A New Hampshire Retreat

 

Someday I'll get a selfie face right

   I spent the last two and a half days in New Hampshire. The main dish was going to be smallmouth with a side of birding and a back up of trout. The plan was to drive up after work on Tuesday night. Lack of motivation, the thought of a warm bed, and then a terrible restless night's sleep meant I didn't get to my first lake until 12:30 pm Wednesday. 

   I fished one of the smaller lakes in the Lakes Region. It was just off of exit 23 so the ride wasn't bad. Despite the bright sun, I caught a fish on my second cast. I caught another five minutes later. Both fish were caught on topwater and I thought I was in for a hell of a day. 

   That last sentence wasn't a prelude to an awful day. I did end up catching nine fish but I didn't smoke them like the beginning of the trip would suggest. The only thing I could get fish to hit was a topwater spook. They wouldn't touch anything else ( except for one little bass that ate a grub). I found it frustrating that they would only hit topwater. I knew the bigger fish would be on a different pattern. I really went on this trip in the hopes of catching a big one. I wanted a four pounder or bigger. Spoiler that didn't happen. 

   I tried fishing grubs, Ned Rigs, and jerkbaits. I hit points and rocky flats but they only wanted topwater. My biggest fish was decent. It was over seventeen inches. I didn't weigh it but roughly three pounds.

 

Brook Trout

 After fishing for five hours I drove north to the mountains. On my way through Franconia Notch I stopped at Echo Lake. I caught one trout and had three others hit in an hour. All my hits were on a a casting bubble and a fly. Another guy limited out on Powerbait. After fishing I went further north and found a campsite.

   Another terrible night sleep despite a nice campsite. I don't think I fell asleep until 3 am. I know it was well past 2 am for sure. Lying there, I was pissed I knew that once I fell asleep I'd be horizontal most of the morning if not into the afternoon. For better or worse, Least Flycatchers had other plans. Sometime around 5 am they woke me up with their loud singing that did not stop. So I dragged my ass out of bed and went birding at Pondicherry. I was really hoping to see a bear which was my whole reason to get up near dawn. Mother Nature and her children of mosquitoes made Pondicherry borderline unbearable. Any pause in my gate and I'd be swarmed by the mosquitoes that were following me.

 

White Lady Slippers

 Because of the biting pests, I left Pondicherry an hour soon than I had planned in my time budget. I went fishing at Moore Reservoir and was at the water before 10 am. The wind was picking up and I thought better of putting the canoe in the water. Last year near this boat ramp I caught ten Smallmouth from shore so I figured my chances were decent I'd still catch fish. I was mostly wrong. I got two small fish and one Rock Bass. I did catch the Rock Bass on a Ned Rig which was fun. I went back to camp about noon and took a four hour nap.

 

 It is amazing how much you can do in a day when you get up at 5 am. I'd already birded five miles, fished almost two hours and took  a four hour nap. When I woke up I still had almost five hours of daylight. I made myself a lunch and ate it in the car. From there, I went trout fishing again. The lake was windy and it took me a whie to find the fish. I almost gave up after half an hour but figure I had nothing better to do, So I kept searching for fish. Eventually I found some and caught five on a casting bubble/ tan Hare's Ear before calling it a day. I went back to camp and got a more normal night's sleep.

Rock Bass caught on Uncle Ned

   I did get up early on Friday to enjoy my last hours in New Hampshire. My plan was to fish five or six hours then get home before the afternoon traffic started. I researched the smaller lakes in the region before bed the night before but decided to fish the same lake as Wednesday. After breaking camp and an hour drive I was fishing by 7 am. I had to be careful because I knew my trolling motor battery was low on energy so I didn't go too far from the ramp. 

 

  I worked a cove hard fishing every boulder and boat dock picking up a couple fish including my biggest fish of the day, roughly sixteen inches. I caught it on a Ned Rig. The fish were more active this morning than Wednesday and I caught other fish on a spook and jerkbaits. I had three hits on a point and caught two of them. However, after 10:30 am despite some cloud cover I stopped catching fish. If I'd have known that my fifth fish would be my last, I'd have left. But I tried all kinds of lures at different depths and bottom with different bottom structure. I gave up at 12:30 and headed home.

  All in all it was a fun but not extremely memorable trip to the Granite State. I caught fish everywhere I went but never got big numbers. I had hoped for a trophy Smallmouth but never hooked a giant.Most of the ones I caught were quality fish between 12-16 inches with the three pounder. The woods were tough due to the mosquitoes but it isn't a bad Black Fly year. Choke it up to another chapter of many to New Hampshire.

Totals-   14 Smallmouth,  6 Trout

              Good Birds heard- Canada, Chestnut Sided, and Magnolia Warblers

                                   seen- Alder and Least Flycatcher, Bald Eagle flyby while fishing, Loons checked me out at every lake I was at getting too close and I had to wait for them to pass to cast. 

              No mammals to mention

              One frog at Pondicherry with weird coloration that could have been a Mink Frog but it jumped in the water before I could get a photo so I will never know.