Lamprey River April 26th 2008

Ethan had some success today. He caught a 12 inch brookie and a 16 inch rainbow using a double nymph rig (copper john and prince) with a strike indicator. I broke my personal skunking record after missing a number of decent hits.

Lamprey sucker action!

Ethan caught this hefy sucker on woolly bugger. If you ever hook a sucker it will put up a heck of a fight. It took 20 minutes to land this bruiser after it dragged him all over the river.
If you would like to read an article about the gentle art of spearing suckers you can click on this link. The article is from the New York Times in 1890.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9904EED71539E033A25750C2A9629C94619ED7CF&oref=slogin

Something fishy about the Nissitissit.

The lad convinced me to schlepp to the Nissitissit River in Pepperell, Mass for the second time in three days. On the first trip we visited the "Evening Sun Fly Shop" which is an excellent place. The proprietor, Charles (Charlie) Shadan set us up with some fine new wading boots, pointed us in the right direction and gave us some solid advice on how and where to catch some of the recently stocked trout. The weather was perfect, the river was extremely pleasant and loaded with insect activity. We chatted with a number of friendly and informative local fishermen who all raved about the river, the Evening Sun, Charlie, and the joys of catching the trout that were plain to see in certain spots.
The only problem was that we could not figure out how to catch a fish and we didn't meet or see anyone else catch anything. We tried almost every trick in the book (we held off on dynamite) and got skunked twice in a row. It seems like the river has taken a bit of an early season pounding and the fish have decided to go on hunger strike. I am pretty sure that this river will produce when the hoards have left. The Nissitissit is a very nice river, we'll be back and we will figure out how to pronounce the name and how to pry a trout from it.

The Pinkham Press ad showing Max Olney Pinkham fishing the Israel River

My friend Mark Pinkham sent me this ad. In 1920 The Pinkham Press was the largest printer in Boston. This ad was created in 1945 by Mark's grandfather Max Pinkham. Max was an accomplished fly fisherman who especially liked to fish the streams and rivers in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Mark and his son Connor have recently taken to fly fishing the same waters, which is the way life should be.

The copy for this ad is refreshingly different to the ad copy we have to endure today.


" No sport holds it enthusiasts longer and with keener enjoyment than the "stalking of a rising trout." Which reminds us. Just such a thrill as this is ours when we "stalk" and "land a beauty" for one of our clients in the form of a carefully prepared and skillfully executed advertising piece. This we should like to do for you. In printing, as in fishing, experience counts. "

Profile brook trout

I caught this 17" brookie at Profile Lake on a chernobyl ant. Profile is at the foot of the Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch. The action really heats up when it gets dark.

Brown trout action on the Saco River.

I never met a trout I didn't want to eat. The lad told me that I could only eat the trout I caught myself so this one went back.

This one would look especially good on a plate.

Oscar (the dog) does not seem impressed.

The lad smiling like a Cheshire cat. We think the trout went for a size 16 yellow humpy but I could be making this all up to throw you off the scent.

Upper Connecticut Trophy Section

Right below the dam. Anyone wearing a hat like this must be an expert. He just landed something hefty as we arrived.

Massive landlocked salmon. Please note that I have giant bear paw hands.

Try as I might I just cannot make this look like a whopper!

Ethan mending his line in between downpours. We were wet the entire weekend ... not surprising when you spend most of the time standing in a river.

This stretch produced a number of nice brookies and a good sized beaver. I'd like to tell you exactly where this is but I would probably end up with a trout head in my bed.

Luxury accomodations. At times we were actually fairly dry.

Lake Francis campground bathed in sunshine. Coleman grill at the ready. We grilled everything in sight ... the squirrels were nervous.