Yesterday, I made the trip to a favorite river in central New Hampshire. This being my fourth attempt this year, I arrived to find the river was not stocked and looking as low as I have ever seen in early June. Every place I go the water is seriously down and very warm and feels like the middle of July. I changed location and did manage a reasonable day releasing 15 rainbows from the Pemigewasset. All stocked fish and straight from the hatchery right down the road that fell for olive leaches and wood duck flies.
The Pemi is the main flow that feeds into the Merrimack River. Early in it's history the Pemi was a thriving Atlantic Salmon run. I sometimes catch myself feeling sorry for not having the opportunity to have been there then. Salmon and Shad traveled the Merrimack to Franklin where the Winnipesaukee River enters. At this point all the Shad went up the Winni and all the salmon continued up the Pemi. With the headwaters high up in the White Mountains, the river flows through some of the most rugged land New Hampshire has to offer. The area I fish, in Bristol, is boulder laden and not the easiest to navigate. This is also the home of the state record rainbow at 14 pounds.
Right now, without wanting to travel into the North Country or North Woods your best bet for trout is on the Pemigewasset. This vast area will hold many anglers and does have a substantial quantity of fish. Native and stocked Brook Trout as well as stocked rainbows are available. Who knows, you may even hook into that eighteen pound Atlantic Salmon broodstock that was put in this spring.
So back to the rain. Hopefully today we are seeing a bit of a change in the weather. The rain is falling hard right now and the temperatures look like they will be lower for the next week. We need to have some substantial precipitation in order to get things back to normal for the season.
William
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