Post by jskowron on Aug 5, 2009 11:38:55 GMT -5
Here's a copy of a post that I put up on another BB. Enjoy-
Got a chance to fish in the North Country of NH last week. Hit the Androscoggin (big water) and caught some nice Rainbows and a good brookie. The highlight of the fishing was hitting the headwaters of a small stream way up at the end of a dirt logging road. You know you're in a working forest when the only "street signs" are warning placards stating that logging trucks have the right of way on narrow roads and, by the way, need some room and distance to stop when fully loaded. The day before fishing, we scouted the area by car with my 89 year old father in law, who told stories of fishing the same brook when he was a kid. Back then, the road was much rougher and gated, so it involve a twelve mile hike to get to the spot shown below. Fishing trips were four day affairs- one day in, 2 days fishing and eating brookies while staying at a "public use" camp, and one day out. It's a beautiful spot, with fish that are supposed to be there (native brookies). Once you hike upstream a mile or so from the logging bridges, you really get the sense that you are one of the few people who have ever been there, let alone fished there (there is good fishing for bigger stocked trout about 11 miles down stream, so most people don't venture too far up). Here are some pics:
Here's the view upstream from the bridge where we entered:
My fishing buddy for the day was my 12 year old nephew (albeit a 6'1", 235lb, size 14 shoe 12 year-old!). He was employing my father-in-law's usually successful "dip and jerk method" where you put a piece of worm on whatever fly you can find, dip it into the pool, and jerk mightily at the first sign of a nibble. The fly selection today was a rusty old wet fly (something like a queen of waters or montreal), the rod was thick, heavy, old fiberglass thing, with an cracked line and level mono leader. I offered him a better rig, but he was set on keeping his grandfather's traditions alive. Alas, the usually effective "dip and jerk" was inneffective, and he started to catch fish only when i tied on a little EHC. This prompted him to muse that the "dip and jerk" didn't work because we left the jerk (grandpa?) back at the cabin:
Here's some nice water- small plunges and pools aobut a mile up from the bridge. There are Brook Trout exactly where you think they would be, and they were more than eager to take a size 14 EHD or CDC and Elk:
Another shot of a longer pool/run:
And finally- this is what we were catching- Native Eastern Brook Trout, stocked by nature:
I used a 6' 3wt that I built on a Lamiglas honey blank, with a little medalist for a reel. It's a fun rod for this type of fishing, allowing you to occasionally cast. I think for the kid or novice (I went back a few days later with my cousin's 17 year old daughter, who had neve fly-fished before) a 9 foot, stiffer rod works better- no casting is necessary, though some mending allows for a more natural and longer drift, which seemed to lead to more strikes.
We each caught (and kept) our limit (5 fish), as well as released many more. We were sure to not keep more than one fish from each pool, moving upstream a pool or two before keeping another. All in all, a great way to spend a morning. I am exciting that next year my own daughter will be old/big enough to manage the hiking and boulder climbing
Jeff
Got a chance to fish in the North Country of NH last week. Hit the Androscoggin (big water) and caught some nice Rainbows and a good brookie. The highlight of the fishing was hitting the headwaters of a small stream way up at the end of a dirt logging road. You know you're in a working forest when the only "street signs" are warning placards stating that logging trucks have the right of way on narrow roads and, by the way, need some room and distance to stop when fully loaded. The day before fishing, we scouted the area by car with my 89 year old father in law, who told stories of fishing the same brook when he was a kid. Back then, the road was much rougher and gated, so it involve a twelve mile hike to get to the spot shown below. Fishing trips were four day affairs- one day in, 2 days fishing and eating brookies while staying at a "public use" camp, and one day out. It's a beautiful spot, with fish that are supposed to be there (native brookies). Once you hike upstream a mile or so from the logging bridges, you really get the sense that you are one of the few people who have ever been there, let alone fished there (there is good fishing for bigger stocked trout about 11 miles down stream, so most people don't venture too far up). Here are some pics:
Here's the view upstream from the bridge where we entered:
My fishing buddy for the day was my 12 year old nephew (albeit a 6'1", 235lb, size 14 shoe 12 year-old!). He was employing my father-in-law's usually successful "dip and jerk method" where you put a piece of worm on whatever fly you can find, dip it into the pool, and jerk mightily at the first sign of a nibble. The fly selection today was a rusty old wet fly (something like a queen of waters or montreal), the rod was thick, heavy, old fiberglass thing, with an cracked line and level mono leader. I offered him a better rig, but he was set on keeping his grandfather's traditions alive. Alas, the usually effective "dip and jerk" was inneffective, and he started to catch fish only when i tied on a little EHC. This prompted him to muse that the "dip and jerk" didn't work because we left the jerk (grandpa?) back at the cabin:
Here's some nice water- small plunges and pools aobut a mile up from the bridge. There are Brook Trout exactly where you think they would be, and they were more than eager to take a size 14 EHD or CDC and Elk:
Another shot of a longer pool/run:
And finally- this is what we were catching- Native Eastern Brook Trout, stocked by nature:
I used a 6' 3wt that I built on a Lamiglas honey blank, with a little medalist for a reel. It's a fun rod for this type of fishing, allowing you to occasionally cast. I think for the kid or novice (I went back a few days later with my cousin's 17 year old daughter, who had neve fly-fished before) a 9 foot, stiffer rod works better- no casting is necessary, though some mending allows for a more natural and longer drift, which seemed to lead to more strikes.
We each caught (and kept) our limit (5 fish), as well as released many more. We were sure to not keep more than one fish from each pool, moving upstream a pool or two before keeping another. All in all, a great way to spend a morning. I am exciting that next year my own daughter will be old/big enough to manage the hiking and boulder climbing
Jeff
