Last week I finished up working for Attitash by helping out at Wildcat Mountain for the solar eclipse. With full snow coverage in the mountains it was surreal to see the sun covered by the moon over the winter landscape in mid-April. Flash forward one week and the higher summits are still white while there are a couple small snow piles melting in my yard.
Back in early March it was looking like we were in for a historically early start to spring. Then the lion came in at the end of the month into April dropping over 100” of snow on the higher summits and around 50” all the way down to the valley floor. These storms allowed for an extended ski season and promised for a relatively normal spring.
High Flows On The Big Rivers
As of this writing the Saco, Androscoggin and Connecticut rivers are high with run-off spurred from a big rain storm last week and copious snowmelt. As of this writing the Andro in Gorham is at 7k, at the dam in Errol the river is running at 4,500. The Connecticut in North Stratford is at 3k and at 7k in Dalton NH. The Saco River is at 3,990 cfs in Conway. With warm temps over the next week snowmelt will continue to keep rivers high and dirty for the next 10 days or so. If we can avoid any more major rain or snowstorms the rivers should be in good fishing shape around the end of this month.
Lake Run Salmon And Rainbows…The Bite Is On!
There are a few big upsides to this higher water. For one thing this will mean better fishing later this spring as fish will put on the feedbag to make up for energy lost. For another, the lakes region tributaries, which depend on high flows to trigger the migration of salmon and rainbows, are fishing better than I have seen in years.
My first fish of the season, a dark rainbow that had probably entered the system over the winter.
On Saturday I got out and scouted some tributaries in preparation for a guided trip on Monday. After a slow start I finally got into a good sized rainbow trout. This was a dark fish which had obviously been in the river for quite a while. I was hoping to find some fresh fish in from the lake so I moved downstream to see if I could intercept some moving up. After moving down a quarter mile I immediately spotted a lighter colored rainbow holding below a sandbar. I hooked this fish and she immediately tore downstream popping the hook. A few minutes later I saw a smaller salmon move up into the same lie. I hooked and landed this bright salmon of about 14”. I didn’t see any more fish in this spot so I went back upstream to see if any fresh fish had skirted by me. Fishing the first pool where I had started with no luck I landed a solid chrome rainbow trout. Later I checked another stream and hooked two fresh rainbows down low but none further upstream. With warmer weather on the way I was confident that more fish would move into the system over the next few days.
A chrome salmon caught by Parry Graham.
On monday I had the pleasure of guiding father and son Parry and Jared Graham. Two regular customers who were eager to find some early season fish. I told them that the fishing would probably start off a bit slow, as the fish don’t wake up until the water warms a bit. For the first hour we didn’t move a fish. Then without moving or changing flies Jared hooked three fish in 5 casts, landing the third fish, a 12” salmon. Knowing that the fish had been moving upstream over the past few days I took a chance and moved upriver to a pool where I hadn’t seen a fish on Saturday. We worked the pool from inside out and started getting hits has we worked the far seam. Parry hooked three rainbows landing the second two. After he missed a couple more strikes, he relinquished his spot to Jared. With some coaching from his dad on where the fish were holding, Jared hooked and lost a large salmon, then landed a fat 17” rainbow trout. After loosing a couple more fish in the fast flows we ate lunch and moved downstream to where I saw fish holding on Saturday. Parry got the first fish in this location, a fat chrome rainbow of about 18” and proceeded to land a 14” salmon shortly after that. With Parry ahead in the fish count I went over to Jared to see if I could sight a fish for him to target. I saw a salmon position istelf in front of Jared but the fish moved upstream before we could get a good drift. After seeing a second salmon scoot by us I walked with Jared upstream looking for fish holding behind sand and gravel bars. As the sun brightened from behind the clouds I caught a glimpse of a large rainbow trout cruising side to side. I instructed Jared to cast above the fish’s lie. Jared made perhaps a half dozen good drifts with no takes. We could no longer see the fish swaying in the current, so I told Jared to make a cast a few feet closer to shore. The indicator drifted about five feet and shot straight down, Jared lifted up and the water erupted into flashes of chrome. After a tense battle with line getting caught and freed from tree limbs I lunged forward and netted the fish, another fat rainbow.
Releasing a chrome rainbow.
After this fish Jared hooked one more salmon that shook the hook just before making it to the net. Satisfied with our success at this location we decided to end the day at a different stream. After seeing fish at this second spot on Saturday, and getting some good reports from other anglers I was confident that we would find more fish.
A fresh lake-run rainbow trout.
We started at the pool where I had seen fish on Saturday and plied the water thoroughly with no takes. We then moved upstream, fishing and looking for any signs of spawning suckers, (as the rainbows follow them to feed on their eggs). After hearing reports of good numbers of suckers in the system I was surprised to see none in the bigger pools and only a couple holding in the faster water. We could not locate a single rainbow in this stretch, and I know people had seen fish in the exact spot earlier in the day. One thing I have learned over the years about chasing lake run fish is that they are unpredictable. But I try to make sense of their peciuliar behavior. Perhaps with the warmer weather and higher water the fish shot way upstream? We hiked half a mile upriver but only found one small salmon parr which ate in surprisingly fast water. I saw no suckers upstream and concluded that the fish either moved further up or just dropped back to the lake as the late day cold front hit. It is fascinating to observe how much these fish move around and inspires me to keep exploring. With daylight fading we decided to call it a day, a great day overall.
Looking Forward And Availability
We should see the lakes region fishing hold up for a few more weeks. Water temps were hovering in the upper 40’s to lower 50’s over the past few days and the fish should remain in the system until water temps hit the mid 60’s. Any big rains will prolong the runs into May. Without any big rainstorms the lake run fishing will slow by the end of April but the bigger northern rivers will turn on as they drop. When this happens, expect to find some drop down salmon and brook trout in the Upper Andro. Holdover and wild browns will feed aggressively as the water drops and warms on the Saco and Connecticut rivers. Early May should provide some good streamer and nymph fishing before the bigger Hendrickson and Caddis hatches get going in mid-May. The wild rainbows on the Andro will begin spawning soon and will be hard to find until they are done sometime in the first half of May. Some of the best fishing for rainbows is from mid-May through early June when they have returned from spawning and feed aggressively to make up for lost calories. We have a couple dates left to target lake run fish this Thursday to Saturday. I’ll be unavailable next week as I am on a family vacation. My spring dates still open are as follows: April 18,19,20,29. May 1,2,3,13,15,20,21,23,27,28,29. June 6,29,30. Please note that we do have other guides available for other dates so please let us know if you have other dates in mind and we will see what we can do!
If you are interested in booking a spring date please let us know ASAP, dates are going fast right now. If you are interested in booking dates through the summer and fall please reach out and we will see what we can do! Thank you to all who have already booked dates with us this spring! We look forward to sharing time on the water with many of you this year!
Tight Lines and see you on the water!
Nate
