Fishing New Hampshire

 

Big George still had snow my entire trip to the Whites

   

   The following is basically a journal entry from my fishing trip to NH. Some of it is copied and pasted from my Facebook posts and some of you have read parts of it already. Other parts are more detailed than stuff I had already written. Mostly it is here so I can look back at my vacation itinerary in case I ever go back in May.

Day 2 Wednesday May 24

   One of my main goals was to catch a Northern Pike. Tuesday I drove up and spent most of the day getting a campsite. I really didn't do much else, so Tuesday was a travel day

 

 I spent all morning on Moore Reservoir. Moore Reservoir is an impoundment on the Connecticut River. It is considered a very good pike lake. I fished this reservoir in Nov 2021. The temp was twenty eight degrees to start the day and the temp peaked in the mid-40s. Despite the cold, I caught three Smallmouth on big spinnerbaits with steel leaders made for pike. This made me think there must be a lot of Smallies if I caught three on pike baits in the freezing cold.

 
 I put in at 8 am Wednesday because it was a chilly morning and getting out of a warm tent didn't seem like fun. When I got to the lake it was overcast and windless. Perfect for fishing from the canoe. I worked my way along the Eastern shore casting my pike lures towards any cover I could find. This meant rocks and wood. The weeds have not grown yet in the chilly northern New Hampshire spring. I never got a hit or a follow.

   After passing a mile of prefect Smallmouth habitat I took out my bass rod and started casting a grub on a 1/8 jighead. Within three casts I hooked a thirteen inch Smallmouth. I hooked another a few casts later. I had a decision to make, Smallmouth or Pike? This wasn't an easy decision for me. While I knew I'd catch more Smallmouth, I drove all this way to fish for Pike. 

Rock Bass

  So I compromised. I fished for Smallmouth as I worked the shoreline and when I came to wood, flats, or stream mouths I casted my pike lures. This worked out okay for the Smallies. I caught seven and had at least that many more hits. Of course I did not catch a Pike or there would already be a photo for you to see. 

  For most of the morning the weather was perfect for fishing. Some of the time it was flat and part of the time there was a slight breeze causing small ripples. About noon it started to rain. I fished in the rain for another two hours hoping a pike would like the weather. No luck. On the other hand, I'd love to fish this lake for Smallmouth with a boat and trolling motor. If I caught seven with another ten hits fishing half the time for pike not to mention paddling for at least three miles, what damage could be done if the entire time was dedicated to Smallmouth fishing? I guess I won't know anytime soon. 

  All in all,  although I dipped again on Northern Pike, I had a good day fishing. I'd have preferred not to get soaked but the weather was perfect for fishing especially from a canoe. I'll try again.

Day 3 Thursday May 25

Nine inch trout

   After an afternoon of rain on Wednesday, the forecast was for clearing skies and highs in the fifties, I knew that was a recipe for a northwest wind. So I knew I wasn't going to try Moore Reservoir again today. So I went trout fishing at ponds I wanted to fish anyway. One of the goals of this trip is to avoid unnecessary driving. Driving with the canoe on my car is killing my gas milage plus, I just don't want to drive for no reason. 

  So today, I hit the ponds on Sandwich Notch Road. Sandwich Notch Rd connects Rt 49 (the road to Waterville Valley) and Center Harbor. It is really rough with rocks and potholes. It is possible to drive it in a 2 wheel drive vehicle but you must go slow and dodge obstacles. I only plan on going down this road once. 

The first stop was Upper Hall Pond. Upper Hall is a fly fishing only pond. It has special restrictions that all trout 12-16 inches be released. I'd like to tell you it is loaded with fish in that slot range, but I've never caught one that size in there. That said, it is usually loaded with fish. 

   I put the canoe in the water while an older couple was also fishing from a canoe. I could see a couple of rises right in front of the launch but it looked like the couple was making their way there. So I paddled out to the far side of the lake. As I did, the wind picked up and blew me towards that shore. I anchored up but it was no use, the wind kept pushing me.

   So I paddled back towards the lee shore. I had to paddle backwards because the wind was too strong for me to paddle with the bow into the wind. It took me fifteen minutes to go 150 yards.

   When I got to the "calmer shore" I started fishing again. The wind was still strong enough to move me when it gusted, but for the most part I could fish. After a few casts I got a hit. At this point I was expecting to go fishless. So the hit was very much welcomed. A few casts later I caught a nine inch brookie. Then another, and another, and so on. Once I found fish, catching was easy. I had on what was a beadhead flashback Hares Ear, but it is so beat up, it is hard to tell what it is anymore. Still, the fish loved it. All told I caught fifteen Brookies at Upper Hall. All of them cookie cutter nine inch fish. I got a little bored with these cookie cutter fish and fighting the wind so I went off to my next pond.

Common Shiner from Kiah Pond

   The next pond I fished is Kiah Pond. Kiah is a mile off Sandwich Notch Road and the drive is just as rough. When I got to the pond I ate a quick lunch and launched. Kiah is a small pond so it was not as windy as Upper Hall, but there was still an annoying gust. I paddled to the lee shore and started fishing.

  Two casts in with my torn up fly, I hooked up a nine inch Brookie. Moving around the lee shore I ended up catching eight fish in an hour. Same as Upper Hall they all looked exactly the same. By the time I caught the eighth one, I had enough. I put the canoe on the car and made the technical drive back down Sandwich Notch Rd. I was very excited to see pavement. I went to Lincoln where I spent the next hour reading emails and texts while having two slices of pizza.

   One other note about Kiah Pond. Kiah has Common Shiners. I had planned on putting on a tiny fly after I was done trout fishing to catch one. I didn't have to because a shiner about four inches hit my beat up Hares Ear. 

   Honestly, I was happy to get my Sandwich Notch Road day out of my system. I like Upper Hall Pond and Kiah Pond. I had a very good day at each. If I stayed at Upper Hall all day I could have caught dozens of fish. They were very aggressive. However, nine inch stocked trout can only hold your interest for so long. 

   So at 4 pm I was thinking of going back to my campsite but there was still a lot of daylight left. So I took a look at Echo Lake in Franconia  Notch. The wind was howling from north to south right into the boat ramp. I decided to fish from shore. I put on my waders and used my spinning rod. I never would have been able to cast my fly rod into that wind. I put on a 1/8 ounce Kastmaster which casts very well into the wind.

  Third cast I caught a trout that was (say it with me) nine inches. I thought here we go again. But it was early and I hoped that they wouldn't all be that size. After the second fish, I could tell there were a lot of them in front of me, so I crushed the barbs of my spoon to make releasing the fish so much easier.  It didn't take long to find out if there were any big ones around. A few fish later I hooked a fish that had some serious weight. When I got it in, it was roughly sixteen inches and close to three pounds. I took some photos and released it. This got me excited. 

 

 The fish were stacked up in the wind and I killed them. In an hour, all on the Kastmaster, I caught twenty fish. I caught ne tiny four incher and I wondered if it was a wild trout? Maybe a holdover fry from last year? I don't know. 

   Most of the fish were in the eight to nine inch range. However, I caught two others that would be considered "lunkers" by New Hampshire standards. They were the same size as the other big one. All of them extremely fat and close to three pounds. They were really fun to catch.

   After an hour I called it a day. That north wind along with the wet fish was freezing my hands. Obviously, I had a great day. I caught forty two fish. Three of them trophies. I caught them from three different ponds. Twenty two on the fly rod, twenty on the Kastmaster. Even though I "complained" that so many of the fish were cookie cutter nine inch fish, I know most of the people coming up to New Hampshire over the holiday weekend would be happy to catch one or two of those Brookies. I count my blessings, I promise you that!

Day 4 Friday May 26

Commerford Reservoir/ Echo Lake

Day 4 I tried for Pike again on an impoundment on the CT River named Commerford Reservoir. When I got there it was flat. By the time I launched it was breezy. By the time I came back two hours later the waves were borderline dangerous. Don't worry, I said borderline. I dealt with the wind for hours without a hit. In the afternoon I licked my wounds at Echo Lake catching four Brook Trout. Laurie came up Friday night and we made supper at Crawford Notch.

Day 5 Saturday

Wild Brook Trout

The goal today was to hike out to some beaver ponds that I had caught wild Brook trout at a couple years ago. Catching wild Brookies was second on my list on this trip only to getting a Pike. We had to hike in a couple of miles but we came in from the opposite end that I had before.

I didn't know what to expect. These Beaver ponds have been around for years. So the area around them has become flooded meadows. We firmly expected to get our feet wet so we wore old sneakers.

The first pond we came to didn't have any access due to thick brush around it. The second pond was drained and all that was left was a trickle of a steam surrounded by a mudflat. The third pond was only slightly better. The access point had, had me casting over a sterile mudflat. Things were not looking good. Keeping in mind, Laurie was only coming along for the scenery and a muddy dried up lake was not cutting it.

The head net saved the trip for me

The first wild Brookie

At the fourth pond there was a nice grassy area where someone had obviously camped. This gave Laurie a nice spot to enjoy the breeze while I scouted a place to actually make a backcast.

I moved up to the Beaver dam in the next pond up. I walked out onto the dam and started casting a Bead head Pheasant Tail. No luck but I did see two fish swirl within casting range. Next I tried an Alder fly hoping a dry would work. It did not. So I tried a tiny Hares Ear which did match the color of the flies on the water. Within three casts I caught an 8 inch wild trout. I yelled to Laurie I had one. Took some photos and let it go. I caught another one a few cast later. That was it. It took me an hour to catch a fish and almost three hours to get to these ponds. I packed up after the second fish and made my way back to Laurie. We looked at a newt that I couldn't grab and made our way back out.

We stopped in Lincoln for pizza and went to the Cog Railway parking lot to look at the view of Washington before heading back to camp.

Despite seeming almost ungrateful that I was catching " nine inch cookie cutters" on Thursday the little wild Brookies are a whole different story. I love those beautiful wild fish. You don't hike six miles round trip for their size. Two fish that were well worth the hike.

Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams

Seeking grace in every step he takes

His sight has turned inside himself to try to understand

The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake

John Denver and Thomas Wanderer

Day 6 Sunday May 28

  Today was a birding day. We went to Pondicherry which is a NWR. The one bird I hoped to see on this trip is a Mourning Warbler. We didn't see one at Pondicherry but otherwise, had a great day. I realized pretty quickly that hearing birds is a lot easier than seeing them up here. For example, we heard at least five Canada Warblers but only actually saw one. We did get some good birds. We had a great look at a Sapsucker drilling holes. We did see the one Canada Warbler and two Alder Flycatchers. Two loons were in close also.

   

   The best thing we saw wasn't a bird but a Snowshoe Hare. We got to see it a couple of times as it made its way in and out of the scrub. We also saw a grouse cross the railroad tracks and a deer feeding near them. All in all it was a good morning.

   Laurie's feet were pretty beat up from the hiking so we took it easy the afternoon. For lunch we had a picnic near Echo Lake and I fished there a little while with one hit. However I have a good memory from being there. I was fishing near the boat ramp. It was a busy day (Memorial weekend Sunday) with a lot of kayaks in the water. I knew there would be traffic. There was this one group coming in. I could see the lead guy purposely coming in right in front of me instead of going around where I was casting. As he got right in front of me he flipped his kayak. It was beautiful karma. We left after the disturbance.

   Next I went to Mirror Lake. Again, there was a lot of people. Way more than I expected. We were there so I fished for thirty minutes. I had one good pull but dropped it. I had three other taps on the Kastmaster. We went back to Echo Lake before dark where I caught two Brookies, finally!

Day 7 Monday May 29

   Laurie wasn't going to be able to be able to do any real hiking so we went back to Pondicherry in the morning. We saw the hare again. We saw one of the Alder Flycatchers and heard two more. I did hear a Mourning Warbler but it would not show itself. 

 

Rainbow Trout

After Pondicherry, we came back to camp and packed Laurie's tent. We bought gas and some chicken salad. We had a picnic at Echo Lake again. From there we took the Gondola up Canon Mtn. The hope was to see Bicknells Thrush. We didn't but it was still beautiful . We stayed on top about an hour before heading down. 

   Laurie left at 4 pm  and I went back to camp and took a nap. 

Then I went fishing at the Ammonoosuc River where I caught two Rainbows on a Kastmaster because they wouldn't hit my flies.

Tuesday May 30 Day 8

I got an early start and fished Moore Reservoir again. I pretty much knew I was going to fish for bass not Pike since I can find amazing bass habitat but not much for Pike.

I had a great morning. I caught 18 Smallmouth Bass all on either a Zara Puppy or a 4 inch grub.

When my back was done I drove to another boat ramp to scout for tomorrow looking for Pike habitat. It looked great for bass. I didn't want to sit in my canoe so I walked the shoreline casting my grub into likely looking water. I caught another ten Smallies before I turned around for the car.

Of the 28 bass, about fifteen were between 12-15 inches. I didn't get any real big ones.

The only time I ever caught more bass was when I hired a guide on Squam Lake. So today was by far the best day I've ever had for bass that I didn't have to pay for.

As for my game plan. Not sure if I'm going to bass or trout fish tomorrow. I also don't know if I still plan on fishing at Umbagog. It is another 90 minutes north. If I'd have caught one real big trophy sized Smallmouth I wouldn't even think about going. Too much gas and more driving. But I do want a big bass. So it's all up in the air. Nice problem to have, where to fish.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take your broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were waiting for that moment to arrive

McCartney/ Lennon and Thomas Wanderer

Day 8 the night

I went to Saco Lake hoping to fly fish. When I got out of the car I heard a loud chorus that I thought were Tree Frogs. Instead, they were American Toads calling in the water. So I watched toads. Then I saw movement in the water. I followed it and it was an Otter chasing trout. I saw it catch and eat two trout! So I knew I wasn't fishing. While walking around the pond I came across two beavers. One was out of the water cutting down a sapling. It walked back to the edge of the water while the other one kept watch. The one swimming slapped its tail three times but swam right up to me multiple times. All this happened in a half hour.

Day 9 May 31 Wednesday

 

 Fished Moore Reservoir again. This time at the Perking's Landing site. Caught about twenty Smallmouth and a dozen Rock Bass. Same as last time, half the fish were over twelve inches.  I saw a small pike about two feet. It saw me before I saw it and cruised to deeper water. Fished until 2 pm. 

  After a supper of pizza, I went to Saco Lake again. Saw the Beavers and toads, but not the Otter. 

Then went to Lower Falls of the Amonoosuc where I caught six trout on an Adams and one on a Kastmaster. I got killed by mosquitoes

Day 10 June 1 Thursday

  

I tried another boat ramp on Moore Reservoir. This one on the very north end where the CT River comes in. Turned out it was not very good. I tried for Pike with a big spinnerbait. The first cast I caught a decent Smallmouth which I thought was a Pike until I saw it. .

After that fish, I caught another dozen bass, but they were all dinks. I was purposely trying not to catch them. When I saw them following my lure I'd pull it away. I left early because I didn't feel like catching 9 inch bass. I also caught some Yellow Perch and a Fallfish.

Big Olivarian Lake Brookie

So I drove an hour to a pond I had on my list for trout, Olivarian. To my dismay it was pretty windy. I had a tough time keeping the canoe where I wanted it. I caught one big Brookie in ninety minutes.

The highlight of the pond were two conversations. One with a Gulf War vet that had moved to the area. He was originally from RI. He told me about his tour in Bagdad.

The second conversation was with a lawyer. But he is an amateur botanist and knew about insects. He showed me some plants and a wasp.

I drove back to Saco Lake to see the toads and Beaver. But the Otter wasn't around.

Day 11 Friday June 2

I packed up the tent while getting eaten by mosquitoes early. Then I drove to the lakes region and fished a small pond named Kusumpe.

I caught a few pickerel and a couple bass. I had a very big bass on the line but it came off. The proverbial " one that got away". It was a tough loss and I don't want to talk about it anymore.

While I was fishing I heard a rumble in the woods. When I looked over, it was a bear walking along the shore. I got a good view of it before it went out of sight.

I was still pissed about my big fish and thought about would I rather see the bear or catch the big fish. It wasn't even close, I wanted the fish.

About noon I packed up and headed home. Before I left I caught a newt with my butterfly net. Took some photos and put him back.

No you never see it comin'

Always wind up wondering where it went

Only time will tell if it was time well spent

It's another revolution

Celebrating what I should have done

With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun

Jimmy Buffett and Thomas Wanderer

Summary

71 Smallmouth

57  (presumably stocked)Trout

8 of the trout were Rainbows

2 Wild Brook Trout

Caught from five ponds and a river

Other fish caught

  3 Pickerel

 1 Common Shiner

 25+ Rock Bass

 1 Fallfish 

 4 Yellow Perch