With it being the last day of the regular trout season, we want to remind everyone that we still have some great float trip options. The Androscoggin River in Gorham is open to trout fishing year round and fishes well into November. The pike fishing on the Connecticut River and surrounding lakes and ponds is an adrenaline rush like nothing else we have found in fresh water! The Pike fishing typically gets better in late October and November and fishes well right up until waters freeze. The trout fishing is usually good into November as well, with warmer days being most productive the later into the fall we get.
The nymph bite really turned on for Susan on this October afternoon!
Androscoggin: late season bite is on!
Over the last 6 days cooler weather has dropped water temps from the lower sixties to the mid 50's on the andro. This means we are finally seeing good BWO hatches in the afternoons which mean the best dry fly opportunities of the fall. Look for calmer days above 50 to produce the best dry fly opportunities, especially in the slower pools. With the colder water we have also seen good streamer bites. Kreelix, yellow zoo cougars, black, olive and brown buggers and mini sex dungeons have all produced over the past week. If you get tired of throwing streamers, nymphing is still producing as well. We've been catching fish on pink worms, bwo nymphs, Joe Goodspeeds ESP caddis, large prince nymphs size 12-8 and tan and olive mop flies. We haven't needed to break out the egg patterns just yet but those should be on the menu as well. Flows are at 1030 cfs in errol and are scheduled to remain that way through at least Oct 23rd. Rain next week bodes well to keep flows at a great level for fall fishing!
Charlie with one of many fine wild ranbows he caught with us over 3 days of early October fishing!
Rob with his new PB brown trout at 24.5” caught with us this fall!
Pike Fishing:
We got out yesterday for a good scouting mission for Pike. Kevin and I both missed a couple of takes early on and I was just getting the rust off when I saw an absolute unit of a pike stalking my fly to the boat. The fish swam back to his log jam before I could entice him to eat but our good friend Alex Poland was kind enough to back the boat up a bit to give me another Crack. On the next cast I let the fly stall and fall into the depths. As I made slow dying strips with long pauses The fly instantly vanished into a dark submarine. With continuous hard strips I lifted into a freight train that bent my 11 weight to the cork. Finally I brought the fish thrashing to the surface and Alex made a decisive scoop with the net. We taped this one at 34.5” and very fat. Not a bad way to start the fall pike hunting season!
This fish nearly knocked my hat off!
With cooling waters we expect to see good bite windows for Pike mid morning through dusk. Cloudy and calm low pressure days typically result in the longest bite windows but the big one can hit at any moment. We did well yesterday on orange and white bucktail hollow style double decievers, and goodspeed good head flies. As well as somr jig style flies in yellow/ chartreuse and yellow and black. It's always a good idea to rotate colors and styles but once tou find what they like I prefer to stick with what I have confidence in as long as lighting and water conditions remain equal. With water levels low this year we are able to see structure much better and can get our flies in front of more fish in the shallower water that we have right now.
What's to come?
The long range forecast looks great for October fishing with highs in the 50s to low 60's most days and some rains and clouds mixed in. We find that fish respond well to a mix of sun and clouds this time of the year. With the sun activating their metabolism and the clouds giving them some cover to hunt under. We've seen good results in both clouds and sun with both pike and trout this time of the year. Wind can make things tricky at times but it can also push bait to hungry trout and pike so take out those streamer rods when the wind picks up! Water temps should remain favorable for good trout and pike fishing into at least mid-November. We have dates available so let us know if you want to get out before the water freezes!
Tight Lines,
Nate