Spring Has Sprung

Very sorry for the delay in submitting an updated post to the Fishing Blog. A litter of ten German Shorthaired Pointer pups has brought any hopes of spring fishing to a screeching halt for me, so I have been relying on the reports of guides and fishing friends for what’s been happening.

While we are halfway through May, and all of the snow and ice is gone, there are still some limits to the fishing opportunities up here at the moment. In other words, we’re gaining on the fishing season, but there are still a few limitations for where we can fish in Pittsburg.

First, not all of the bodies of water in Pittsburg have been stocked by the NH Fish & Game Department. Sections of the Connecticut River, as well as Back Lake and Lake Francis were stocked two to three weeks ago, but most of the outer brook trout ponds have not been stocked. As a matter of fact, most of the ponds are still inaccessible as the gates remain closed on many of the logging roads that go to the ponds.

Second, the smaller brook trout streams like Indian Stream and Perry Stream are difficult to access right now with the gates still being shut. A bicycle and a will to fish might be needed if you’re looking to fish in these areas. We expect the logging roads to be opened up entirely (perhaps by Memorial Day weekend?) soon, so there should be a lot more fishing opportunities happening in the next week or two.

How has the fishing actually been? It was a solid salmon run on the Magalloway section between Second Connecticut Lake and First Connecticut Lake over the last couple of weeks, but that should be ending soon as Second Lake attains its desired summertime level, reducing the river flow to First Lake. As the flow reduces, many of the salmon will go back to First Lake to spend the summer there before the fall salmon run occurs in September.

Smelt imitation streamers (i.e. Chuck Degray’s Soft Hackle Streamer in Gray, White and Olive, Gray Ghost, Red Gray Ghost and the Putt’s Favorite) and nymphs produced the best. There was even some top water action when conditions allowed, but this has been a strange spring, and there’s often been too much sun and especially wind lately for dry fly anglers. In fact, we have a cold front moving in tonight, which might make things challenging for the next few days.

The Connecticut River’s flows in each section of the river has been generally low (not as much snow this winter, followed by a drier-than-normal April), so the fish that are present seem to be on high alert. While we don’t often want rain while fishing, we could use a sizable jolt to keep things fresh and increase river flows a bit. One good piece of news is that the annual river stocking of the Trophy Stretch by the Pittsburg Anglers Association will take place this Sunday, so that section should be good fishing going forward.

For our guests, Back Lake has been good fishing for the last couple of weeks. Trolling with lures and flies has been best, but the high winds that have become all too common have made staying on the lake pretty difficult. Our guests last weekend were forced to fish from shore or very early in the morning, before the winds got up for the day.

The season has started and should just get better from now on. Let’s hope for some rain now and then (at night!) to keep the river at a good level, and for the fish to be cooperative …