New Hampshire holds off on New Regulations for the Trophy Stretch

Posted on June 11, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

New Hampshire holds off on New Regulations for the Trophy Stretch

While up in Vermont, I heard that the New Hampshire Fish and Game is holding off for this year on allowing lure fishing in Pittsburg’s Trophy Stretch. Well, there’s hope I guess that the Trophy Stretch will remain fly-fishing.

Fly-fishing is a 100-year-old tradition in these waters.  It’s the principal economic sport that built the lodges, built the fly shops, and supports the guides. To destroy this tradition is ludicrous, and short-sighted. Knucklehead! New Hampshire has about 19,000 miles of streams and rivers. Is having a 2 miles stretch for fly anglers, a stretch that has been in extremely popular for century, asking too much? You got to be kidding me! If Fish and Game got smart, they would be promoting this valuable resource, helping to attract more fly anglers, helping to sell more licenses-both resident and nonresident, helping to support the lodges, the accommodations, the restaurants, and the fly shops.  Now that makes sense.

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Connecticut: Another Poor Spring for Stripers

Posted on June 10, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Connecticut: Another Poor Spring for Stripers

Looks like another dismay start for stripers in Connecticut. We are just not getting the dependable runs we used to enjoy in the lower Connecticut River.  I have posted on this before, once back in 2023. and in 2020. When coming up the coast, bass appear to be bypassing Connecticut and heading straight to Rhode Island. No, I do not have any definitely proof to back this up. For what it is worth, this just my observation alone.

What would be causing this trend? Two things immediately come to mind. The first is forage. We have little in the way of menhaden, despite efforts by the ASFMC to improve that stock. Whereas Rhode Island has done noticeably better with bunker. And Connecticut herring runs are declining fast. The second issue is climate change. The waters of Long Island Sound are heating up year after year. While forage is likely the bigger of the two issues, the two may be connected.

And let me mention one more thing. There are few schoolies in the present bass population. And they made up a fair portion of the bass we used to see in the lower Connecticut River. That’s mixed in too.

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A Team of Nymphs

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

A Team of Nymphs

We all know people who strictly fish dry flies. Coconuts. It’s like only eating one kind of food and thinking you are a gourmet. Oh well, let them suffer. Truth is this: you should pick the most effective method for the situation. That’s angling reality folks. And many times, the right choice is a team of nymphs.

A Girdle Bug & Small Nymph

Not long ago, I fished with guide Chris Jackson on Massachusetts’ Deerfield River and guide Owen Ward on Vermont’s White River. And both guides suggested the same rig. A team of nymphs. In fact, the very same two nymphs! On the leader point a size 10# weighted Girdle Bug and on the dropper a small bead-head nymph.

So why this team of nymphs? On big rivers, the Girdle bug serves three purposes  It is large enough to be seen from a distance, in other words trout can find it. It’s presents a big  fat meal. And its heavy enough to get your flies down where the trout live. How about that wee nymph? Well if you encounter trout actively feeding on small insects, the dropper fly fits the bill.

 

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Fran Better’s Wonderful Dry Fly “The Usual”

Posted on May 31, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Fran Better’s Wonderful Dry Fly “The Usual”

The first time I saw Fran Better’s wonderful dry fly -“The Usual” was in his Adirondack Sport Shop on the West Branch of the Ausable River in Wilmington. As far as dry flies go, the fly was nothing fancy, nothing usual. It was sort of rag-a-muffin thing, looking almost a bit unfinished. But trout loved that rag-tag shaggy appearance, especially in fast water.

It gradually became a legend thanks to Fran’s friend Billy Phillips, a highly accomplished musician, who fished it successfully and often in the Adirondacks. Before you knew it the  popularity of Fran Better’s wonderful dry fly spread far and wide.

The Usual is constructed from a single material – fur from the base of the rear foot pad on a snowshoe rabbit. This tough hair is very waterproof and durable. The wing is placed about halfway back on the shank to balance the fly and spread 180 degrees around the shank, making Eric Leiser call it a bit like a Compara dun. The body is the same hair dubbed on the shank.

All told it is a rugged fly and fairly easy to make. Today Fran Better’s wonderful dry fly is typically done in white, yellow or orange. Thread color varies from white to fluorescent red when fishing over Sulphur duns. Hook sizes range from 10 to 16.

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Fly-Fishing Vermont’s White River

Posted on May 30, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Fly-Fishing Vermont’s White River

Just returned from a trip to northern Vermont, where I floated the upper main stem of the White River with Owen Ward, head Orvis guide at the Woodstock Inn. Wonderful trip for both stocked and wild trout. The resulting photographs and story will appear in the fall issue of Estuary Magazine!

Posted in Fly Fishing in Freshwater, On the Road | Leave a comment