Hitting the muddy water with big yellow

These last few weeks have seen the warm water fisheries just explode!  While waiting for July to roll around to toss dries up to hungry trout up in the mountains my local warm water playground has been keeping me quite busy. No boat launch so the pressure stays light and fish are generally quite cooperative.

Usually on the water by 5, rigged up with with my trusty warm water beater rod.  A 8' EagleClaw Featherlight 5/6 rod.  Its big, heavy, yellow, and chucks big bugs like a champ.

Not much going on in the main portion of the pond this time of day so up river I go.

After motoring up a mile the river gets a bit smaller.

I let the current slowly take me back down river at nice leisurely pace
Time to start get popping….

Cast, pop, pause, pop, pause, pop…..and then it pretty much looks like a toilet flushing where my popper used to be and its on!

Playing with poppers is fun, engaging and down right awesome when it gets crushed by a big fish.  I got a fair amount of fish doing it, but there is a better way…..with the sun still high, time to let loose the cougar!

Its in there somewhere….good thing I brought pliers…..and 20 pound test mono.

Nows its just after 8 and the suns going down, its been a good day but the craziest part has yet to come.  Time to motor back down the main portion of the water body for the grand finale.

I go ahead and drop anchor right in the middle and just as soon as the last bit of the suns rays leave the water just erupts with crappie everywhere.  Every cast in every direction results in a fish, and they are big!

All of them are 12+ inches and put a bend in a 6wt rod like you wouldn't believe.  From 8 till 9 I caught over 30 crappies, just nuts!   The finally tally was just over 70 fish in 4 hours, love this time of year!

Stalking the small water

On sunday morning I had it all planned, get up early and spend a good 6 + hours fishing the same spot from the week before that held all the nice rainbows.  Started off with the same fly and a little upstream of where I left off on the last trip.  On the first or second run I felt the line go tight!

But it never moved after, caught bottom on a stick. And thats the way it went for the next 4 hours, no fish, no strikes....just sticks and rocks.  After changing flies several times I left.  A bit dejected I felt, I mean just 3 days prior I had landed over 8 fish in 40 minutes.....and today...blanked!

However I still had 3 or so hours before I had to get going so I decided to hit a small stream on the way south.  Its my feel good home water stream.  A short time later I was streamside.

I tied on a size 12 humpy and a size 16 PT dropper and as usual the local residents came out to play.

It starts out pretty open with lots of room to cast, nice small pools and moss covered rocks.  This water is cold!

Lots of large and interesting fungus about.

And trout.

After awhile things get a bit congested.

Often times I am practically crawling up the middle stream hunched over.  Keeping that profile low and planning every cast.  Some times you win....

And other times no matter how hard you try your only reward will be fleeting dark shapes.  Its hard fishing, but very rewarding.

I also came upon several groves of lady slippers.  Kinda creepy, invasion of the body snatchers re-visited!

The unsinkable humpy doing what it does best.

Many of the best looking spots on this stream are simply un-fishable. I know they hold nice 6" + fish.  I scare them all the time trying to outsmart them!   At times I am temped to go ahead and move logs or snap away pesky fly catching branches but then I stop, and think.  I didn't come here JUST to catch fish, I came here to enjoy everything that nature offers.  Nature creates the most beautiful places without our help, humans can try but in the end its still man-made and not natural.  Who am I to say I can make it better just for the sake of catching a few more fish? 

Sometimes....the fish deserve to win.

This ones for all the woolly bugger lovers out there..

Today started like any other.  Wake up at 4 in the afternoon,  feed dogs, tame wild beard, get ready to pick up feral child at daycare :)  And then I noticed the phone was blinking, voice mail...

"Hey hon, don't worry about picking up the kiddo.  She went to her grandparents this morning instead, be home late"

FREEDOM!

Eat sandwich, throw stuff in car, gone in 10!

25 minutes later on the water and ready to rock.

Walk up to the first good looking run.  Sit down on the bank and tie on a big old size 8 conehead bugger.  Now I don't fish buggers much, but here they just work so well its hard not to.  Throw it out at a 45 angle upstream at the head of the run, lower rod tip and slowly strip in line while following the line downstream at the same time.  Strip, strip, strip.....tug....set the hook!

That put a nice bend the the Yomogi, what fun!

Walked on upstream hitting the bigger runs as I went, most held fish.

Someone must of been really hungry, sheesh.

40 minutes later and my time was almost up, one big giant run left to fish before heading back.   Sometimes it takes a few minutes to figure out the best spot to quarter your cast from.  From there I simply keeping stepping up stream a few feet at time until the waters all covered. After about the 10 cast as soon as my bugger hit the water the line went tight and it was hold on buddy!  Multiple jumps, down stream 20 or so feet and into the net.

The rod was bent into a complete U shape and I put the stones to it.  Fishing with 3x so no fear of breaking off, landed in less than minute, a few quick pics and back into the water.  It all happens so fast, wow what a great fight!

And then right after that, surprise! 

Never seen these in here before, ever.  Must of come up from the bigger river below.


Time to go!

Backyard Brookies and Spring Creek'n

Been meaning to hit up a local beaver flowage.  I haven't been in there in a couple years so before the water got to warm and low it had to happen today, or not at all.  Up at 4:30 am, in the truck by 5:00 and after a whole 5 minute long drive it was time to unload :)

Upriver I go...

Whats around the bend....a brand new dam I see.

Up and over and into the chubs...

There were dark colored mayfies all over the water but the fish weren't interested.  So today a good old weighted zug bug did the damage.  After I got up far enough the tide began to change from chub to brookie.

Good looking water, sandy bottom and lots of alder bushes lining the edges.

And then it happened......After casting to a large grouping of stumps the freight train arrived.  Good thing I was using 4x, was able to horse him in and into the net in short order.  Things can turn ugly with all those beaver sticks around.  A quick picture and back in.  Who says NH wild trout are all tiny?

Three years ago I had my wife up in here....and she caught two even bigger :)

After this....I decided to turn back and head home to drop the canoe off.  So far...a very good day.  But it can always get better right?

Not long after I arrived at my second planned location, a nice spring fed mountain creek.

With the afternoon temps getting close to 85 I was glad to be out of the sun and into the shade.  I tied on a nice bushy dry/dropper and never felt the need to change it up.  If it aint broke...

Looking back down

The fishing was good, all those spots that look like they hold fish did indeed so.

Huge plunge after plunge......

Mostly rainbows, with a few brookies mixed in here and there.  3-4 fish out of ever pool was the norm.

A nice looking feeder stream, very cold.

More plunges....

Feisty wild bows...

One of those dark pools holds a small steam monster. After watching my dry suddenly shoot backwards I set the the hook and instantly my rod bent double, one leap, two quick circles and snap.  I did get a glimpse though....a fierce wild bow over a foot long awaits a return trip.

Around 4 I decided to call it quits.  Covered in bug bites, sweat, sticky bug dope, tired.....12 hours on the water...and I'd do it all again in an instant :)

The weather forecast for today said mostly cloudy and mid fifties, a perfect opportunity to take a walk in search of some beaver pond trout.  Instead, when I rolled out of bed just past noon, it was bright and sunny and in the mid sixties.  Oh well, might as well take a walk anyways right.

After staring at some topo maps around three in the morning last night I saw what looked to be a good sized beaver pond near the head waters of a small stream.   After parking and gearing up I headed upstream.  I didn't want to spend much time fishing the stream because I'd never get to the pond itself, so I didn't even bother tying on a fly.  That lasted about 10 minutes

When you see pools like this how can u resist?
When you see pools like this how can u resist?

Tied on a dry, because well, why not!  Two fish to hand, one from each side.

After this I ignored most everything else, I had quite a ways to go.  After scaling a 200 foot tall ridge I could see things start to lighten up ahead.  Soon after....the beaver pond reveals itself.

Back into the woods I went after seeing where the dam was located.  Here's the view from the other side.

I could see a few fish making rises near the bushes, not an ideal time of day to be fishing.  Sure wish it had been cloudy instead.  Never the less, I came all this way....gotta try at least.

After about 30 minutes of fruitless casting I finally had take near the tangle of roots near the beaver house itself.

After this I decided to go subsurface, hold my rod please Mr. Alder Bush.

Not long after, another take, a giant golden shiner. Yay!

And that was all she wrote......

After this I just sat back and observed my surroundings.  If you stand still long enough and listen, the woods come alive.  Redwing blackbirds were everywhere, a pair of raptors high overhead, millions of skeeters and blackflies.

Snakes......

Crawdads....

Newts...

A great few hours spent outside.

I have next week off, and its dry fly season.  Time to fish