Fishing For The Love Of It.

 "The purpose of this discussion is not so much to suggest serious fly rod assaults on goldeye and turbot, but to remind us how arbitrary the distinction between "game fish" and just plain fish can be. It's worth remembering how recently the bonefish fell into the latter category. The pioneering efforts of a few fly-rodders possessed with the vision thing elevated the bone from a seagoing sucker to Cult Object within our lifetime.  It is entirely reasonable to ask what overlooked species might be next" - E. Donnell Thomas, Jr. Whitefish Can't Jump, 1994

So far my "Summer of Stripers" has been just short of a bust for me along the New Hampshire/Plum Island coast. I've caught fish but my total catch from mid June to now equals less than one week of fishing back in 1994 when I first targeted that species.  The few fishermen I've talked to say the same thing and I've seen only one other fly caster working the water. It was only about three years ago that "Tincup Bob" took me out in his boat to the jetties where I took over 30 bass. Now the place may have only one or two boats by the mouth of the river and NOBODY is fishing from the Jetty.  So far it's an off year in my favorite spots.

Am I remorseful or pissed off or a bit melancholy at this state of affairs?  The answer is NO.  As the great fly tier A. K. Best once said "The fishing was good but the catching wasn't." And even if I knew that catching would be tough I'd still be out there wading wet with nothing but a small waist pack, a wallet full of streamers and some extra tippet.  I will just branch out and fish Ipswich Bay to the south and the Mousam River to the north and if my results are like those of the Red Sox so be it.  I'll still have fun and remember - Hope Springs Eternal!!!

Fresh Water

I guess I picked a good season to rest my trout rods with all of this low water and high heat. The Swift is still chugging along at 120 cfs and will continue until we get a good regional soaking that brings the CT River up so that the Swift can come down. I'm actually thinking about chasing Swift browns and brookies this Fall and maybe dusting off my trusted recurve and taking a few shots with it.  I haven't bow hunted since 1992 when I gave it up to focus totally on fly fishing. But now...

Ken

How Hot Is It

 

Well, if there was a year to take some time off from chasing trout then this is the year (so far).  First we had very high water during the Spring and since mid May it's been below the 100 years average. Here is the tale of the tape:

The EB - 41 cfs today which is below average for 60 days

The Ware - 21 cfs today which is below average for 60 days

The Millers - 295 cfs today due to last night's rain. That is about average

The Swift - 120 cfs as usual.

2010 was a very dry Summer as was 2003.  2006 was a very HOT summer BUT we had rain which kept the aquifers full and the streams cooler.  Let's hope that we get our rain before Fall.

I've seen where a few have chased smallmouth bass and have done fairly well. Smallies always want to eat and can save the day when the trout stay home.  I have caught and lost smallies on the Millers in the 2lb + range and a smallie is the only Millers fish that got into my backing (slightly),

One of my biggest was caught on a fly very similar to the one on the right.  Fish it slow and deep!!

Stripers

It's been slow and even with an incoming tide the ocean water just doesn't cool off a wading fly fisher that much.  Time for some evening or early morning fishing.

Ken

The Enigma Of Plum Island

 "If evolution is true then maybe certain species of wild fish have gotten wise to us or maybe not" - Me

Backcast 20 to 30 years ago when I would get up at 2:30am, fly through breakfast and then drive like a mad man from Athol to Plum Island to catch an outgoing tide (or an incoming tide) to be there at the RIGHT time. Seagulls were still sleeping in the sand as I made my way to the very lower Merrimack River only to be greeted with 20 other fly casters to chase stripers and blues.  Was I pissed at not being among the very first?  NO!! And that is because we all caught fish.  It was wonderful.

That was then!!!  The photo above was from very early Thursday morning (early incoming tide) and you could imagine 20 other fly casters there and that would be the scene from years ago.  Now there's nobody and that is because the fish are not there.  I saw just three boats out by the jetties and only three bait fishers on the shore.  Some of my "contacts" have the same lament. "Forget about putting the boat in the water with the price of gas" is the sorry tale.

Are the stripers gone?  Not really. Some of the estuary guys are getting some fish but you need a shallow draft boat to get "out there" which leaves a wading/walking guy at a bit of a disadvantage.

Where are the fly fishers?? I'm thinking that they left the Merrimack for better water.  I'll have to find it and there is certainly enough better water out there.  I can't say I'm wasting my time because it is certainly beautiful to be tossing long casts just after dawn.  All I need is some fish!!

Ken

Learning To Cast

 

"The trouble is, trout don't always play by the rules, so for every anatomically correct fly pattern that works, there's a corresponding Christmas tree ornament that works too" - John Gierach

One thing I've noticed over the last twenty years is that many fly anglers have been introduced to this pastime through the back door of nymphing. Nothing wrong with that because you will catch some fish. But what happens when you're not nymphing but actually have to CAST a fly or more correctly have to cast a fly line.? Let's face it, nymphing is not fly casting but more like fly lobbing or "chuck'n & duck'n". (And don't get me going about casting weighted flies on 30 foot leaders! The next step would be to buy a noodle rod, right??) More often than not the average nymph fisher is not a good caster and cannot deliver a dry fly or a sunken fly with any distance or accuracy. It's not his fault because that's the way he was taught. He can cast (lob) a weighted nymph rig but he's baffled by casting a fly line. (A sure sign of this is the fellow that needs a dozen false casts to launch a fly). The mechanics of casting a fly line are totally different.

What's the next step?  Instead of shelling out big bucks for a "dry fly rod", which will not improve your casting, you should take a casting lesson with a casting instructor. Notice that I said casting instructor and not a fly fishing lesson. One on One time to review your technique and to "retool"  will serve you very well in the future and keep you from being a "one trick pony" on a trout stream.  

Speaking of "big buck" rods, I was perusing through my collection of Tail Fly Fishing  magazines (the best saltwater fly fishing magazine out there) when I began to re-read an article on fly fishing for King salmon by E.Donnall Thomas. I've been reading Thomas's work for 20 years and he is a world traveler and accomplished fly fisher so I was a bit surprised when I noticed that that his fly rod was not a "top shelf" rod in the $1000 range but a mid range Cabelas !!!!  Now, someone of Thomas's fly fishing stature could get his hands on ANY fly rod but he didn't. He could probably cut a sponsorship deal with any high end manufacturer but again,  he didn't.  

Maybe he feels that there's not a lot of difference between the top end and the mid range of rods. His article mentions technique but only a passing word on rods.  Maybe we should get the hint!!

Ken

Hunting Stripers, My Old 8wt friend And A Some Nice Summer Food

 

 "What really is the difference between a 3, 4 or 5wt rod if you are throwing small flies.  Not much! Sometimes I just grab a rod out of the back of my vehicle and make it work." - Anonymous

Very Low Tide

I break down saltwater fly fishing into four different venues: Boat fishing ( I don't own a boat so I am at the mercy of a few good folks who have let me tag along), Surf fishing, which can be overwhelming but very rewarding, Tidal river fishing and by this I mean BIG water and then my favorite which is striper hunting an estuary.  

The Ogunquit River was my first exposure to this type of fishing which is almost totally controlled by the tides. At low tide this 1/4 mile wide river would become a 1/4 mile wide mud flat with a tiny trickle connecting some stillwater tidal pools on it's way to the sea.  There were schoolies in these pools that appeared to be left there with the shrinking tide.  There were many and they chased every fly that I threw at them.  Then the tide began to roll in and the bass began to do the "bonefish" thing by routing through the mud with their tails in the air. Soon the tide really came in and wading became a little too funky (thank you jet skis).  I repeated this routine for four more mornings from 4am to about 8 as the family slept in and then a few casts in the evening. The rest of the day was spent with them.  We were all happy!!!

I've been plying my trade on some NH estuaries with so-so results. Some claim great success and some claim "no runs, no hits, no errors". I'm in the middle (so far)!!

My 8wt Friend

The rod that I've used for stripers is a two piece 9 foot 8wt that I bought back in 1994 on the cheap!!! I didn't want to spend big bucks if I then realized that I didn't really like  saltwater fly fishing. But I really did like it and the $60 rod has caught 100's and 100's of stripers and bluefish.  I did get an 8wt 4pc for Florida (fits in the overhead) but my old friend is what I bring to the salt in New England.  Yes, I'm in the Jack Gartside camp when it comes to fly fishing or I'm just a frugal Yankee who thinks it is disingenuous to complain about the price of gas while casting a $1000 fly rod.

 

Chicken, broccoli, chick peas, carrots and lots of garlic.  The beans should be ready in a few weeks.  Summer is the time for growing food, cooking and eating food and Fly Fishing.