Toamna se numara somonii

Este o vorba p-aci despre vremea din New Hampshire: daca nu iti place, asteapta un minut ca se schimba. Ma plangeam deunazi ca a venit frigul si ca duminica pestii saracii s-au ascuns pe unde au putut si nu au avut chef de bataie. Luni in schimb a fost o zi superba si destul de calda. Temperatura a urcat pana pe la 15 grade si seara nu a adus cu ea o racire pronuntata a aerului. Va dati seama ca nu m-am rabdat sa nu merg la pescuit.
Am ajuns la locul faptei pe la 5 jumate, deci imi ramanea mai putin de o ora de pescuit. Cu o seara inainte legasem o versiune imbunatatita a streamerului care avuse cel mai mult succes pana acum. Am adaugat niste angel hair argintiu ca sa mai reflecte din lumina slaba a apusului. Nu stiu daca rezultatul a fost datorat acestei schimbari sau pestii erau in "feeding frenzy". Cert e ca in cele 50 de minute in care am pescuit am avut 9 atacuri. Trei pesti s-au ales cu poze, trei au atacat in cele mai ingrate momente, cand eram total nepregatit (burta a firului pe apa pe care tocmai o rezolvam sau ridicare a mustei pt un nou lanseu) . Trei au fost atacuri false, nu am avut contact cu pestele deloc.
Iata si protagonistii. Nr1:

Nr 2:

Nr 3:

Asta saracu' avea cateva inotatoare ciuntite probabil mancate de fratii lui in crescatorie. Asta nu l-a impiedecat sa fie cel mai bataios, desi a fost cel mai mic din seara asta. La un moment dat s-a invartit de 4 ori in jurul meu, pt ca nu ii mai dadeam fir, dar nici nu puteam sa il fortez mai tare.
Cand m-am decis sa plec acasa era deja intuneric bine, de abia am vazut sa ies din rau. Ma gandeam la tipul de pe malul celalalt, care nu prinsese nimic si care plecase acasa dupa ce l-am prins eu pe primul. Abia atunci a inceput sa se ingroase gluma.
Acuma sfatul meu e sa incercati si voi modelele astea de streamere pentru ca sunt convins ca ar merge si la alte specii, mai ales la avat si clean. Mai la iarna cand n-o sa am subiecte cu pesti de postat o sa fac niste step-by step-uri. Probabil ca n-o sa fie profesioniste dar cat de cat, poate o sa dea niste idei unora.
P.S. ca tot vorbeam de vremea din New Hampshire: e marti seara si ninge..........

A venit frigul!!!!

Se arata a fi o zi superba si ma asteptam la o gramada de pesti dornici de a se infrupta din bunatatile de la capatul firului. Din pacate socoteala de acasa nu s-a potrivit cu cea din targ. A fost foarte frig si activitatea a fost foarte redusa. Acestea, combinate cu apa putin crescuta au redus simtitor numarul capturilor. Mi-am lasat azinoapte bocancii in masina si pe dimineatza erau beton.

Pana la urma am prins 3 pastravi, doi la streamer si unul la nimfa. Am incercat de toate, de la stremere de suprafatza la combinatie cu nimfa si la 2 nimfe grele. Niste chestii plasate strategic pe fund chiar pe directia curentului m-au facut sa pierd 4 nimfe cu bila in acelasi loc. Nu stiu daca erau bolovani sau alte structuri dar a fost destul de frustrant.

In fine, nu am de ce sa ma plang, a fost OK, dar ma apuca deja nostalgia. Pt ca se face din ce in ce mai frig si chiar daca nu se inchide sezonul, cred ca o sa o mai raresc cu pescuitul. Raman cu legatul mustelor si cu intocmit planuri pt la anu'.

Tura de seara

A devenit o obisnuinta in ultima saptamana cand ies de la lucru sa profit de lumina tot mai putina a zilelor de octombrie si sa incerc sa mai pacalesc cate un peste. Asta seara a fost destul de greu, probabil fiindca a fost sambata si dimineatza la 8 deja erau masini pe marginea drumului si pescari in apa. Pestii nu s-au mai aratat la suprafatza. Am vazut 2 ridicari intr-o ora de pescuit.
Reteta castigatoare in seara asta a fost o combinatie de nimfa cu streamer. Nimfa pe saltatoare si streamerul in capat. Am urmarit prin asta sa cobor putin streamerul spre pestii care nu mai au atata energie odata cu racirea apei. Spre surprinderea mea musca prinzatoare s-a dovedit a fi nimfa. Un somon mai micutz:

A intrat cand nu mai speram, era aproape intuneric. Cu toate astea, dupa el am mai avut un atac ratat, chiar la suprafatza si o urmarire beton, cu valuri, cum mai vezi la stiuca in apa mica. Din pacate nu au atacat decisiv si uite asa au scapat nepozati...Pe maine se anunta -2 grade dimineatza, dar cred ca imi iau inima in dinti si ii atac pe fund cu niste metale grele (tungsten). daca nu mai scriu nimic o vreme inseamna ca astept dezghetul de primavara sa pot iesi din apa:D.....

Some more october flyfishing

Wednesday night: another hour or so left for fishing before dark. Once I got down to the river, I waded to the place I was fishing last Sunday. After just a few casts I got the first hit: a rainbow that managed to unhook itself right at my feet. No problem, I was looking for something bigger anyway. I made my line longer to reach the current all the way on the other side. As the fly was floating downstream I noticed a pinch on the line, so I set the hook right away. It was another rainbow, a 13 incher that put up a good fight. The first trout to jump out of the water during the drill.





Another ten minutes an the real hit shakes my rod: salmon alert! I got it in the net after 2 attempts, every time it turned its back on me an ran away as I was trying to stick it in. A good way to remember I got sand in the braking mechanism of my old plastic reel. After that, same story: a few pictures and back in the water.















This is the streamer I've used, actually I don't even know if I should name it a streamer or a wet fly. I don't think it has a name, it's a pattern I've tied after getting inspired at a fly tying session at W. S. Hunter in Concord. That's where I buy 99% of my fly tying materials. In this case 100%. Hook: Daichii 1710 #8; body: ice dubbing (peacock); ribbing and head: red wire; hackle: mallard; tail: glo bugs yarn, color flame. I caught more trout than salmon with it, but my last 3 salmons took it, so I assume it's pretty efficient for salmon, too.
See you next time!

Salmon night

Last night, by miracle I got out of work in time and I had all my gear packed in the car. Like this I saved around 20 minutes and I managed to make it at the river around 5 o'clock. So I got a little over 1 hr of fishing.
Of course, as I was reaching the river the alarm at the dam went off, sign that they gonna release more water. I didn't worry, although I was fishing right below the dam, I knew the water level in the lake above was pretty low, the raise couldn't be huge. And I was right, the water barely raised with a couple of inches after a half an hour.
I was fishing one of the streamers I used Sunday morning, the one that brought me the most fish, all rainbows. It's made from ice dubbing, malard feather and a bright red tail.
Right after the water started to raise the first salmons demonstrated their presence with a few splashes. I got a couple of fish chasing my streamer, I was able to see the flashes in the water as they were changing direction.
Then a direct hit: whirlpool at the surface a couple of seconds after the fly touched the water. I set the hook: let the fight begin!!!!!

4 jumps later it starts to get tired and I finally get some line back on the reel. But the net spooks it, so it takes off again. Not for long this time. I take a few more pictures and he's free again. With all my respect.

I go back to casting and a couple of minutes later I see another fish chasing the fly for a couple of feet before attacking in a splash of water. This one seemed stronger and didn't jump at all, it just kept shaking its head and spinning around me.

But it was well hooked and I managed to net it to make sure I can get a few pictures.

Awesome fish, bigger than the first one, very strong, fat and healthy. As soon as I put it back to water, it splashed me with its tail and disappeared.

It was getting dark and I decided it was enough for the day. But not without promising myself that I'll be back! I know there are more fish there craving for my streamers.

Two times two

I was coming Saturday night from Lebanon so I passed by Franklin Falls Dam, to see if the salmons are in. They were, and jumping, but the fishermen told me the water dropped drastically that day and they weren't biting anymore.
But my mind was set. I tied at night a few streamers. I also had some from last time I went up in Pittsburgh. I never fished streamers before except for a few casts with no results. To wake up 6 am on a Sunday is painful if I would have to go to work, but for fishing it's a breeze. So here I am, scraping the ice from the windshield at 6:30 and then heading for the pool below the dam. I got on the left side of the river. When the water is low enough, you can wade in the middle of the river and have room to cast.
Somebody was already there, fortunately not in the place I wanted. The water was not too cold, but outside was freezing, especially after stripping the wet line with bare hands. I was thinking: " I hope the action will start soon enough, if not I'm gonna freeze to death."
The salmons were raising sporadically, one every 5-10 minutes. Fortunately the rainbows were there and ready for the battle. In the first half an hour I caught 4 of them on a streamer I've tied last night.







Then they stopped and I changed the streamer. The new one was going a little deeper because the materials were not so buoyant. And it managed to dig out a bigger rainbow, around 15 inches and pretty fat. I've even hooked a nice smallmouth bass, but lost it in the drill.





You can see here the streamer. It doesn't look too good when wet, dry looks like a brush, made from angel hair and black marabou on top. And I've wrapped the hook's shank in red wire. Very easy to tie, except the angel hair is a pain in the butt to work with.


The sun came out and more fishermen started to gather on the river bank. All targeting the salmon, but I think they got pretty disappointed. Although I've seen the salmons in the water and jumping around, they weren't interested in our flies. Only one of the guys that were spinning managed to catch a couple. They almost caught me too. I wish I have seen some Fish and Game officers around, cos I'm not sure they were using single hook point lures. The regulations around salmon fishing below Eastman Falls Dam seem a little weird to me, but I'll discuss this with another occasion.



I switched on nymphs since the streamers stopped catching fish and I'm not surprised, with the big spinners cruising around. Suddenly, surprise: a double. I was fishing with two nymphs and this happened to me before, but I didn't get the chance to take some good pictures. First time it was a couple of small brookies, this time it was a brown and a rainbow.

Than some more fish, including some really nice rainbows










Soon enough i got a second double. two in the same day it's insane! this time a couple of rainbows were sharing the meal.



Then more fish....










after I lost a couple of flies on the bottom I decided to switch back on the "brush" and I hooked another brown. This one took the fly in full speed, I was retrieving as fast as I could.



That was it. The last fish of the day. No salmon but I don't regret it. It was 11 o'clock and there was some more stuff to do. Like a visit at the Castle in the Clouds, which I've promised my wife since last week. I'll post some pictures from there too. Nice place!!! If you get around it, don't miss it!!!!.