High Water and Ditch Pickle Classic tournament

We have received over 2" of rain in the last 12-16 hours.  Rivers in  our area are very high and dangerous.  The Mad for instance is 5600 CFS right now.  It begins to become fishable somewhere around 500 CFS.  Small streams will clear and drop first so look to them tomorrow.  Its also a good time to get out on the lakes and ponds for both warm and cold water fish.  The hex hatch is happening now and it brings big fish to the surface.  This is a fun hatch when you hit it right.  Think warm, calm nights.  I have done well on both duns and cripples.  Cast to any risers within in distance as fast as possible before the fish go back down and be ready to strike at any minute. You may catch the biggest brown, brook,   rainbow trout or bass of your life!  I am guiding from camp on a great Hex pond this week Sunday through Wednesday then Ill be in Maine vacationing and chasing stripers.   Please let me know if you want to get out for an evening!

I was not on the rivers too much this week but got out with clients a few times.  The fish were taking caddis dries in the AM, but mostly nymphs.  I fished smaller streams because of the high flows.  The fish have definitely begun feeding in their normal summer times, early and late. Ive noticed this switch over the past two weeks.  Prior fish were feeding all day, but they are definitely much more active right now early and late.  We picked up fish midday but it was certainly slower than it had been.

As you can see the bass fishing has been good.  My partner and I were happy to take a second place finish at the 2017 Ditch Pickle Classic Fly Fishing Tournament.  This was especially rewarding as we had a breakdown and no outboard motor on day 2.  We were basically stuck within 500 yards of the launch where we could use the trolling motor.  We targeted both large mouth and small mouth with dark colored flies.  The magic depth for feeding largemouth was 3.5 feet  in sandy bays, while smallmouth were caught in 3-10' of water both on rocky bottom drop offs and sandy bays near the drop offs.  I caught my largest smallmouth bass of my life on a top water popper in 4' of water.  It was 20.25" and was a beast.  My partner did a great job of netting it.  All of the fish wanted an erratic retrieve.

I'm off to Orvis in Manchester today for the night and ill get some fishing in down there before heading north to camp.  Everyone have a great fourth!