A Trip to the Great North Woods

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

A Trip to the Great North Woods

How it Looked in the pre-covid Days!

In the previous post I told you about the effect of climate change and covid on my trip north. Damn, quite a bummer. The river was overrun with anglers. Completely overrun. The photo above shows you how things looked in the past. Hopefully these saner days can return to the Great North Woods. Got my fingers crossed.

But truthfully there were some good points too. The State of New Hampshire does a wonderful job stocking the Upper Connecticut River with beautiful brook trout. The brood stock ones are three year old brookies, running upwards of 4 pounds! While we were there the state stocked, net full after net full, of brook trout in the 1.5 to 2 pound range. Gorgeous fish. Great on a fly rod.

Delivering Beautiful Brook Trout to the Great North woods

The “Bridge Commander”

No top of that the Great North Woods supplies a breathtaking backdrop of forests, mountains, moose,  and lakes. This is indeed wild country. And along with it there are some wild characters living in this hills. Such as a guy, I met on a bridge over the river. Lets call him call the “Bridge Commander”. Looks the part doesn’t he? Full of stories, jokes and spinning pure bullshit. You gotta love it. Life in the Great North Woods will do that to you.

 

A Great North Woods Brookie

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Climate Change and Covid are Affecting our Fisheries

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Climate Change and Covid are Affecting our Fisheries

I just got back from a trip up to the Great North Woods. A place I love and have been going to since the mid-1980’s. But I was totally unprepared for what I found.

The river was running extremely low. Lower then I had seen in decades. Asking around, I learned that over the winter the region had received 80 inches less snow than normal. That’s right almost a 7 foot deficient. Crazy. And to boot, they were experiencing a lack of rain as well, placing them in a serious drought. In fact the water table was at a 39 year low. Now I was well aware that out West water problems are going on big time, but I had zero idea its was happening so close to home.

If that weren’t enough, there was a fourfold increase in the number of people in town. Crowds, the likes of which I had never witnessed before. Every car and pickup you saw was filled with canoes and kayaks. ATVs and dirt bikes everywhere. And every pool was packed with anglers. Total mayhem. Once again I started asking around. Like myself, veterans of the area were all in shock. Scratching their heads. Then I heard that across the country all the National Parks were full. The state campground near the river was no exception. It was packed. After our year-long cabin fever, courtesy of the pandemic, people were busting out, desperate to get away, desperate to have fun, desperate to canoe and kayak, desperate to run their ATVs, desperate to dirt bike. And desperate to fish!

The trip was quite an eye opener. I headed south concerned and disappointed. No question, climate change and covid are affecting our fisheries.

 

 

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Dave ‘s 18″ Brown Trout

Posted on June 18, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Dave’s 18″ Brown Trout

Dave’s 18″ Brown Trout

My friend Dave got himself a nice 18″ brown trout. No this isn’t famous the Dave I speak about all the time – the redfish king, down in Punta Gorda. This Dave lives here in Connecticut.

Anyway this Dave was up on the Farmington River in New Hartford, a few nights back. He tells me the fishing was slow until the light faded. Well we have all seen that scenario. Dusk and dawn are frequently the best action, especially as summer comes on.

In the ebbing light some fish began to rise. So Dave tied on a small yellow spinner. Bingo he latched onto this beautiful 18″ brown trout. Fought well. Nice going Dave.

Notice anything about this brown’s coloration Its silvery with only black markings. No obvious red or orange spots. A bit unusual, I’d say.

Over the years, the State of Connecticut has stocked several different strains of brown trout including – Cortland, Bitterroot, Rome, Seeferellins, and more recently a “Survivor” strain from holdovers in the Farmington.

Yellow Spinner

Which strain does this trout look like? Well the Cortland fish have big red spots ringed by blue. And the “Survivor” is similar. I’m inclined to cross both of them off. Romes I’m unsure about. But both Bitterroots and Seeferellins are silvery with black spots. May look like we have it narrowed down, but Seeferellins are mainly stocked in lakes. And to the best of my knowledge Bitterroot browns aren’t stocked anymore. So I guess it will have to remain a mystery.

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Rescuing a 1987 17′ Aquasport: Part 3

Posted on June 15, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Rescuing a 1987 17′ Aquasport: Part 3

Its been awhile since I reported on this adventure. As you may remember, back at the end of March my son rescued a 1987 17′ Aquasport. Click on these links to see the first post and the second post. For a variety of reasons no additional progress has taken place until now. But the next step is underway. And most notably it involves the old transom.

Rescuing a 1987 17′ Aquasport

The hull itself looked pretty solid, but we knew right from the start that the transom was a major question mark. The left side had an odd wavy texture indicating it had been sloppily patched at some point in the past. So there was no question the transom needed investigating and might have to be replaced. As you can see in the top photo, my son first removed the last 18″ of flooring leading to the transom. This gave him access to the full interior backside of the transom.

The Transom Removed

My son believes the previous owner had used a “pourable” transom patch to solve a structural issue. Unfortunately the patch was not properly applied. There were voids in the material. Not good. And as I mentioned earlier, the exterior of the patch was heavily bulged.

At that point, using a carbide blade, my son cut the transom out. As you may be able to see, my son left on about two inches on either side of the opening to provide attachment points for a new transom.  How that will be built is under discussion. But the rescue is moving forward.  Onward to Part 4.

 

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Foam Ice Floats for Holding Flies?

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Ed Mitchell

Foam Ice Floats for Holding Flies?

Foam Ice Float for Holding Flies?

My friend Phil showed me a novel idea. Using a foam ice float to hold flies. Not sure where he can across this trick, but he tells me it is popular on the internet. News to me.

These dowel shaped foam floats are intended  for ice fisherman. Why? They don’t ice up as fast as conventional bobbers. Plus they are cheap and widely available in a variety of lengths. I think the ones in the photo are 4″ Rod-N-Bobbs MR4YC Mr Ice Bobber. But there are plenty of others brands to chose from. look around.

As you would expect, at one end of the float there is a clip to attach your line. This clip, however, also permits a fly angler to attach the foam float to his or her vest,  or to a lanyard for that matter. Should work in a boat or a kayak too. Hey the sky is the limit.  Have fun with it. You might even want to clip it to your rearview mirror. Who knows? Or go ice fishing.

Like novel ideas? I came up with this stripping basket awhile back. Check it out.

Collapsible Dish Rack – Stripping Basket

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