Sunday, July 27, 2008

Connecticut river (english)


This fishing trip occurred sometimes at the end of May but I had so many going on at that time, that I just forgot about these pictures. I kept looking for a river that had wild trout and I decided to try Connecticut river in northern NH. It's a well known river especially for its trophy stretch, in Pittsburg, but it takes more than 2 hrs to drive there, so we stopped around 35 miles downstream, in North Strafford. The river is on NH border with Vermont, and the NH resident license allows me to fish the river on both sides. this particularly area is a non-kill flyfishing only, and you have to use barbless hooks. I didn't have any barbless hooks, so I had to pinch the barbs on the flies I used.
It didn't start the way I wanted. The Hendrickson hatch I thought it's going to be on at that time was already gone, and the fish were only raising sporadicly for some small sedges. In the first half an hour I've only seen 3 fish sipping flies from the surface, so it's obvious that my first choices were the nymphs. Heavy tungsten bead headed, to get them on the bottom. It took 10 min to get the first strike, I thought it's a nice brown, but it ended up to be a fall fish ( Semotilus corporalis). I was wondering what's the name of this fish here, and each person I've asked gave me a different version. Some people would call it chub, same as it's very close relative in Europe (Leuciscus cephalis). Other people call it shiner, roach or sand roach. And finally I've found this name on the Fish and Game website. For me it looks and behaves exactly like its cousin from Europe. I managed to catch it here with spinners, crankbaits and flies, in Winnipesauke, Merrimack, Pemigewasset and now in Connecticut rivers. It puts up a good fight and I don't dislike when I catch it.


By the time I let it go, I noticed on the other side a couple of people that started to fish a few hundreds feet upstream from my location. I was curious to see what kind of flies they were using so i wadded there to say hi. They were really nice, gave me tips, flies, even got in the water with me to help with my casting. It was basically the first time I was fishing a river that wide, and my casting wasn't good enough to reach across. And I never had anybody around me to tell me what am I doing wrong. Anyway, Pep was really helpful and I thank him one more time.

After this I managed to catch a few trouts. The first one, a brown, took advantage of my lack of experience in fishing with barbless hooks, and escaped before reaching my net. But the next three, all rainbows, took a short stop out of the water, before returning to their place.











Overall it was a wonderful day, until the mosquitoes and black flies made it impossible to feel comfortable outside. It was getting late anyway, and I had two hours of driving ahead, so we decided to pack and go, but not without promising in my mind that I'll be back.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Hoit marsh - post in english


A friend of mine asked me if he can get an English translation for my posts so I decided to start writing in english too, not only in romanian. it's still gonna be mostly romanian since it takes muuuuuch less time to express myself in my native language. but I chose to take this challenge and I consider it a good way to exercise my writing skills and vocabulary.
So, for english only readers, I started this blog because I wanted to express myself, my thoughts and especially show my pictures to anybody is interested or has anything to do with fishing, flyfishing and respects the nature. Fly fishing is my primary hobby, but i also enjoy the thrill the bass gives you during summer months, fishing for it mainly with soft plastics. I kind of stopped using spinners and crankbaits because of some "accidents" when the fish got injured excessively during the drill. so treble hooks are not to be found in my tackle box anymore. and this is because I have a lot of respect for the fish, I no longer catch it for food and I think this is the way it should be so don't ask me to like it when I see bobbers and nightcrawlers in a fly fishing only/catch and release area. the only time I keep a fish is when it gets hooked in a very sensitive spot (e.g. gills) and I am 100% sure that it's not going to survive. and i feel bad for two days after it.
luckily it doesn't happen too often and not at all when i'm fly fishing. that's one of the reasons I prefer this style to others.
The pictures on this blog are exclusively taken by me or by my wife (some times bystanders if my wife is not around- someone in the family has to work :D). and the title would translate to "Fly fishing...and not only" because, as you can see, other fishing styles are going to be harbored here too. and occasionally, it might even be something else, not directly related to fishing. for example, one of this days I intend to post some pictures we've taken during a whale watch trip.

To make the long story short, the trip I'm going to talk today happened on Sunday. I use google maps too locate ponds and lakes around my place in Northfield, because I've been living here in New Hampshire for less than 3 years, and I still have a lot to learn about this state's geography. This is the way I located Hoit marsh. It looks great from the satellite, with a lot of vegetation, lily pads and not too deep so I decided to take my wife and our intex inflatable on a cruise. by the way, speaking about intex inflatables, if you buy one, you have to know that there is NO manufacturer's warranty for it. I found this with surprise, after being on hold on the phone with them for twenty minutes (guess what I've been listening to during this time? yeah, about how great their customer service is. luckily the seller from ebay decided to replace the boat by himself, although on the brochure that came with it it said clearly: "do not return the boat to the seller, call this number instead". anyway, the second one i got it's working great and didn't have any seam leak. overall it's a very good raft, sturdy, spacious and i prefer it to kayaks because of the comfort and space provided.

Ok let's return to fishing. unfortunately the water was very dark, not dirty, but it had a deep brown color. I didn't expect too much action and I was right. only a largemouth bass took my lure, a Zoom lizard. The fish had a really dark color, too. for another hour I just had a few more strikes, but no fish decided to take the bait. I also used a berkley gulp worm and a kinami baits worm, but without success. my wife instead was in heaven because the water lilies were so abundant. she took around 200 pictures with flowers and also some bug's privacy was invaded.



The rain put a stop on our trip on Hoit marsh. of course, after we got back on the shore (pretty wet) it stopped, but I also wanted to check a couple of other ponds in the area, next to Sewalls falls, so we took off. this time we didn't take the boat, because we needed to hike for a quarter of mile to get to those ponds, and I didn't know for sure if there is any spot where we can get to the water.
There are two ponds next to each other, around 8-10 acres each, and I managed to get close enough to try some casts. the first one looked really promising, surrounded with lilies and fallen trees, but I only got a strike, from a sunfish probably. the second one instead, although not so pretty, surprised me with the catch of the day: a 2-3 pounder caught from the shore at the 3rd cast. it put a good fight and, after a photo session, ended up back in the water with no harm except some bad memories.








I ended up calling it a pretty good day, and I'm sure I'll be back, probably with my friend Manny, to give the bass some hard time.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

sandogardy pond

azi dimineatza m-am trezit devreme tare, (pe la 8 jumate) si atza la balta. ochisem pe google maps ca e o balta aci la 10 minute si am zis ca o sa-i dau o sansa.
ajung acolo, in 15 minute gonflabila e pe apa si da-i bataie. vreo doua ore nimic, doar vreo cateva ciupituri si ceva urmariri, pesti mici doar. asa ca in loc de pesti obiectivul aparatului s-a delectat cu nuferi. am o deosebita admiratie pentru florile astea, mai ales ca in tara sunt atat de rare. personal nu le-am vazut decat in delta si la felix. aici pot sa zic ca nu e balta fara nuferi.













mai pe la 12, cand deja ma gandeam sa o tai acasa ca incepuse soarele sa arda de numa, incep si pestii sa traga. intr-o ora am prins o gramada de pitici ca cel din ultima poza, dar si unul mai dolofan. largemouth bass. si puteti sa va dati seama de ce-i zice asa. momeala minune? soparla lui manny, de fapt o imitatie de triton, din silicon, care se misca excelent in apa. azi a dat rezultate mai bune decat gulp, de la berkley.






maine e in plan o alta balta, pe care nu am incercat-o inca. din satelit pare destul de putin adanca si plina de vegetatie, terenul perfect de vanatoare pt bass . sper sa nu ploua si sa ma trezesc la timp.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

pe balta



azi am pus batzul de musca deoparte pentru ca apele s-au incalzit si au scazut, deci sezonul de pastravit in zona s-a cam dus. pentru un pastrav decent ar trebui sa conduc vreo doua ore si nu prea am chef, mai ales cu pretul benzinei pe cele mai inalte culmi. asa ca m-am vorbit cu unul dintre colegii de la lucru sa iesim pe o balta de care stia el, in cautarea bass-ului.
zis si facut, am beneficiat de kaiyak-ul sotiei lui ca mi-era lene sa imi umflu gonflabila, si pe la 4 jumate ne-am infiintat pe balta. prima impresie n-a fost cea mai favorabila, balta parea inecata de nuferi si alte plante acvatice. dar pe mijloc se vedea apa curata, asa ca i-am dat drumul. am folosit niste viermi artificiali, de la berkley, impregnati cu aroma, care mi-au adus in trecut cei mai multi bass-i. Manny dadea la un fel de soparle din silicon.





per ansamblu a fost destul de fain, un pic frustrant din cauza pestilor mici care ciupeau viermele in nestire si am avut o gramada de intepari in gol din cauza asta. au rezultat niste bass-i, insa cel mai mare peste pe care l-am prins eu fiind o stiuculitza. e o subspecie diferita de stiuca de pe la noi si care nu creste asa de mare. asta a fost una dintre cele mai mari pe care le-am prins de cand m-am mutat aici. denumirea in latina e essox niger, iar denumirea populara de aici e pickerel, spre deosebire de northern pike (essox lucius).






Wednesday, July 9, 2008

cum se-ntoarce roata!!

HA ha ha ha!!! Acum doua zile ma laudam cu mustele mele letale. Ei bine, in seara asta am luat-o peste bot. Intr-o ora de pescuit la uscata am avut o singura prezentare, desi pestii se hraneau destul de activ. Si asta cu toate ca am schimbat vreo 5 mushte. Am prins doar la nimfa un singur peste, de care am abuzat si i-am facut n'shpe poze:D. Asta arata cat de imprevizibil e pastravul. Nu exista musca "panaceu" care o sa prinda in orice situatie. Exemplul asta e cu atat mai elocvent cu cat acum doua zile, aceleasi muste, in acelasi loc, aceleasi conditii, faceau ravagii.