Isinglass River - 10/30/09

Friday afternoon was an eventful couple hours fishing the Isinglass with my girlfriend, a "green-horn" to the sport. After describing the methods of correct casting techniques, she was quickly fishing a wooly bugger at the tail out of a pool. Multiple casts and a couple snags later she just wanted to see a fish. The unrehearsed back and forth motions chambered no previous muscle memory, so fatigue and impatience set in. I swung the streamer through a probable lie on the opposite side of the stream and with a few quick strips, a rainbow was hooked. This repeated technique landed a total of 5 rainbows and 1 brown, most of which were fought by my GF. The river has slowed down, but this cloudy afternoon still brought some eager fish to the net.

Lamprey & Isinglass Rivers - 10/22 & 10/25

Thursday morning I fished a lower stretch of the Lamprey near Newmarket, NH. A cool brisk morning with scattered clouds suggested excellent conditions for the newly stocked rainbows. Water flows were running ~130 CFS & 1.75 gauge height. When initially stocked, the rainbows prefer the slower moving water of pools as it takes them a couple days to acclimate to the faster flows in the head of pools. A green BH wooly bugger was the chosen fly as it was retrieved upstream or across the current. A total of 12 rainbows were landed in a 1.5 hr period, with hits almost every cast.

The annual fall stocking of the Isinglass River curtious of Waste Management (WM) stocked 500 browns and rainbows this past Saturday. The persistent downpours that day quickly rose water levels that I feel discouraged many fishermen. I arrived at the river at sunrise Sunday morning expecting more people would trickle in. Gray Ghost patterns found where the fish lay in a pool created from a large waterfall, but the strong current prevented solid hook-sets. Casting to the pool from a variety of angles and different techniques, trout finally started chasing large orange stimulators retrieved upstream just under the surface. Almost every cast resulted in a trout exploding over the fly. I took 3 quick rainbows until I switched to a muddler minnow. The sun poked through the clouds and the temperature rose.....The brown trout hammered that fly and just about every other streamer I could toss across current. They averaged 14-15 inches, with an occasional 16-17 usually lost at the net. Called it quits at 1100 with over 20 feisty fish landed and at least another 50 misses.

Three Rivers Stocking & Lamprey River - 10/17-10/19

Three Rivers Stocking Association is a private organization that has recently completed their first successful annual fundraiser to stock fall trout in the Lamprey, Cocheco, and Isinglass; three rivers which offer acceptional year-round C & R trout fishing in Southeastern NH. I had the pleasure of stocking these trout on Saturday with President, Jonathon Chorlian, a renouned fly fishing fanatic.
Many of the association members and other local fly-fisherman volunteered in the stocking of ~300 rainbows into the Cocheco, and 500 browns and rainbows (20 18"+ browns) in the Lamprey!!! Waste Managment (WM) has also donated 500 trout to the Isinglass, which will be stocked in the near future.

Fishing these rivers over the past two days has boosted (I would think), everyone's attitude on fall trout fishing this year. The Lamprey was hit hard Saturday evening through tonight, with reports of anglers catching upwards of 30 trout. Rainbows were hitting nymphs and egg patterns, but consistenly favored retrieving wooly buggers and big stoneflies. Trout have not moved far from their initial introduction to the water, but are quickly learning the locals' favorite patterns. The popular pools have seen a consistent 3-5 anglers, but everyone has willingly shared the water as there are plenty of fish still to be caught, and even caught again!
C & R is a wonderful concept!

Pemigawasset River & Sky Pond

The rain ended early sunday, just in time for the field trip session of the two day "Lets Go Fishing" fly fishing class at Plymouth State University. Located within minutes of the Pemigawasset, it seemed an appropriate place to start. Water levels rapidly increased due to the previous nights rain. Large boulders provided a variety of different water for the first timers, enabling them to experience different current speeds, seam and foam lines, and drag free drifts. After a couple hours of basic casting and learning to read the water, lunch provided a break for the students to rest their arms, and thus allowing the water to calm back down. After lunch, we lined the sandy shore and began to take a more serious approach, tossing a variety of flies that seemed approriate for the water conditions. Another teaching instructor fished the seam of a large pool and was rewarded with a nice brookie using a hornberg. Not long after, a second instructor reeled in another brookie downstream on a black woolly bugger.

Producing no fish for the beginners, we decided to switch gears and head to Sky Pond down the road. Upon arrival, everyone noticed the hungry trout exploding on the surface, offering everyone with some primer dry fly action. Dries were the ticket for the first half hour with elk hair caddis and beetles. Brookies were later brought to the net with woolly buggers. A very successful day for "first-time" fly fishermen!