Trout Stream Day Dreams: A Weekend in the Whites

This past weekend I drive up to the White Mountains for a quick camping/fishing/hiking getaway. I arrived just before dark Friday night and went to sleep, poised for an early start Saturday morning.

My first destination was the same pond I've fished twice already this year. I was on the trail at 7:00 and, thanks to my excited pace, arrived at the pond around 7:30. It was windy when I got there and I only had my 2 weight, so I moved to the back of the pond, where wind was partially blocked by trees.

I caught a few fish on terrestrials during the first hour, but after that the fishing slowed down relative to my previous trips. I noticed groups of fish congregating near round patches of lighter sediments on the bottom. I realized the lighter sediments must have been caused by springs upwelling through the bottom. The water in the shallows felt a bit warm, so the slow fishing must have been caused by warm water temperatures.

I hiked back down to my car around 11 and drove to a moderately-sized stream nearby. I tied on a size 12 hopper pattern and found fish in nearly every pool. Most were small compared to wild brookies from MA, but they were brilliantly colored and plentiful. Plus, there's nothing like fishing a crystal clear mountain stream.

I found this guy hanging out in a tiny tributary to the river I was hiking to

I hiked back to the pond around 6, hoping to catch an evening hatch, but the only fish rising were out of casting range. I caught one fish and hiked back to my car.

The next day I hiked to a new pond. The fish there are stocked by helicopter as fingerlings, but the views near the pond were spectacular. Several cliffs on the side of Mt. Osceola were visible from the pond. I caught a few small brookies before the action slowed down.

I decided to hike back down and fish a small stream I had crossed on the trail. It turned out to be a great decision. Though the stream was fairly small, the gradient was steep, so there were plenty of deep plunge pools holding fish. I even found a few large pools that were at least 4 feet deep. In one of these I caught the largest brookie of the day.