2001 Fishing Highlights

Tall Timber Lodge strongly encourages all anglers to
practice Catch & Release. In the immortal words of Lee Wulff,
"A good gamefish is too valuable to be caught only once. The fish you release is your gift to another angler."

May 3 - The Ice Age that we affectionately call winter is over at long last. The snow melted nice and slow in April (almost no flooding) as this was the most beautiful spring we've had since we've been here. The transformation from frozen to flowing water means fishing is here again!
May 5 - Jon Howe and Craig Paisley nail 3 - 4 lb. brood stock brookies in the Trophy Stretch. The Lake Francis Inlet is also very productive for Jon and Craig.
May 9 - The Magalloway section is in peak form as Cindy, Jon and Dick Felone do very well with Red Ghosts. Jon catches (and releases) 4 salmon and 2 brookies, Cindy lands 2 salmon, and Dick also lands a salmon. Cindy has since told me that the river was much higher then, and has since been dropped in water flow. The salmon are taking more dries now than streamers.
May 15 - The "ice out" fishing on Back Lake picks up. Moe Gagnon of Manchester, NH landed a beautiful 2 lb. 16" brown. The long drought is over as this is Moe's first fish of note from our lake. Of course, this means that he'll have to catch a bigger one when he comes back next time!
May 19 & 20 - Super dupers and brown and black rooster tails are doing the trick at Back Lake. Rich Fitzgerald lands two 3.25 lb. brookies on successive days, Walter and Scott Rundlett limit out on beautiful browns and rainbows (Walter caught 3.25 and 2.25 lb. browns), and John Digirolamo catches 2.5 lb. and 2.25 lb. brookies on successive days. The fishing is incredible!
May 22 - Under the expert guidance of one of Tall Timber's premier visitors, Helen Sherman lands a beautiful 2.5 lb. brookie. The fishing keeps improving along with our weather!
May 28 - Capping one of the best Memorial fishing weekends that we can remember, Anne Boyd brings in the mother (or father) of all lunker browns - this one measured in at 4 lbs., 22" long. It is our largest fish of the season and probably the most beautiful.
June 6 - After nearly ten consecutive days of rain, the river has risen to its highest level of the season. Though more challenging, the fishing is still good. The salmon are taking nymphs once again in the Magalloway Stretch of the Connecticut, and Moose Pond and Clarksville Pond are fishing well too!
June 16 - Finally the river has lowered to a manageable 100 CFS in the Trophy Stretch - unfortunately the past two days have been 90+ degrees too. The daytime lake fishing has slowed a little, but we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of Back Lake's most popular trout delicacy, the hexagenia. It should be starting soon ...
Late June - The hex hatch on the lake was superb this year, as our region's version of filet mignon teased the trout for two whole weeks. The NH Guides' Lot on the lake looked alot like a Lakes Region marina from 8 - 9 p.m. Fly fisherman and fly tyer Ken Allard did particularly well - in fact, he's reserved his spot for next year at the same time already!
July/August - Sorry it has taken so long to update this page, but the wild northern NH weather has changed the fishing rapidly in the river and on the lake. With our recent string of hot temps, the lake has heated up considerably putting the fish down - some have been taken recently on Yellow Rooster Tails, however. The river is flowing very fast because of the torrential rains we had off and on over the last three weeks. The fishing's good, but streamers and bead heads are the way to go with the high water at the moment. Our resident fly fishing expert, Jon Howe, also recommends an unusual fly with a sordid name - the "Chartreuse Serendipity" - for use on the river. You may ask where he came up with this name. An Edisonian glimpse of inventiveness? A fleeting moment of enlightenment on a spiritual journey? No. The name has always been there, but Jon needed materials for his masterpiece. Instead, unpublished reports indicate that Jon obtained his materials for his mystery fly when he swiped the lime green boa from a performer in a Montreal nightspot long ago.
August 23 - The recent warm weather has slowed the lake fishing down plenty, but the colder temps of September await, so things should turn around soon. The river fishing has continued to be very good, and now that water levels have dropped to a manageable output, it should get better. Plenty of salmon have been caught in the Trophy Stretch lately.
September 10 - After having some 30 degree nights, Back Lake had picked up quite a bit, but our recent summer weather has put the trout down again. Still, people are picking up rainbows early and late in the day. On the river, the flow has slowed, but the fishing hasn't. There are still plenty of fish in the deeper holes of the Trophy Stretch, and with the aid (?) of guide Jon Howe, Ed Schmidt landed a 20" salmon yesterday. Parachute Adams, Z-Wing Olive Caddis, and Beadheads of all types are working well right now.
September 24 - The father and son combo of Al and Sanford Sherman nailed 12-15" rainbows on Back Lake with Golden Demons and Hornbergs. The fishing has been picking up very well on the lake lately with even some dry fly activity in the evening. You'd better come now because there's only a few weeks left!
October 17 - Well, another NH fishing season has come to an end - it had been particularly good on the Connecticut for John Rahill and Quentin Keefe on the final weekend as they fished in the snow. On this date, Jon and Cindy actually were in Montana catching 4 lb. rainbows and browns on the Missouri - quite different from the fishing we have here, but in many ways very similar too. In both cases, the beauty of flyfishing in natural settings such as these comes shining through. See you next year!

Pictures (especially Catch & Release ones) are greatly appreciated for use with this page.
E-mail : Tom at Tall Timber