Well, summer finally came at last this week, at least for a few days. It was simply gorgeous, and that good weather led to decreasing flows at First Lake Dam and Murphy Dam at Lake Francis. The river is back “in shape”, and is now at its most wade-friendly and angler-friendly level since late June. It is shaping up to be an exciting final month and a half of the season.
When you live and recreate in northern New England, you look forward to the sun coming out. It seems like there’s some months when it rarely, if ever, makes an appearance, so when it’s out you tend to take advantage of those occasions. If you’re an angler though, the sun can be a hindrance to your fishing pursuits. It usually results in wary fish, afraid to be discovered by predators, both aerial and on two legs.
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.
Summer’s flying by here in northern New Hampshire, and we have finally had our first dose of real “summer” weather. Hot and humid temps, with some serious thunderstorms mixed in, has made for changing river flow conditions on the upper Connecticut River lately. Still, the angling has remained good, due in large part to our bottom-release dams.
We’re close to our favorite time of the year, when the annual Hexagenia hatch begins on Back Lake, but we’re not quite there yet. According to one of my more credible sources, there were a couple of hex sightings yesterday evening on the lake, but that was the extent of the action, and with our upcoming weather pattern, the hatch might be a little delayed this year.
Anyone can dry fly fish. For one thing, there’s continual affirmation for the dry fly angler as he or she watches a feeding fish, periodically breaking the surface of a flat water river, pond or lake. It’s comforting for that angler to know that the trout and salmon are there, actively participating in their environment, alerting the angler to what’s going on (“Hey … we’re here, we’re hungry, and don’t care if you see us!”).