Yough

With Mid-Atlantic weather yo-yoing between deluge and drought Henry and I had to suspend our annual pilgrimage to the smallie infested waters of the Juanita.  We thought we might make a go 0f it but when the river gauge headed true north we started making new plans.  

Fortunately we had the Youghiogheny on our list since by Great Allegheny Passage bike ride along its banks several years ago.  The 'Yough' you begins as a trickle trout
stream in Northern WV and then drains the western reaches of MD and PA and picks up flow as it journeys north for 134 miles until its now broad shoulders join the Monongahela just outside Pittsburgh and empties into the Ohio and Mississippi.  

The most picturesque portion of the Yough are the miles just up and downstream from the quaint outpost and outfitter town of Ohiopyle.  Ohiopyle is a mecca for white water enthusiast looking to hit the
rapids in Ohiopyle State Park, Great Alleghany bikers looking for a way point and serious fisherman excited to hit the cold water trophy section just east of Ohiopyle.   Hen and I thought about a downstream float through
the trophy section, but the float was 9 miles and we elected to fish more on a 6 mile section than paddling on the trophy slot.  

With Kayaks loaded we agreed to meet in Connellsville and fish from there downstream to the small town of Dawson.  After much trial and error I'vedecided that the best set-up for my casting style is stiff 6-wt over-gunned
with 7wt WF line so I can cast the weighted offerings small-mouth love. 

We arrived in Connellsville after 4+hr travel from Philly and NOVA and found the river beautiful twinkling blue in the late afternoon sun.   It has been spared from the rain which makes sense as we were about 30 minutes from
Pittsburg.    The Yough was 75-100m wide, rock strewn with deep runs, clear and flowing at a reasonable pool.    The water was pleasantly cool even 40+ miles below the bottom-release cold-water Yough dam.  It's easy to see how the Yough supports trophy browns upstream.  We slid quickly into likely water, I thought I'd catch 5 smallies immediately and were rewarded with casting practice!   





A local soon wandered smelling us up, he was spin-casting fishing for trout, and the story started to emerge that this was still stocked trout water which gets pounded after stockings.   After having very little luck, 3 smallies in 3 hours :-(  we chatted up a local police officer who confirmed that this is still trout water, but he thought we'd have more luck if we got away from the water immediately upstream and downstream.  Disappointed but with our catch, but excited about the coming adventure we repaired to a local haunt for wings (gr8), steak (littleflavor) and beer (hard to go wrong) and charted our course for the next day. 

After dropping Hen's truck at the takeout  in the Dawson, the land that time forgot, we slid our yaks into the river in Connellsville and began our 6.5 mile fish downstream....ah it's SO much better to only paddle downstream. We let the river carry us .5 miles downstream below where Hen had ventured yesterday and began to ply the waters...again despite great looking water...very few fish.  

I stood in my kayak much of my fishing time and where and when I'd expect to see AT LEAST pan fish follows the river was strangely barren.   This pattern continued, we'd catch 1-2 smallies an hour, with the exception fish-wise of Carp....lots of them and different species. We saw loads of standard carp and then one out of every ten or so was a some other more basslike-looking fish. it was far blacker and more basslike,  It looked like a bass-carp-walleye hybrid.   I caught one while site casting on a rock bed and it hit aggressively, like a kinda like a salmon, he moving about 2' to his left and walloping my home tied crawfish fly.  He didn't put up a huge fight or go on a crazy run and I was able to control him with my 5 wt.  When I got home and did some research I found that it was a white bass-striper hybrid.

Just down the river Henry told me to look up and a Helicopter was circling us and dipping down toward the water.  It stopped about 100 M downstream from us and then as best as  we could tell released some sort of
spray-pellets into the water and flew away.  I suspect we'd just witnessed river rehab in progress as PA continues lime the river to counter the slow release mining acid which has long troubled the water quality in the region
-- odd but fun to see.   I picked up a fish or two more, and we saw some random brown trout cruising and sipping something we couldn't ID from the surface the action was very slow.  Hen had two hot flashes where he picked
up 3 smallies in three casts, and then, like that, they were done.   

It's always fun to adventure into new rivers, but if I were to come back to the Yough I'll plan to hit it higher up probably between confluence and Ohiopyle and be prepared for trout as well. 

It started out Great!

This post is poor cousin to Scott's post on the Northern Connecticut River (two posts earlier) but I wanted to capture a few notes.   Paul and I fished the North Fork of the Shenandoah for 3.5 hrs Saturday.  We entered at our normal takeout off the low water bridge at Lumpton Road, pushed upstream .5 miles and fished back to the takeout. The river pool was optimal registering 2.28 ft of the Strasbourg Gage.

Nature bathe in this river

These Riffles produced the best fishing of the day

As I paddled up stream I slid through the end of a size 20 BWO hatch coming off the warm water and smallie bronzebacks sipped them off the top of the water. It felt like one of those days where we'd be fighting fish on each cast, but it was not to be.  I began in a riffle section of the river and picked up smallie after smallie in the 6-11 inch range sliding my flies and tubes over fast flows and allowing it to settle into deeper slot runs. As the action was very consistent I took off my very productive 2' smoke sparkle tube and tied on a fly meant to imitate the tube and fished it in the same manner from the same spot.   The tube out-fished the fly 3:1 (Damn), back to the bench!  I didn't realize that when I left this riffle section I was leaving the most productive water as Paul and I struggled to find fish for about 2 hours in deeper slower water until finally getting back into fish in the faster water just above the takeout.

  My best bet is that with the water at its summertime warmth the bass are congregating in the oxygenated rapids, the deepest (holes) and at any cool water springs or tribs.  I also used at heavier 6wt 10' rod over gunned with an 8wt line which was heavy enough to cast those small weighted tubes with ease but unfortunately dampened the feel of bites from these smaller smallies.  Next trip I'm going back to a 9' 6wt w a 7WF line, this seems like the happiest set up.

Brookies, Bronzebacks....and Bonefish(?)

All the tools needed for a successful bonefish adventure

I had the chance to take another shot at bonefish last month while on vacation in Great Exuma,
Bahamas.  I hired "Bonefish Stevie" for a morning trip, and though windy and not an ideal tide, it was still a wonderful and unique experience fishing across emerald colored water in a magical setting.  The bite wasn't on and the fish were tough to find.  I did land a few with this guy (in the photo) being the big boy of the day.  Once hooked he took me halfway through my backing - twice - before finally tiring. 

Bonefish are like torpedos beneath the water

Stevie was a terrific guide and emissary for the Bahamas.  I look forward to my next trip to the islands.

Bonefish Stevie in his home waters

Tight lines from Brookies, Bronzebacks and Bonefish (!)

Northern New Hamppshire at its best once again

    

Big rainbows in fast water - always a challenge to bring to hand

My brother Marc and I made our annual pilgrimage to northern New Hampshire June 28 - July 2, and once again the trip did not disappoint. Fishing four of five days on the wild, rugged and scenic Connecticut River will wear out these old bones pretty quickly yet we pushed our time on the river to its limit each day, knowing full well our time here is limited.  We used the Buckrub Pub & Inn as our base of operations -- clean rooms and only 50 yards from the best food and Buckrub Brown Ales.  
    

Rainbws thrive in the fast Connecticut waters

So over the five days we fished the Connecticut four. We also fished a secret brook trout stream for an afternoon (Matt you know where). We wetted a line in the Mohawk and Indian streams for a brief spell, and lastly we hit the evening hex hatch on one of Pittsburg's area trout ponds only every night.  

Big brookies on big dries during the Hex hatch

     Weather was wild and unpredictable over the five days -- thunderstorms rolled in & out with no notice and we pressed ahead rain notwithstanding.  Summer temps were scorching -- high 80s to low 90s every day.  Northern NH was experiencing a true summer heat wave. 

Beautiful brook trout

Let's get to the fishing. 

     Back country brookies video

A little rain didn't slow down the action on the Connecticut

     We'll begin with the secretive brook trout stream. Non stop action of wild brookies using 1 & 2 weight fly rods on dry flies and occasional streamers is a treasure that I hope we never lose - hence the secretive nature of not naming this stream. This stream environ is 100% wilderness -- no human footprints on the banks or sandbars though a 3 foot water snake spooked the heck out of Marc - no signs of people anywhere.  Wild game trails led in and out from the stream on both sides of the bank.  The full arsenal of tactics is in play here -- short casting into fast moving pocket water; full length casts into narrow runs, bends and pools. I used a parachute adams while Marc went with a small stimulator.  Both worked exceedingly well. As you can see from the pics and video the trout were feisty, strong and colorful. We didn't count numbers but upwards of 50 were brought to hand and gently released back to their underwater domains.  We only fished a 0.5 mile section of water; one day we hope to push further upstream to more uncharted territory.

Marc with a nice brookie on a Stimulator

Another wild brookie released back to its home

     We hit the Mohawk River but after a couple hours and only a few wild rainbows, the conditions just didn't seem conducive for great fishing as the lower water levels and clear skies with bright sun overhead, I believe, pushed the trout under the banks and away from their typical lies.  We always wanted to try Indian Stream and pushed nearly 10 miles up the dusty and windy Indian Stream Road jumping and at a couple of spots.  We found the river really, really shallow with holes separated by several hundred yards.  Perhaps in the early spring when there's more water this stream might be more productive, or perhaps another 5-10 miles upstream its character might be drastically different.  But with already-proven waters in the databank, this stream is off the list for future trips. 

Saving the best for last, I'm not sure which to choose -- the Connecticut or the still pond hex hatch as they were both memorable.

       Let's go with the hex hatch next.

Brookies on big dries - gotta love the hex hatch

     There's something seemingly unnatural about casting to rising brook trout with 2 inch long dry flies, but for this one brief period each year -- that's as natural a scene in this wilderness.  Watching the real hex flies pop to the surface, shed their wing casings, and then founder for a few minutes before lifting off into the evening twilight is a sight to behold -- especially when seconds before liftoff the water explodes with a brook trout launching like the sub in the movie Hunt For Red October taking aim at its dinner buffet. 

This 18 inch brook trout wanted back in the pond

     The hatch starts about 30 minutes before sunset and truly doesn't peak until the back side of sunset.  Armed with our 4 & 5 weights and keeping two spare rods rigged and ready we paddled our canoe to spots where trout and bugs began their rituals.  Night 1 was best for both of us as among the 7-8 landed we each caught a 17-18 inch brookie -- no fish tale.  The problem is trying to photo document these catches in the dark was next to impossible. I actually landed my big squaretail on my backup rod Orvis Superfine 761-4 -- yes a 1 weight.  Again - no fish tale - that trout towed the canoe a short ways before successfully landing and releasing.  Over 4 nights we average 6-10 trout per night.  Some were only 8-10 inches; while most were in the 11-14 inch range.  How can you beat that, especially watching the explosive surface strikes.  It's almost worth the trip up to Coos County for the hex hatch alone, but with the mighty Connecticut winding down from the Canadian border and gathering more steam and strength I had to save this description for last.

Brook trout caught on a 1-wt Orivs Superfine

     I won't say we've always had good luck on the Connecticut because some days can be frustratingly challenging.  That river can honestly giveth and taketh away your good fortunes.  That said, we've landed and lost some memorable trout and salmon in that river over the years.  Marc's 18+ brookie a few years ago in the same pool we collectively landed half a dozen other salmon and trout during a 30 minute frenzy.  The monster salmon I hooked in some fast and deep water that I tried to steer to my netman at the bottom of the run -- but steered to well when the salmon launched out of the depths and struck Marc squarely in the chest while breaking off in the process.  

We have some favorite spots, but what made this trip on the river most memorable was catching fish in new spots and new tactics.

Marc with a Connecticut River brook trout

Lots of rainbows on this trip

     Nymphing is the tried and true method of fishing the Connecticut.  I suspect 90% of the folks fishing the river are working that method - and why not as it produces.  So we nymphed using a mix of copper johns, pheasant tails and princes -- and caught lots of fish.  I managed to catch a few with streamers -- where doesn't a golden retriever work?  But the magic of this trip was the  sizzling dry fly action.  Skating stimulators across the Step Pools above Lake Francis and a few spots well below the dam drew violent strikes from brookies and rainbows.  Then one day about noon while nymphing in the Ledges, trout started rising throughout the pool.  I switched to a parachute adams and proceeded to land a half dozen  aggressive rainbows and brookies and quick order.

I caught a 16 inch brook trout in this same hole a couple years ago

I felt I could have landed several more but I ceded the pool to a young couple who looked to be not having much luck on the river. I invited them to where I was standing and proceeded to guide them to the tactics of the hole. That said -- the net day I made it a point to be in the Ledges at noon -- and again the hatch popped off right on time.  Finally our last couple hours on the river we decided to go all dries as we worked our way back up to the truck parked by the dam.  That's when it got magical.  I landed trout after trout in every piece of fishy water.  Then Marc got into the action, saving the best for last with a 14 inch brookie on the last cast on a perfect drift along the far bank.  Last cast / last fish -- big colorful brookie -- what could be any more glorious.

   

Marc landing the last fish on the last cast of the trip

Marc landed this beautiful brook trout on a #18 parachute adams

Marc releasing the last trout of the trip

Here are a few more pics and videos from this trip.

Here are the top takeaways from this trip.

1.  When nymphs just aren't working, try skating a caddis across the top or switching to streamers.

2.  Be observant for short windows of hatches -- the midday hatch started right on time when looking for it.

3.  Switch to dries in the fast pockets later in the afternoon -- that proved a goldmine.

4.  Some parking lots had 6-9 vehicles there -- there's still plenty of river you just have to hike away from the crowd.  We tried a lot of new water this year and it was productive.

5.  Know when to call it a day -- end the day on a good cast, good hookset, and good fish.

We'll be back to Pittsburg next summer!

Scott with a rainbowfrom pocket water

Stripers not strippers

All smiles boating around Mount Desert Island

Scott and I dedicated this blog to Brookies and Bronzebacks, but we're not opposed to other manner of outdoor fun and fishing variety; salmon and brown trout, bonefish to buckemouths we're open to adventure.  

did I say adventure?

Lately Henry and I have been plying our craft (ok learning alot) about fishing the Maine coast.   We explored York Harbor and York River in our kayaks in search of Stripers (stripers not strippers...an important point when one is telling ones spouse where they are going late at night on a full moon tide) and even though they hadn't made their way into York in force we picked up 10 or so schoolie striper in the 16-18 inch range.  

Matt Fish on in York River

Real bait fish and striper soft plastic for interesting comparison

The sound of the drag screaming out from the reel jolts adrenaline through your veins.  

 During phase two of the Maine outing we explored Mount Desert Island (Acadia Nat Park) looking for Striper.   We didn't find any (too early to far north) but to our thankful amusement ran into clouds of aggressive mackerel.   We found them survey casting likely water with striper spinning rigs then moved to ocean wt fly rods with kitchen sink-type clouser minnows... 3-4 strikes per cast when you were in the fish.  We both plan to get more experience with inshore boat-based fishing in adventurers to come.   Enjoy these pics and be sure to get out on the water soon.  

Conor = zonked out // Jenny = very happy

Fish on for Henry in the fog bank

Mackerel were slamming clousers we just need to find a seamount amid deeper water and they were there

Pole snapped I real in a mackerel (I got him)

Thanks for taking a look