Bitter sweet

A lot of action once salmon season started and the final sections of the rivers opened. Despite the nice fish caught in a little over an hour early in the morning, the season opener left me disgusted. A lot of fish in the river and a lot of fishermen. I got there at 5:30 AM just in time to see the first fish being pulled out of the water. Haven't seen another fly fisherman until my friend Dwayne came over. Shallow water and high fish density was matched by high density of fishermen. I think I saw 50-60 fish killed that morning in just one spot. Released? 2 + the 4 I caught. What worked for me that morning was a pink streamer that tricked the 4 fish, including the beauty below, probably 22-23 inch of pure energy. I hope she learned her lesson and went straight back tot the lake.

 It was a cold morning, and that reminded me why sometimes graphite reels are preferable to aluminum ones. My aluminum hardy kept freezing and getting stuck on me. Also had to clean my guides a few times. "Definitely not a good time to bring your little girl fishing, especially if she is not into fishing at all. But if this will justify some extra rods, why not, more food for the family. At least don't try to convince her that she caught the fish you just killed because she didn't touch the rod, she wasn't even looking at the river, because she was too busy shivering." I know the guy these thoughts are addressed to is less likely to read my post but I jut had to let it out.

 

The remaining of the day and the rest of the week went really well for fishing, except the fact that the water levels kept dropping. Salmon and rainbows were everywhere, hitting streamers like crazy and gorging on the nymphs.

Two friends, 2 simultaneous hook ups, one net is enough:

 

Dwayne was the king of the rainbows on the 1st, this old fat being the biggest rainbow I've seen that day.

 The biggest ones I've caught came later in the week.

Romanian readers, if you see the next one in a fishing magazine don't be surprised :))

Some fight pictures:

 And some releases:

Amazing fishing so far  this season, but I've seen a lot of fish being killed. I heard different reasons: "I 've got a fish fry this weekend and I'm supposed to bring the salmon", or  "I've only kept 2 so far" (it's only 6:30 AM in the first day of the season you idiot!!!!!) and so on, every reason more brilliant then others. What makes it even worse is that there are fly fishermen among them. Now I can't wait for the same people to complain about the lack of fish in NH waters. They actually got another month or so, to clean the freshly stocked rivers.

And the good thing: I got checked twice so far by Fish and Game, so they are out watching, hope they nail some poachers!

Ce poti prinde intr-o ora in New Hampshire?

Am prins si eu o ora de pescuit in seara asta. Ma gandeam ca pe unul din lacurile din apropiere s-ar putea sa am parte de ceva actiune la uscate. Cam pe vremea asta smallmouth bass-ii se hranesc chiar dupa apus, la suprafatza, cu tot felul de musculitze si cand unul mai rasarit iti intra pe o musca de 14 distractia e maxima.
Ajuns la locul faptei am constatat ca nimic nu se misca la suprafatza. Ploile din ultimele zile ridicasera nivelul apei pana aproape de maxim, iar debitul raului la intrarea in lac era destul de mare. Cum in ultima vreme nu a fost prea cald, nici temperatura apei nu era prea ridicata, ceea ce m-a indreptatit sa sper la vreun pastrav-doi. De obicei apa mare si rece ii face sa urce pe rau.
Gradinitza era la mal, mii de alevini. Ma intreb cati dintre ei vor creste destul de mari ca sa guste din mustele mele? La cele 8-9 specii de pradatori din lacul respectiv, probabil n-o sa le fie prea usor.

Primul atac s-a soldat cu un rateu, am apucat doar sa vad pestele intorcandu-se pe o parte si scuipand nimfa.
Urmatorul nu a fost la fel de norocos: un curcubeu nazdravan. Nici n-a mai stat la poza finala, avea ceva de rezolvat.

Au urmat doi cleni bunicei.....

Si fratele mai mare al curcubeului dinainte:

Dupa asta s-au mai linistit, incepea sa se intunece. Brusc m-am trezit in mijlocul unei eclozari, ceva caddisuri micutze si negre. Pestii au inceput sa se hraneasca la suprafatza dar pareau mici, asa ca nu am trecut pe uscate. Liliecii erau si ei in al noualea cer, ma simteam ca intr-un film de groaza, inconjurat de un stol de vreo 25-30 de lilieci care nu se sfiau sa zboare la nici un metru de mine, pe sub batz. Ba unul chiar mi-a lovit firul cu aripa.
Intre timp s-au mai strecurat prin mainile mele niste bibanasi care nu m-au convins sa ies afara la poza cu ei si un clenutz mai mititel.
Ultimul peste al serii a fost o premiera la nimfa: un peste inrudit cu bibanul, caruia de fapt ii zice white perch, adica "biban alb", ca sa se deosebeasca de "yellow pearch", adica bibanul de pe la noi. Am mai prins la uscata si la vobler, dar de obicei sta in lac si nu urca pe rau, asa ca e mai greu de prins la nimfa. Oricum o surpriza placuta.

Toata tarasenia asta s-a petrecut in practic mai putin de o ora, practic de pe la 8:15 si 9:10. Pentru relaxarea de dupa cina a trebuit sa ma declar destul de multumit...

Blestemul somonului

Dupa aproape doua saptamani de vreme extrem de rece, urmata de ploi, am beneficiat si eu de Thanksgiving Day, care e o sarbatoare foarte mare aici la americani, una dintre cele 2 zile pe an (+ Craciunul) in care majoritatea oamenilor nu lucreaza (ma rog, sunt exceptii si aici). temperatura a urcat azi pana pe la 5-6 grade si cum ardeam de nerabdare sa ma merg la un peste, am considerat ca merita o incercare.

Apa era mai mare decat am vazut-o pana acuma anul asta, asa ca locul de pescuit nu a fost greu de ales: era singurul in care ma puteam apropia de apa cat de cat.


Dupa vreo 15 minute de tatonare, pescuind mai mult printre tufe scufundate, bazandu-ma pe amintiri cam pe unde ar fi portiuni fara agatzari, am primul atac. de fapt a fost o oprire subtila a firului, fara sa simt nici macar o piscatura. am fost aproape convins ca nimfa mi s-a agatzat pe fund de ceva. spre mirarea mea, acel ceva a prins viatza. si inca ce viatza!


Am impartit filmuletzul in trei:
LUPTA


CAPITULAREA

ELIBERAREA


Daca vreti calitate mai buna dati dublu click pe filmuletz, asta va va transfera pe site la youtube si acolo puteti incerca "watch in high quality" inca nu am reusit sa imi dau seama cum pot sa "ingrop" in postul asta varianta "high quality".

Apa era extrem de rece, pe unele lacuri din apropiere e pojghitza de gheatza deja, azi a fost probabil cea mai calda zi din ultimele 10 (in majoritate temeperatura maxima a fost negativa). La 5 minute dupa ce am intrat in apa imi erau deja amortite picioarele.


A fost cea mai scurta partida de pescuit de anul asta, pentru ca la vreo 10 minute dupa ce am eliberat pestele am tras o baitza de toata frumusetzea, la un metru de mal, in apa pana in gat. toate hainele de pe mine s-au grabit sa absoarba cat mai multa apa, asa ca o continuare a partidei era exclusa. noroc ca motorul masinii nici nu apucase sa se raceasca si ca stau la doar 12 minute de locul de pescuit. asa ca restul pestilor care asteptau nerabdatori sa isi masoare fortzele cu mustele mele au ramas cu o mare dezamagire. poate data viitoare. visul meu e sa pescuiesc pe o ninsoare "torentiala" si sa prind peste. sa speram ca anul asta o sa se indeplineasca.

Little salmon

It gets colder and colder and I know the end of the season is near. I am just curios when is going to be cold enough for the fish so they stop feeding. Probably I'll give up first when the winter is gonna show its full strength.

I'm still trying to trick the fish, no matter how high the water is. and I can tell you the rain and the guys from the Eastman Falls Dam can make it reeeaaally high So far every weekend was productive, however. It takes a bit to find the fish but they are still there. AndI'm talking both about trout and salmon.

First scaled critter I stumbled upon was not a fish. I'm surprised the snakes are still out, despite the cold. I think that Saturday's warm weather made them come out for a last chance to capture a frog, but on Sunday the temperatures dropped, catching them exposed. This one seemed really numb, moving slowly toward its hole in the ground.

I moved up and down on the shore for a half an hour to find a good spot and I finally got the first hit, on a nymph. A brown, followed by a few rainbows and more browns.

Nymphs ruled that afternoon, green and pink being the main catchers. I ended with a little salmon on what else but a pink nymph. I think it's the forth this season on that fly.

Same problem as last week, when you are trying to reel in a salmon and to record it in the same time, it doesn't look too pretty, a third hand would be really helpful. Enjoy!

For a better quality you can check the youtube version here and click on "watch on high quality"

Fishing the seam

I was hesitating about going fishing on Sunday. The maximum air temperature of 43 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. 6 Celsius) that the weather channel was forecasting for this area was not stimulating me to stay waist-deep into water for hours. But passion is passion and I took the chance. I was thinking at the Daylight Saving that just had happened last night and about the fact that I won't be able to go fishing after I finish working, because at 4:30 pm it's already getting dark out. So I have to stick with the week-ends from now on.

The day before I was looking for a spot to fish but the water was still incredible high after the rain we got a week ago. I assume they were releasing water from the upstream dams because the water was actually flowing over the dam.

Anyway, on Saturday night I managed to scoop 2 rainbows and a brown from the bottom in a spot a little more downstream that the place I used to fish last month. So I decided to return to exact the same spot and try some more. The weather, although crisp, was to beautiful to keep me inside.
Water still high, although the lines of current changed a little. There was more water on the other side of the river, which made the strength of the current on my side a little milder. That created a few interesting spots that might have held fish.

Moving around on the shore to look for the best spot I stumbled upon this interesting nature's creation:

It made me think about Brancusi and his Endless Column. Yeah, probably I miss home...
Finally I found the perfect spot and I attacked immediately with a couple of my favorite nymphs. It didn't take too long before I got the first fish. It took the bottom fly as it was scratching the rocks. At around 10 feet deep. Then another one, in the same spot. Than nothing.

I thought: "OK, they are on the bottom. Maybe it's the time to get a little more involved". That meant to search a little deeper. My feet were already frozen, despite the neopren wader and the pair of pants underneath. And I was only knee-deep in the water. Here I go another few steps and the wather is above waist. But I was able to get in reach of the seam between the two lines of current. It didn't look very impressive at a first look, but I kneew that is the only spot my flies get a chance to reach the bottom. The water was probably over 15 feet and the speed of the current around it made the 2 tungsten BH nymph seem like unweighted flies.

But inside that seam, the flies were dropping fast and I was actually able to feel them knocking on the bottom.

Second cast and my line pulled tight. I set the hook and I felt the strong fish starting to shake its head. Despite the freezing water it fought like crazy. First salmon of the day, on a #12 BH nymph:

Immediatelly followed by a rainbow and salmon number two:

In between I had some more strikes but the line was pretty long and I wasn't always able to keep it straight so I missed some fish like this. But that seam was an endless source of fish. I got a couple of browns and some more rainbows, but the "numero uno" of the day was the third salmon, an incredible strong fish, one of the biggest I've caught this fall. My forearm muscles were burning and I had to switch the rod in my left hand a couple of times just to give it some rest. At a point I almost reached the end of my fly line and I was pulling hard on the fish. My tippet was made of 8 pounds fluorocarbon and I knew it's not going to break. I was also trying to make the fight as short as possible to make sure I don't exhaust the fish. The fish instead was not willing to make it short at all.

The net proved itself too small to accommodate the salmon. But that's OK because it didn't stay there for long. A few pictures and it went back into the depth, not before splashing me with the tail in sign of revenge. The good part about cold water is that it holds more oxigen dissolved, so the fish recover quicker after the drill.
This was also a way to test the effect of adrenalin on my metabolism, because I was suddenly sweating and my feet were not cold anymore....

The cold came back though and after a cople more fish and a few other strikes I said it was enough for the day. It was one of the best trips of the season, despite the cold and difficult fishing conditions. I heard the weather is going to get warmer by next week-end and I hope I will have some more action.
At the end I want to introduce one of the new members of my fly box. Same style, I know, but different colors. I got most of the trouts on it, but the salmons preferred the pinkies. Thank God I've found more beads at WS Hunter because I was running really low. Last time I bought some from Cabelas but their holes were too big to accomodate the hooks I use. The body is ice dubbing, another exceptional fly tying material I've discovered this year while tying flies with Jed and Jimmy, ribbed with vinil tubbing. By the way, guys, I couldn't find the ice dubbing on your website.

See you next time!