By George Liset, Writing on the Fly
Fly fishing the upper Connecticut River Trophy Stretch is an annual event for me and my son Reed.
We’ve been going up on and off for 25 years and we are still trying to figure the river out. Every year we try to find a new area to fish.
Hopefully a place where there is not a ton of fishing pressure, which is becoming harder to do. We always see familiar faces who go up about the same time each year. One of those familiar faces is local guide Pat Ard.
I texted Pat before we came up asking about a new stretch of water down below Murphys’ Dam in Pittsburg. Pat replied that there were some “Hogs” in that area and that the fish “Were Experts.” Pat said it was a match for the hatch area but that Blue Wing Olives (BWO’s) and Sulphurs (Duns) size 16 would do the trick. Reed and I went through our fly boxes and headed up north.
When we arrived below town we headed over to our new spot. New water takes awhile to figure out. One needs to figure out where the fish might be holding, the depth of the river and any wading hazards, which with a bum knee, can be everything.
So Reed brought his wading staff for me to use. We found our spots and started casting.
Dry fly casting and fishing is a different beast. One needs pretty good eyesight, which I don’t have after years of correcting papers. Fortunately Reed does!
After fishing for about 45 minutes, Reed noticed that the fish were rising to his flies, but at the last second were refusing the fly.
So Reed lengthened his leader and lightened his tippet and he was off to the races and started landing some nice fish. When people are catching fish, everyone wants to know what fly you are using. It reminded me that the fly is important, but any experienced fly fisher will tell you that the presentation is more so.
The next morning we awoke and looked out the front window of our cabin at the Lopstick Lodge. We had a great view. The sun was trying to come out and it looked misty and overcast. As we headed out the front door we could smell a wood stove.
Driving down to get breakfast the smell came with us. We then realized that the smoke was from the Canadian wildfires.
We are fortunate that we don’t have many wildfires in New England. I did a little research and found out from the U.S. Forest Service that 85% of the wildfires are caused by humans as a result of campfires left unattended, the burning of debris, equipment use and malfunctions and negligently discarded cigarettes.
During Covid, more people visited the national parks. With more people came more opportunities for forest fires.
Once we got back on the river the air seemed to change and the smoke drifted away. We were on the part of the river where streamers and dry droppers worked the best. I was using a Hornberg and landed a nice little wild Brook Trout and later a nice Rainbow. Reed was up river landing them left and right. I yelled up river that the person who caught the most fish was paying for dinner. Reed laughed and yelled back that he forgot his wallet. That’s my boy.
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. His column Writing on the Fly has been honored by the New England Press Association and the New Hampshire Press Association.