WRITING ON THE FLY,
By GEORGE LISET
New Hampshire has a number of remote trout ponds and most are fly fishing only. There is an art to fly fishing these ponds successfully, an art that I am still learning. My friend Charlie, who primarily fly fishes ponds, tells me each pond has its own personality. The more you fish a pond, the more you will learn about it.
Charlie explained to me that some ponds are morning ponds, some are afternoon/ evening ponds. There are a few factors to consider when determining when they fish better. What time of day does it get the sun, since most remote ponds are tucked up in the mountains and are on one side or the other. The temperature of the water makes a difference. Most ponds that are stocked by the State of New Hampshire are spring fed or have a cold-water source to sustain a trout population.
Elevation, types of hatches and weather temperature also come into play, so when my son called up and told me to break out my float tube, my mind started working overtime. Fortunately, Reed made it easy for me. “Bring your 10’- five weight rod with a floating line, Mikey says he caught 21 using the “Mikey Special.” Mikey fishes this pond regularly and knows it well.
Fortunately, this pond had easy access even though it was pretty remote, which meant more time fishing and less time hiking in. I grabbed my sling pack and my reel and changed my leader from 9’ to 12.’ Pond trout can get a little spooky with a short leader unless there is some wind and a enough chop on the water to hide a sloppy cast, something that happens when you get tired or lazy.
Driving into the pond I wondered how anyone ever found it, even with a map. When we arrived, there was another fisherman just heading out in his tube. Once we got geared up and ready to head out, Reed rigged me up with the “Mikey Special.” How something gets a name is a story in itself. Suffice it to say that the Mikey Special is a well-known combination of flies which I was sworn to secrecy to never reveal. Similar to my wife’s Marla’s Chicken recipe which is her version of Chicken Divan.
It was a beautiful evening, which is when this pond fishes best. There were no fish rising so we kicked over to the opposite side of the pond to ply the shore for cruising trout looking for insects or other little critters that might drop into the water from the trees above. The fishing was slow at the start which we attributed to the rain the day before.
Soon we started to get into some 10-12” Brook Trout along the shore. Then we noticed that there were a few sporadic risers and headed out toward the action. There is nothing more enjoyable than fishing the top water with a dry fly or a wet subsurface fly. To be able to see the fish take the fly and then explode to the surface is a beautiful and exciting sight.
Fishing from a float tube is an enjoyable time. The new float tubes are like mini Zodiac rafts and are like fishing from the easy chair in your living room, complete with cup holders and pockets for your snacks. I have seen pictures of the old-time float tubes which were basically old truck tire inner tubes with straps so that you had to sit in the water. It lowered your center of gravity and made it difficult to cast.
We were able to catch a few more Brookies before the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping and the few rises we saw earlier stopped. We slowly worked our way in and arrived at the launch with the other person that we shared the pond with. We compared successes and he said he had the best luck using, then he described the “Mikey Special.” I asked him how he knew about that combination of flies? He smiled and said that everyone who fishes this pond knows about it. Sorry Mikey, I didn’t tell him.
George Liset of Dover is an award-winning outdoor writer and avid fly fisherman who shares insights of his time on the water exploring New Hampshire streams and rivers as well of those around New England. George is a graduate of Wheaton College, Illinois, and the University of New Hampshire.
