2008 Fishing Journal

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."

April 25 - Not too much to report just yet. Although the flow below Murphy Dam in Pittsburg is low, making this stretch very wadeable, the water temperature is still pretty cold (low 40s), so not too much is happening with our hatches. There were a couple of very large browns caught down there in the last few weeks on lures - an eight pound brown and a ten pound lunker brown - but, it hasn't really been great action yet. Back Lake will probably go out in a week or so, which would be ahead of schedule considering the winter we just had. Bring it on! We're ready for some fishing!

At long last, Back Lake Ice Out was on 4/28

April 28 - Ice out at Back Lake. Very surprising considering the winter we had and that our ice went out on May 3 last year. It goes to show what two weeks of 75 degree weather does to 2+ feet of ice! Moose are back out at the roadsides and we've had three loons popping up and down on the lake today and yesterday. So, it's official: springtime fishing is here!

May 9 - First day of fishing the Magalloway stretch for the annual salmon run. It was a bright sunny day, so the salmon were Magalloway Inlet

not very active, but a couple of fishermen had hook ups on nymphs. Streamers have also been working well for some fishermen too in the last few days. The water level is really good and the water temp as of today was 48 degrees, nearing really good temperatures for great fishing. Come on up - the next two weeks should be fun!

May 11 - The salmon run is definitely on now. The Magalloway stretch is hot, as the salmon have been hitting streamers, nymphs and emergers lately. The river flow is perfect, and the water temp has risen to 50 degrees, so as long as the water flows stay swift we should have great action. Any of the Ghosts, Putt's Favorite, Soft Hackle Streamers, beadheads of all kinds trailing caddis and BWO emergers are working right now. Our dry fly action should start very soon on this stretch. The Lake

There's nothing like spring salmon fishing

Francis Inlet has been great too, with many anglers catching salmon, browns and rainbows. Back Lake was good this past weekend for rainbows and Moose Pond has been yielding some of the brood stock brookies. This is one of the best times of the year, so don't miss it!

May 12 - Quite simply put, this was the best night of salmon fishing I've ever had. As the sun went in to some cloud cover, the salmon really started hitting on the Magalloway stretch. It was all on a Red Gray Ghost on sink tip line (no split shot), and the smallest of the fish was 14" - 15", the largest coming in at approximately 19". They all had so much fight and were jumping like crazy. The last two fish I landed, a 17" salmon and the 19" whopper, took well over 10 minutes each to bring in, but were ready to go again once I removed the hook. The following day I managed to get to the Lake Francis Inlet at the campground. Though the water was cold and the sun was high, the salmon and rainbows were still hitting the Red Gray Ghost - 2 salmon and 2 rainbows. Come on up for this great fishing!

May 12 - 18 - Bernie Liberi and Rob Sylvester had a great week fishing the Connecticut Lakes - Lake Francis and First Connecticut Lake in particular. They landed some nice lakers and landlocks on First Lake and brought in some nice browns, rainbows and salmon on Lake Francis. The weapon of choice for them were DB Smelt and Red Ghosts. Thanks for the pictures Rob!

May 16 - Mark Rundlett and the rest of the Rundlett gang had great fishing this year on Lake Francis and First Connecticut Lake for lakers and salmon. This 3.25 lb. laker succumbed to a super duper - thanks Scott for the nice picture of Mark's catch! While the salmon run on the Magalloway has slowed because of a lack of rain and just plain old beautiful weather, it's not over yet. The Magalloway stretch has been cut down to 99 CFS, meaning the salmon will be returning to the lake, but the Trophy Stretch has been cut to 202 CFS - really great flows for wading and trout and salmon fishing. This section should start picking up, and the flow below Murphy is also at a good fishing level. Back Lake has been slower this week, but a change in our weather might do us some good. This would also be a good time to fish the big lakes for lakers and salmon, as they will be up on top and biting right now.

May 21 - The stocking trucks have been busy in Pittsburg this week, as Back Lake and several other bodies of water received trout from NH F & G. Our dose included a heavy amount of large brood stock brook trout and they perked up quite a bit today. The Tomaszewski party (long time TTLers) had a great day with brookies and a brown thrown in for good measure - as always, it seems as though the "Super Duper" was the lure that brought them in. The lunker brookie pictured tipped the scale at 4.25 lbs!Hornbergs, woolybuggers and brightly colored streamers will probably do the trick too. The river has been good at the Lake Francis Inlet, with salmon, browns and rainbows still being caught regularly. First Connecticut Lake and Lake Francis have also been fantastic for trollers - the salmon and lakers are on top right now and very susceptible to lures and streamers. We still have some openings for this weekend, so come to Tall Timber and get away for a relaxing holiday weekend!

May 25 - The weather's been beautiful lately and the fishing's been pretty good too. Back Lake has been fishing really well, especially with Super Dupers and the river has been fishing, particularly in the Magalloway stretch and in the Connecticut River below Pittsburg. There have been some nice brood stock brookies caught below town as well. Once again, nymphs, emergers and woolybuggers seem to be working in the river, and we are very close to some great dry fly action as well. We have had some good BWO hatches, but as the weather warms, we'll start having more surface action. The ponds have also been good, with good reports from Coon Brook Bog and Clarksville Pond.

June 4 - Sorry about all of the time in between updates, but I had to chase the white ball in Myrtle Beach last weekend! No trophies made their way back north with me for those that are curious. As usual, the fishing picked up quite a bit while I was away, with the Trophy Stretch fishing great, particularly with nymphs and streamers (though anglers are starting to use more dries now), and the fishing on Back Lake was superb. Long time TTLers Paul Doucette and Tom Boodry did particularly well on Saturday, with fifty (that's right, 50!) trout caught, the largest of which was a 6 lb. lunker brookie. Naturally, Paul forgot his camera, so we have no documented proof of his catch ... Long time guest Art hartnett is pictured at right with a four pound brookie he caught on the lake. We were very fortunate to revive this fish to be caught again some other day. The river and ponds have been getting a large dose of stocking the last couple of weeks, so there's plenty of trout around, and salmon have been moving in to the Trophy Stretch from Lake Francis. This week, it has been a bit rainy, but we expect some nice weather coming in for the weekend.

June 12 - What a difference a week makes! Last week, flows were very low in all of the stretches of the Connecticut River, but due to some strong thunderstorms over the last couple of days, the flows are very high (500 in the Trophy!), making it very difficult for our fishermen. My suggestion: streamers or nymphs with lots of split shot ... Hopefully, the flows will return to normal soon and we do have a prediction for some nice weather on the way. It has also been windy lately, making it difficult to stay on the ponds, so when the wind machine turns off, we should have some great pond fishing again. Back Lake has also slowed down some, but this may be due mostly in part to the crazy weather we've had lately. There's plenty of fish still in the lake, so things should pick up soon and the hex hatch is only two weeks away now.

June 17 - Well, our rainy weather pattern has continued this week, and appears as though it may continue for a while longer. Needless to say, the river and all tribs are really high right now, and difficult fishing, but all is not lost. Back Lake has continued to be good for trollers and we have had some evening hatches to try to replicate - black caddis and light cahills have been some of the more popular bugs coming off lately. The hex hatch is right around the corner now, so we should be casting those helicopter-sized flies in the next week or so. The ponds have also been excellent lately, as Dan Nyhan did very well with a yellow hornberg last week at Coon Brook Bog and I did very well with a hatching pupa at Boundary Pond - absolutely brilliant native brookies! Fishermen that prefer streamers or nymphs and a lot of weight have still been catching fish on the Trophy Stretch, but it has been challenging. If you do fish here, concentrate on the slack water and holding areas where fish are bound to be. Anyway, it will be a while before the river gets back to normal, so sometimes we have to change our plans to keep fishing!

June 20 - The weather has continued to be unpredictable, but the fishing has been excellent, especially on Pittsburg's outer ponds. Boundary Pond, Round Pond and Coon Brook Bog have been yielding some really great brook brookies this week and the dry fly fishing on Back Lake has also picked up. Cindy has had a couple of great nights on the lake, casting with soft hackle hatching pupas on top and on the strip. She also thought she may have seen a hex on the lake too last night, so that hatch is almost here. While the river has been tough wading, there have still been fish being caught, particularly on the edges and in the slack water, with streamers and weighted nymph rigs.

June 23 - We once again hosted the great ladies of Casting For Recovery this weekend and it was another banner weekend. Pictures will be coming soon, but the women all had a great time catching fish (Back Lake bass were the sacrificial lambs this weekend) and making new friends. Sarah Sanders landed the fish of the season so far - a 6+ lb. female brook trout on the Trophy Stretch. It was released to fight again another day - way to go Sarah! Periods of rain have continued at times, so the river is still on the high side, but we started having some hexes coming off of Back Lake last night. Once again, they started coming off near dark when the wind was down. We'll root for more nights like this over the next two weeks as the hatch kicks in to full gear. The ponds were great fishing all weekend, so come up if you have a chance.

June 27 - Another day and even more rain. We had a torrential rain storm on the lake last night, ending any chance that the hex hatch could be fished. It looks like we may have a good chance for some action tonight (only a 40% chance of storms tonight), so we will keep our fingers crossed. If anything happens, it will be posted immediately. Even if the hex hatch isn't strong, we've had good hatches of light mayflies coming off lately (cahills and usuals are probably best). The ponds have continued to produce very well - Moose Pond, Middle Pond, Big Brook Bog, Coon Brook Bog and Boundary Pond have all yielded some nice brookies. The Connecticut River is high right now - very tough wading, but rewarding fishing. The Trophy Stretch has produced some nice trout and salmon lately, but the section of the Connecticut south of Lake Francis and Murphy Dam is unfishable. Jon is floating the Androscoggin today, so we'll have a report on that very soon. Keep checking back!

June 28 - Back Lake is "hot as a pistol" right now. While the hex hatch is still in the early stages, the fish have been very active in the evening, presumably coming after hexes that are coming to the surface, as well as green drakes and light colored mayflies (cahills?). Last night was one of those perfect nights, where the wind lays down and the lake surface is flat as a mirror. Just before dark, the trout really came alive and the hex cripple was the main culprit for my hard fighting rainbows. Our guests have also enjoyed some great trolling success for the trout as well - hornbergs and the heron fly have done the best. Bad news on the Andro - Jon reported that the level rose as he and clients drifted downstream yesterday. Prior to the rise, the fishing had been very good (alder flies), but after the rise the fish shut down. Good weather will change all of this, so we'll keep our fingers crossed!

July 2 - The river levels have dropped some for the holiday weekend, so the wading should be easier than before, and there's plenty of fish in the Trophy Stretch right now. Using streamers and nymphs would still be the best bet right now. In addition to the river, the hex hatch is in full swing on Back Lake right now, with lots of action on the lake last night. The lake was literally bubbling with rises at times, particularly near dark - lots of rainbows and some nice browns were caught and released. The heron fly continues to be the big winner on the lake. It should last a little longer, especially if the weather gets better and the wind stays down.

July 10 - Fishing on the Trophy Stretch has been great lately as the flows have come down some (from 500 to 300 CFS) and the weather has stabilized a little. Steamers and beadhead nymphs have still been very effective on all parts of the stretch, but dries have also become more common. Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulators, Light Cahills, Usuals and sulphurs have been working well. Also, don't forget the San Juan Worm! The ponds have slowed down with all of our warm temperatures, and the hex hatch ended on Back Lake. The last good night for the hex hatch was July 5, and then it ceased soon after that - we have a long wait before it happens again unfortunately. Until then, trolling under the surface with woolybuggers is the best option for our lake.

July 12 - Great fishing on the Trophy Stretch today, especially on the surface with dries (elk hairs, stimulators, parachute adams,etc.) and the weather was great. Every guest that I spoke with had success on the stretch today, so that's a good sign that our fishing is in great shape for the next few weeks. NH Fish & Game has been stocking quite a bit recently as well. I drifted the Colebrook section of the river last night and caught 6 nice rainbows in a short span on dries - there are plenty of fish in this part of the river! In addition to this, Back Lake has continued to produce this week as Bob Catello caught 30 trout on a golden demon with sinking line.

July 24 - Rain, rain, go away! Torrents of rain have been hitting our area for the last five days now, and the Connecticut is high and muddy, especially below the major tributaries of Perry and Indian Streams. Fishing above the tributaries will be good right now, as Trans Canada is holding back water from the lakes to prevent flooding downstream. The Trophy Stretch dropped yesterday from 300 cfs to 100 cfs, making the wading much easier and the fishing has continued to be good, despite the rain. Back Lake's fishing was very good earlier this week, as Chris Billingham caught 20 or so trout on the lake. It has been slower the last couple of days, probably because of the low pressure system moving through. The Trophy Stretch fishing's great! We have some openings in the next couple of weeks, so give us a call at 1-800-83-LODGE and we'll book something for you!

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