Trip to a new pond

Went to a pond I've never fished before this morning. Had a great time and the brook trout were very cooperative. They were rising but wouldn't take any dry fly I offered them so I went to a bead headed nymph. Fished it just below the surface and they were slamming it. Lost count of how many I caught and released. Wish I had brought my camera that was sitting in the truck. Had to use the cell phone and the photos just aren't that great. Oh well next time.

Short Time on the Water Today

Was able to get out for a quick fish before a storm hit today. Thought I was going to be out longer from the looks of the radar I checked but after about a half hour the wind picked up and the sky looked bad. Just as I was thinking it was time to get off the lake because of the close by thunder a nice 20" lake trout hit my line. He gave a great fight. Wanted nothing to do with coming up to the surface. Just kept diving to the bottom. Finally tired and came to the net. He hit on a Winni Smelt. This  seems to be my go to streamer. Most of the fish I've got this season since the ice went out have been on it.

Here's a photo before he went back to the deep.

Salmon Hitting Today

Morning started off slow with only one small salmon. After lunch I went out for an hour right in the middle of the day with the sun finally showing and the lake calm. Should have been the time when fishing would be at it's slowest but not today. Caught 4 salmon and lost another real nice one at the boat. It was one of those times that I just hit it just right and the action was fast. Biggest one I was able to get in the boat was 20.5 inches. The others were around 18 inches. It was a blast.

Winni Smelt pattern that caught the fish today. Got pretty beat up.

 

Beautiful afternoon. Warm calm and the sun out. First time in 4 days.

 

Another Day on the Lake

Nice to have a school vacation this time of year. Not many out on the lake yet so you get to fish without being bothered by all the vacationers. The lake is very cold right now, 42 degrees this morning so the salmon and lake trout can be anywhere. Fishing the top 10 feet of water seems to be the best place to find them. Although the salmon were no where to be found today at least the lake trout were around. Caught 3 while trolling streamers and lost another. Looked back at my log book from the past 2 years and the colors I was catching them on were pinks and orange. So last night I tied one streamer pink, white and red and the other was yellow, orange and a little gold flashabou. The pink caught 2 of the trout and lost one while the orange caught one. Here is a photo of one of the fish. It fell for the pink streamer. Will be out first thing tomorrow.

First Salmon of the Year

Finally the ice is gone and boat is in the water. Was able to get out on the lake today trolling flies. Hadn't fished more than 10 minutes when this 20 inch salmon hit a Winnipesaukee Smelt pattern. He gave a great fight with lots of acrobatics. Trolled for another couple hours with only one other hit. It was great to be back on the water.

 

My recreation of the Winnipesaukee Smelt.

Soon to be fishing!

Well it's been a couple weeks since I last posted. Not a lot happening here in New Hampshire. Still waiting for the ice to go out. Won't be much longer. Past few day have been upper 50s to lower 60s and this temperature plus some wind and rain in the forecast should help move it along. The edges have melted and the ice is very grey and mushy. Have been casting some streamers from the dock but nothing has been around.

Uncovered the boat and cleaned and wax it, put all electronics back in and charging the battery so it's now ready to go in as soon as the ice goes.

As far as tying goes I've been tying a variety of flies. Here is a sampling of what I've been tying. Some nymphs, hoppers, clausers and dry flies.