It’s been a long, cold one all over the northeast this winter, but it seemed especially ridiculous up here in northern New England. In fact, we had some below zero temps just a couple of weeks ago, but it appears as though we may have turned the corner this week – it’s been beautiful to say the least.
The Connecticut River opens for fishing activity a mere 18 days from now, and this, of course, leads us to think of warmer, sunnier times from seasons past when we pursued our fishy friends. We received this excellent picture of Ed “Deadly Edly” Hermenau from Denis Fay the other day, showing Ed with a big cutthroat that he caught and released on Montana’s Slough Creek in July of 2012.
The Hex Hatch has started.
Hexs have been spotted for several days now on Back Lake, and the hatch will only get more prolific as time goes on. It should start to get good by this weekend, and the weather for the weekend looks stellar, and it’s Father’s Day this Sunday. Sounds like a win, win, win to me.
Is your fly box ready for the Hex Hatch? A properly stocked fly box for the Hex shouldn’t be without these patterns:
Woodduck Heron, Cripple Hex, Foam Hex, Emma Nymph, Sparrow, Usual, Sexy Hex, Hexagenia Dun and a Hex Spinner. You need them, well we’ve got them.
A heavier tippet (2 & 3X) is necessary to cast these huge flies or you’ll have a totally twisted leader on your hands. Trust me, I know from experience.
The Connecticut River has fished well this week. Caddis hatches, Lt. Cahill and BWOs. OMR has been busy guiding on the lower Connecticut, and nymphs and streamers have been productive.
We have a few openings for the weekend, so give us a call. A trip up to Tall Timber sure would make a great Father’s Day gift. Hint, hint….
The weather conditions were tough for the Fly Fishing School instructors and the seven students but they gave it their best. They hit the river very early this morning and it was worth crawling out of a comfy warm bed to hook, land and release a few nice trout.