This past year brought some terrific fly fishing opportunities to Semper on the Fly. Many awesome fish, adventured and moments, but in narrowing it all down, I came up with my ten favorite fly fishing moments of 2023.
#10. Israel River, NH. (July) Fishing new waters for the first time is always a step into the unknown. While driving down a dirt road taking a shortcut across the White Mountains I came across a fishy looking piece of water. I pulled over to the side, rigged up, and jumped in... Swinging a Golden Retriever, I proceeded to land 6-8 feisty rainbows while working upstream through some gorgeous water with deep holes, river bends, riffles and rifles. I'll definitely add this river to my New Hampshire summer rotation.
Adding to the awesome experience from the Israel River was the surprise of seeing the North Woods Law game wardens waiting for me when I climbed out of the river. I really thought I was in the middle of nowhere fishing down this dirt road. I guess it shows the game wardens can be anywhere at any time. I did have my license!
#9. Nameless feeder stream, Route 16, NH. (June) I was looking for new waters on a picture perfect summer when I passed over this non-descript little stream. The water was running cold, had a decent flow and was 2-3 feet deep on the far bank. I grabbed my Orvis Superfine 1-wt with a Parachute Adams dry and jumped in right below the bridge. Thirty minutes later I had brought to hand 25 native brook trout in the 5-8 inch range - all on dries, all in the same run (maybe 50 yards in length). I brought my brother there a week later and gave him a taste of this special little spot.
#7. Duncan Lake, Ossipee, NH. (June) My family has had a camp on Duncan Lake since 1960. It's where I hang my hat when I travel to NH for a couple weeks in the summer and/or fall. Duncan used to be one of the state's best designated trout ponds. But over the past several years, the state stocks fewer and fewer trout here and put them in other waterbodies across the state. My dad used to fish the summer evening mayfly hatch in the 1960s and 70s, but it kind of disappeared after the pond was reclaimed. This year, a new hatch was back in force. Two distinct areas had the bugs popping off the surface. One was by the point on the island and the other was a rolling hatch that began around Brown's camp and came right down the shoreline past our camp. These were big mayflies - size 8 or 10! I used a Yellow Stimulator because it floated high and was easier to see at dusk. I fished the island a couple nights and climbed up our family raft and fished the rolling hatch as it passed the camp. 2-3 rainbows were brought to hand each night along with a horned pout of two (nuisances). I think a Hex Fly would be a good fly next summer. I know my dad would love to have seen that hatch. Who knows, perhaps he ordered it up from on high!
#6. Ellis River & Ammonousoc River, NH guiding. (June) Guiding is a passion I really enjoy from my days working at Orvis. It's not just seeing people catch fish. That's part of it, but there's the fly casting instruction, knot tying, reading water, and best of all the camaraderie of guiding for lifelong friends. Ed and I have been best friends since 1979! We talked about this trip for several years and finally made it happen. We spent several days hanging our hats at Duncan Lake, and after we worked on casting it was time to catch some trout. There is a nice stretch of the Ellis River heading up toward Mount Washington that often produces wild brook trout on dry flies. We walked a bit further downstream to a new spot and in a matter of minutes Ed was on to his first brookie. He landed several more before we hit the road for some new water. There is a spot on the Ammonousoc River that has been money in the past and I wanted to get Ed into that section of water. It was fire! Swinging a wet fly down and across, Ed landed 8-10 nice brookies in about an hour's worth of fishing. We're already planning our 2024 trip.
#5. Hex Hatch, Northern NH. (July) Marc and I made our annual pilgrimage to hit the magical hex hatch in early July. Once again, we landed many brook trout with some pushing 16 inches all caught on dry flies... big size 6 dry flies. We even had a couple of doubles which is always exciting. Casting big dries for big brook trout has to be one of the most incredible fishing experiences I've ever experienced. Pittsburg is a long drive, but well worth the effort.
#4. Connecticut River, Pittsburg, NH (October) I realize I mentioned above how exciting it is to catch a 16 inch brook trout on a big dry fly, but that really doesn't compare to the epic moment I had on the river this fall. Towards the end of our final day, I decided to switch up to a size #14 Parachute Adams for the last hour. In a little piece of pocket water by the bank, in a scene reminiscent of A River Runs Through It, I cast my dry fly along a seam edge. As clear as day I saw the trout come up from the bottom with its mouth open. Boom! Fish on. Five minutes later I landed the biggest rainbow trout of my life - 20+ inches and 4-5 pounds. The interesting thing worth noting is about five years ago I caught a 16 inch brookie in the same spot... on the same fly. Fishing the Connecticut in the fall is pretty amazing as the salmon begin making their way up river for the fall spawn.
#3. North Fork Big Lost River, ID. (September) It had been five years since my last trip to Idaho. The Big Lost was unfishable because the state was draining the reservoir to repair the dam and the water was ripping. So I decided to take a look at the North Fork, which I had never paid much attention to. I will start paying attention to it now. I jumped in at a bridge crossing, and figuring the hole under the bridge gets pounded I planned to only make 1-2 cursory casts. Four rainbows later (courtesy of a Golden Retriever) I was sold on the North Fork. I caught a few more working upstream. I could definitely spend an entire day or two working this river. It seems that good. Nice holes, runs, bends... looks to have it all.
#2. Big Creek, ID. (September) So Idaho became my second best friend guided trip of the year. Spike and I have been best friends since... 1979 (a good year for forging best friends). Spike had been wanting to learn how to fly fish for several years and we've always talked about a trip to Idaho and 2023 we finally made it happen. The Bear Bottom Inn grass lawn was our teaching ground and soon we were catching fish in Challis Creek, the Mackay Reservoir and Camas Creek, but the best day was clearly on the dry fly crystal clear waters of Big Creek. True story, on the very first run I recommended we fish, Spike was fish on with a Westslope Cutthroat Trout in minutes. We caught 5 in that first run, and the stage was set for an incredible day taking turns landing fish going hole to hole upstream. Small grasshopper patterns seemed to be the right fly on this day. Spike even had his moment of zen (after three takes!).
#1. DIY Fly Fishing Bahamas. (May) In 2022 I messed around a bit with some DIY Bahamas bone fishing and was able to land two bone fish off the beach at Sandals. I figured it couldn't get any better than that... until this year. In one section of the beach near some rocks, I seemed to get into a school of bone fish on a couple different days. It was awesome. Mix in some Jacks and the fishing was pretty intense throughout the week. But the highlight proved to be hooking into a big snook right in front of the main beach at Sandals. I watched to take -- he was in only about a foot of water, and the fight was on... and on. Bringing that amazing fish to hand was the highlight of 2023.
I can't wait to see what 2024 has in store... New Hampshire, Idaho. Virginia, Bahamas and beyond... stay tuned. Tight lines my friends.
