is that the Pittsburg Anglers Association will conduct its annual stocking of the Trophy Stretch this Sunday, May 15. There will be an infusion of trout, and good water conditions to pursue them, next week.

Murphy Dam – Currently flowing at 300 CFS, which is an extremely wade angler friendly level. There are fish here, primarily browns and rainbows, but anyone that has fished down there before knows that they can be awfully finicky. Avoid the high sun, as there’s not a ton of cover over parts of this stretch, but the angling can be pretty good early in the morning or in the evening.

Fishing

As for the fishing, all of the water has also been a two edged sword. In the places that springtime wading anglers like to get at trout and salmon in lake inlets (Lake Francis Inlet and Magalloway Inlet at First Connecticut Lake), the high lake levels have made it very difficult to access the water safely from shore. Fishermen have had to utilize boats, kayaks and canoes to get to where the fish are, and this has led to some tight situations at some of the inlets.

The fish are there, some salmon and a majority of rainbow and brown trout. It seems as though nymphing has worked best (think heavy beadhead nymph up front – Pheasant Tail, Prince, Weight Fly, etc.), with a small beadhead nymph on the back (Peridon, Hatching Pupa, SH Pheasant Tail, etc.). In the evenings, after the high sun conditions have abated, some top water action has been happening as well.

This is still a good time of the season to sling some streamers in properly suited runs (I am partial to Chuck Degray’s Soft Hackle Streamers, in their kaleidoscope of colors – in other words, bring ’em all), and the dry fly action should be heating up soon. As for Back Lake, some of our guests have done very well trolling with flies (Mickey Finn, Grey Ghost, Yellow Hornberg) or lures (pretty much anything bright and shiny – “bright day, bright lure” with this week’s conditions).

If you’re coming next week, bring your rain jacket (not a washout by any means, but enough to make you uncomfortable if you’re not prepared), and make sure to bring your bug dope – the black flies have been making their appearance this week and could become down right nasty next week.