Brown trout bite is on! Salmon, bows and brookies too!

We've been putting in a lot of hours on the water searching for wild and holdover browns. We are beginning to see more activity with water temps rising into the high 40's. With rain in the forecast flows should be favorable for at least another week. 

Bill Thompson with an early season Saco brown.

We've been experimenting with different flies and techniques and we really started cracking the code this week. Of course hunting big browns is never a numbers game and we are always happy if we get one or two fish to the boat. The excitement that comes with seeing a golden ghost materialize out of the depths to engulf a big streamer is hard to put into word. Every time I close my eyes I'm replaying every predatory attack I've seen over the past week. 

Guide Nate Hill with a text book Saco brown. 

If you are interested in pursuing these Alpha fish do give us a call. We have some dates available over the next few weeks. 

Nate displaying another brown caught by Bill Thompson. Had a great visual eat with this fish! 

Aside from hunting brown trout we've also been finding good pushes of lake run rainbow trout and landlocked salmon. These fish will be around longer than usual in areas where anglers do not keep too many fish. We've been disappointed to see even some fly anglers killing these early season trout. This is a unique early season resource that has the potential of providing wade angling during a time of the year when many rivers are too high to fish. Let's conserve this resource as best we can! 

A lake run landlocked salmon. These fish will be active as long as waters remain high and cold. 

A lake run rainbow...these fish are almost always holdovers and average 17" in length with fish over 20" not uncommon. 

Last but not least the brook trout fishing has been good to great as of late. Both stocked and un-stocked wild trout ponds should be fishing well as of this writing. We had the pleasure of guiding Client Andre on one of our local trout ponds last week. Andre has been fishing this pond for almost 50 years but has been unable to fish his favorite pond in recent years due to lack of mobility. We were happy to help Andre fish...and catch again! 

One of Andre's many brook trout. 

Our wild brook trout streams are also turning on. With plenty of water these fish should be healthy and fat this spring. We've begun to see some sporadic hatches of caddis and mayflies which should increase as we get warmer days. Dry fly fishing will be upon us before long! If you are looking to get on the water over the next few weeks we have dates available. Please contact us asap! 

Early season wild brook trout taken on a pheasant tail nymph. 

Tight lines,

Nate

Arkansas wrap up and NH outlook!

Arkansas wrap up

We had an exceptional last week of guiding on the White and Norfork rivers of north central Arkansas. The fishing last week was some of the best all around trout fishing I have ever seen. From big browns on small nymphs to cutthroat sipping dries to big rainbows crushing swimming leach patterns.... there wasn't much we didn't catch fish on. 

Client Dick Peterson with a large brown that he finessed to the net on 5X!

More impressive than the action was the average size of fish taken. On most days we were catching 40-60 trout with about half of those fish measuring over 15" and about 10 fish a day over 17". We landed at least one fish over 19" on most days with 20" browns and cutthroat being common. Our clients did an exceptional job of landing the vast majority of these large fish caught. We also must admit that our Cortland Competition nymph rods made a big difference in getting good hook sets and protecting light tippets while fighting these large trout. We'd also like to thank Trout Hunter tippets and leaders for making some seriously tough tippet material and offering their tippet in half sizes. Being able to go from 4X to 4.5X and 5X to 5.5X made a big difference in fooling large trout without worrying about being under gunned. 

Client Matt Dormer with a healthy cutthroat trout...fish like these were common this one sipped a foam Elk Hair caddis from the surface!

One of the biggest keys to our success on the White and Norfork rivers was our focus on stealth. Guiding out of our raft we were able to slide into spots without spooking fish and were able to rest on spots where we knew big fish were willing to eat when not spooked. 

Bernie Dormer with a chrome bow taken on a small leach pattern. 

We focused on fishing flies far away from the boat and with long leaders to small strike indicators to eliminate line crash. Keeping a long drift with moderately weighted flies allowed for stealthy natural drifts that often produced the biggest fish. Over the weeks we were able to fine tune our fly selection based on conditions. Early morning midge hatches usually petered out by noon and we'd switch to attractor patterns like eggs and worms. Then if a caddis hatch turned on we would switch to caddis pupa and even dry droppers when the big fish got on the surface. Windy conditions warranted fishing small leach patterns and streamers that would wiggle in the chop. These often produced fish when nothing else would. When the nymph bite shut off we found success bouncing sculpin patterns over the bottom. 

Bernie Dormer took this 20" brown after we slid the boat upstream and cast upstream before the fish knew we were there.

Lastly we found some of our biggest fish in what might seem non-descript water to many. In these cold tail-waters big trout do not need the fast riffles we often associate with good trout water. Instead they can often be found in the middle of a slow pool behind an unseen submerged rock. Or resting on a patch of gravel between weed beds in frog water.

Through working with and fishing with other guides such as: Lance Wilt of Outcast anglers John Holsten of Straight Outta Cotter, Larry Babin of Hogs on the Fly, Barry Annalora of Trophy Hunter Guide Service, and last but not least Jeremy Hunt of Flies and guides. we were able to gain a wide range of knowledge and ideas that we blended with our own knowledge base. I can't thank these guides enough for sharing time on the water and many of their strategies and flies to catching these large Arkansas trout. 

Jeremy Hunt with a sunny day brown that he caught right after he said, " There is a brown trout right behind that ledge."

Nate Hill with one of many brown trout caught while fishing with Jeremy Hunt. 

New Hampshire Outlook

With a heavy snowpack in the mountains things are looking bright for a long and productive trout season here in the White Mountians. Snow melt has begun in earnest and the Saco and Androscoggin rivers were both right around 9,000 CFS today April 11th. With this heavy snowmelt water temps are running right around 33 degress and fish metabolisms are slow. Best fishing will be had early in the day before water levels rise. As snowmelt begins to moderate and flows drop below 4,000 cfs both rivers should begin to produce good fishing. Nate will be out of town from April 15th to April 22nd. So if you are looking to book a trip for late April or May please contact Steve at North Country Angler. 

Saco River Browns

We are looking forward to hitting the water later this April in search of large wild brown trout on the Saco river. We've been disecting this early season fishery over the past couple of seasons and are excited to employ some new ideas and strategies to fool these mythical browns that we believe may reach 30" in our waters. We have had some inquries for guiding over these large trout and we are taking tentative reservations but not deposits as we do not want to take people out unless we are confident that the conditions will offer us a good shot at these fish. 

If you are interested in pursuing these fish the best time frame is from Late April through Late May when flows are between 1,000 and 4,000 cfs. We will be sure to keep you posted on what we are finding this spring. 

Lake run Rainbows and Salmon

As I drove through NH on my way back from Arkansas I was happy to see our lake tributaries swollen with water. This push of water will draw LL salmon and rainbow trout into lake tributaries where we fly anglers will have early season (Late April through May) opportunities at large lake run fish. While traditional streamer patterns like smelt are often effective. We have done even better with mohair leach patterns, sucker spawn, hares ear nymphs, and when waters begin to warm caddis dry flies. If you'd like to book a trip to fish for these large trout please let us know as this fishing will be heating up shortly! 

Wild Brook Trout Waters

Over the past five years we have been exploring the vast array of well hidden spring fed brook trout streams that slither through the forests and meadows of the lowland areas of NH's White Mountains. While some of these streams require hiking we have some on private property that require less effort to fish. Since these streams are spring fed their hatches begin earlier than those in the mountain streams. Good dry fly fishing begins with Hendrickson hatches in early to mid-may and is followed by caddis hatches in late May. We are happy to report that last fall we saw many wild brook trout to 12+ inches and we are excited to see how these fish are doing this spring! 

Androscoggin River Float fishing 

.The Androscoggin River from Errol NH to the Maine border will begin producing fish as soon as levels drop to around 3,500 cfs. This is mainly rainbow trout water with LL salmon, brown trout and brook trout also present. If you are looking to fish this river we highly recommend floating from a boat as you will be able to cover much more water in a much more efficient manner than if you were to try wade fishing this brawling fishery. 

White Mountains fishing outlook: Spring 2017

New Hampshire Outlook

With a heavy snowpack in the mountains things are looking bright for a long and productive trout season here in the White Mountians. Snow melt has begun in earnest and the Saco and Androscoggin rivers were both right around 9,000 CFS today April 11th. With this heavy snowmelt water temps are running right around 33 degress and fish metabolisms are slow. Best fishing will be had early in the day before water levels rise. As snowmelt begins to moderate and flows drop below 4,000 cfs both rivers should begin to produce good fishing. Nate will be out of town from April 15th to April 22nd. So if you are looking to book a trip for late April or May please contact Steve at North Country Angler. 

Early season Saco River Browns

We are looking forward to hitting the water later this April in search of large wild brown trout on the Saco river. We've been dissecting this early season fishery over the past couple of seasons and are excited to employ some new ideas and strategies to fool these mythical browns that we believe may reach 30". We have had some inquries for guiding over these large trout and we are taking tentative reservations but not deposits as we do not want to take people out unless we are confident that the conditions will offer us a good shot at these fish. 

HCG Guide Tom Freedman with a two foot Saco River brown trout caught May 3rd 2016.

If you are interested in pursuing these fish the best time frame is from Late April through Late May when flows are between 1,000 and 4,000 cfs. We will be sure to keep you posted on what we are finding this spring. 

Lake run Rainbows and Salmon

As I drove through NH on my way back from Arkansas I was happy to see our lake tributaries swollen with flow. This push of water will draw LL salmon and rainbow trout into lake tributaries where we fly anglers will have early season (Late April through May) opportunities at large lake run fish. While traditional streamer patterns like smelt are often effective. We have done even better with mohair leach patterns, sucker spawn, hares ear nymphs, and when waters begin to warm, caddis dry flies. If you'd like to book a trip to fish for these large trout please let us know as this fishing will be heating up shortly! 

Client Michael Lewis with a large lake run rainbow Taken May 7th 2016.

Wild Brook Trout Waters

Over the past five years we have been exploring the vast array of well hidden spring fed brook trout streams that slither through the forests and meadows of the lowland areas of NH's White Mountains. While some of these streams require hiking we have some on private property that require less effort to fish. Since these streams are spring fed their hatches begin earlier than those in the mountain streams. Good dry fly fishing begins with Hendrickson hatches in early to mid-May and is followed by caddis hatches in late May. We are happy to report that last fall we saw many wild brook trout to 12+ inches and we are excited to see how these fish are doing this spring! 

Spring creek wild brook trout May 15th 2016

Androscoggin River Float fishing 

.The Androscoggin River from Errol NH to the Maine border will begin producing fish as soon as levels drop to around 3,500 cfs. This is mainly rainbow trout water with LL salmon, brown trout and brook trout also present. If you are looking to fish this river we highly recommend floating from a boat as you will be able to cover much more water in a much more efficient manner to target the rivers larger trout. Last year we saw a record number of fish over 16" with many topping 20" see below! 

Massive 28" Androscoggin River Rainbow trout taken by client Charlie Houghton during the Alder Fly Hatch June 17th 2016.

Ellis River and Mountain Streams

The Ellis river and other high elevation mountain streams are often the last to turn on for spring hatches. Expect these streams to fish very well from mid-June through mid-September. With the healthy snowpack in the mountains fish will head to these thermal refuges as the bigger rivers warm. You may be surprised by the size of some of the fish you can find in these smaller streams. 

Ellis River Brook trout Late June 2016.

Wild rainbow trout taken from a small mountain stream mid-July 2016.

Again, we would like to remind you that we will be out of the country until April 24th. If you'd like to book a trip for this coming season please leave us a voicemail 603-835-3358 or email info@whitemountainflyfishing.com and we will be sure to get back to you on the 24th. If you'd like to book sooner please contact Steve Angers at North Country Angler 603-356-6000.

Hello from Cotter Arkansas!

Needless to say this report is long in coming. We've been down here in the Ozarks for the past four weeks and the fishing has been spectacular. We arrived on March fifth and did a full week of scouting before the guiding began. We landed some large browns on streamers the first week. After some trial and error scouting. Our partner in crime Greg Englis got this nice fish right by the lodge on one of his signature streamer patterns. He landed all of his big fish despite a broken ligament in his right thumb! 

After a good week Getting Greg into fish despite a broken thumb it was time to get to work! Our clients have been landing some impressive fish from large cutthroats and bows to brute brown trout. 

Andrew hooked up with a big cutthroat 

Bob Parks with a 20" brown caught right above the second launch...out of the way of all of the bigger boats. 

With low flows on most days, the name of the game has been stealth and advanced nymphing techniques. We feel very good about adding cortland competition nymph rods and trouthunter leader sand tippets to our lineup this season. With these forgiving and long four weight rods and strong tippets our clients have been able to make efficient long distance casts without sacrificing the ability to set the hook at distance. Once hooked we have lost very few fish on trouthunter  5X and 5.5X tippets. Being able to fish half sizes has been crucial as fish have been weary but are not easily landed on 6X. This has also allowed us to fish double rigs without losing much tippet strenght between flies. 

Speaking of flies we have discovered some innovative ones down here this season. Our new friend Jeremy Hunt of Guides and Flies has shown us that heavy isn't always better with his signature 1/100th ounce jig hooks and we've been tying a variety of flies on these perfectly weighted hooks. The key here is that the fish are holding in shallow water and a fast falling fly does not look like natural food. These hooks allow the fly to flutter as it falls and it is common to see flashes of fish engulfing the fly as it falls through the water column. Jeremy's mega worm and another local pattern the Jimmy Jig have been particularly deadly in a variety of conditions. 

I will often couple one of these larger nymphs with a suspended hares ear or ruby midge tied above the jig. If the smaller fly is getting eaten more than the big one it is often possible to fish the single smaller bug to limit tangles and allow for longer casts. If you are not familiar with the ruby midge it is similar to the traditional zebra midge but with a red crinkle flash body ribbed with one strand of black embroidery thread. It is the hemoglobin in these tailwater midges that glows red and these fish key in on this color on days midges are hatching. While the actual midges range from a size 18-22 I tie all of mine on size 16 curved nymph hooks and I just vary the number of tinsel wraps depending on the size of the midge I'm trying to imitate. I started this practice last year when I saw that the bigger browns would often throw size 18 and smaller hooks. These size 16 competition nymph hooks have been deadly effective in holding fish up to and over 20". 

Jeff Smith landed this impressively fat 20" brown on a size 16 hares ear nymph. (here a hares ear nymph makes for a perfect caddis pupa imitation)

We have six more days of fishing here before we head back to the snowy land of North Conway NH. Nate will be out of the country for a week for his delayed honeymoon with Alicia. Tom and Steve will be available for LL salmon and brown trout trips while he is gone. By late April we will all be available for trips and will be searching for the large brown trout that should be waking up in the Saco river. 

We'll try to give you one more report before we leave here next week!

November Wrap up and December Report

Well it has been quite an end to fall here at HCG. We had our busiest November to date. Fishing in November was slower than in October but we had some great catches and some quality dry fly midging for wild rainbows. 

Wild rainbow taken on a size 18 parachute midge. 

We also got some time to explore with our good friend Milan who was home from guiding in Idaho.

Milan with a streamer caught brown. 

We were able to explore  some new water and were pleased to find some very large trout. One rainbow trout we found taped at 26" with a 19" girth...putting this fish at over 11 lbs. 

It is hard to  say whether this fish was bigger than the beast our client Charlie Houghton landed in the Spring. Both fish will go down as the two biggest rainbow trout we've seen caught here in NH. Hopefully we see more of these beasts next year. 

Last week Tom and Nate got out on the Andro again and found fish from the start fishing one of Tom's new horizontal leech patterns. The fish hit two feet down in about 3 feet of water.  It was interesting to see them come off the bottom this late in the season. From there the fishing slowed with a strong east wind blowing. 

Tom with a late season wild rainbow

This time of the year fish can still be caught in the Andro but good timing and the right technique need to coincide. Slowly swinging 2-3" streamer can produce as can bouncing a streamer downstream. Nymphing bright eggs and worms can also be productive as can nymphing darker leaches, buggers and green and cream caddis.

We've found that fish have been selective about when and what they eat. The key has been targeting slower runs and deeper riffles where we know fish lie this time of the year., then being persistent and changing flies until the fish decide to bite. 

After nymphing this run for over an hour this wild bow finally chose a dead drifted pink worm.

Fish can still be taken on dries in December, especially in slower back eddies and on bright calm days in the late afternoon. 

We will gladly show you this challenging fishing at our late season reduced rate of $275 for a half day float, $350 for a full day float.  Now is also a great time to buy gift certificates for 2017.  contact us now to give the gift of a White Mountain Fly Fishing adventure this year!

Tight lines,

Nate