Popper Bass

This weekend I was in upstate New York for a family reunion at a cabin on a small lake. I was able to borrow a kayak and get on the waterfall a few hours on Saturday night and Sunday morning, and fortunately both outings yielded nice fish. I only landed one on each trip, but they were well worth the effort.

Bass are willing to hit the surface by this time of year, and overcast skies meant I had an even better shot at convincing a bass to take a popper. I had seen a lot of frogs around the lake, so I decided to try a green popper. I paddled the edge of the lake, casting to gaps in the lily pads. For the first hour I had no strikes, and I began to worry that the bass wouldn't take my fly. I made one last cast to the edge of some lily pads and began to turn the kayak around to head back to the dock. Just as I turned I heard a huge splash. It sounded like someone threw a brick into the water. I looked back at the spot where my popper had been. It was gone.

As I pulled up on the rod I felt a significant weight. This bass fought long and hard, but ultimately I was able to get it into the boat.

The next morning was overcast once again, so I decided poppers would likely work again. They did. This time I had many more strikes, but all but one ended in a long-distance release. The one that did stay on was even bigger than the fish from the night before, and even towed the kayak around briefly.

All in all it was an unexpectedly great couple days of fishing.

Back to the Remote Pond

A few weeks ago I revisited the remote pond from my previous post, this time with a friend. Geoff had never caught a trout before this outing, and based on my previous success I figured this pond was the perfect place for him to catch his first.

I worried I wouldn't be able to replicate my last trip there, but luckily the fish were cooperating. A recent rainfall meant that the many small streams and seeps feeding the pond were flowing strong, carrying frigid water down from a neighboring 4000' peak.

Geoff's First Trout

Simultaneous Hookups!

We moved along the shoreline, taking a few fish from each spot before moving on. Geoff caught most of his fish on a small Muddler Minnow stripped just below the surface, while I caught most of mine on a Royal Wulff fished in the same manner. Though Pond-Dwelling brook trout will take a dry left motionless on the surface, a retrieve of short strips seems to entice more strikes. I think the movement helps attract the attention of the fish near the bottom that otherwise may not have noticed the fly.

I saw this trout streak towards Geoff's muddler from the bottom of the pond. By the time I reacted it was in mid-air, fly in mouth.

This trout had only one eye... but that didn't stop it from taking Geoff's fly

By 3:00, having worked more than half of the shoreline and content with our many trout to hand, we called it a day and hiked back to the car. I haven't had many opportunities to fish in the last few weeks, but these two trips have more than made up for my dry spell.

Sheep Laurel and Wild Strawberries

Journey to a White Mountain Remote Pond

Yesterday I made a trip to a remote trout pond in the White Mountains. At 2600', this is one of the highest elevation trout ponds in the Whites. Its waters are crystal clear with the blue-green tint characteristic of these high elevation ponds. Unlike most other remote ponds in New Hampshire, this pond is not stocked by helicopter. These trout are wild, spawning in the outlet stream and possibly around the numerous springs within the pond itself.

I arrived at the trailhead at 8:25 AM. No other cars in sight. Perfect.

In my excitement I half ran/half walked the 1.5 mile, 800 foot vertical trail in about half an hour. I was greeted with the sight of fish rising on the glassy surface of the pond. All around the pond dimples formed on the surface.

I couldn't see what they were rising to, but I decided to try an Ausable Wulff. Armed with ym 2 weight, I waded into the shallow outlet of the pond and began casting. On the second cast I watched as a brookie rose from the depths, paused, then smashed my fly. 

The next cast had the same result. It went on like this, with fish nearly every cast, until about 11 am.

 I was worried that the bite may have turned off for the day, but I moved up the shoreline to a small tributary. The water in the pond was quite cold, probably somewhere in the upper 50s, but the water in the stream was frigid! It couldn't have been warmer than the low 40s. 

Brookies were stacked up near the tributary - I caught at least 10 within a 50 foot radius.

I continued to catch fish after fish as I traveled around the pond. Every time I thought the fish had stopped biting, another fish proved me wrong. 

I lost count of the fish I caught. It was easily 50, but it could have been 100. 

The brookies destroyed my Wulff, so I moved on to a Light Cahill, but the brookies didn't mind the change.

It was an incredible day. Never in my life have I caught so many trout, and the fact that all came on dries is icing on the cake. I can't wait to head back again.

How to be a Wild Trout Detective: Part II

Part I Here

Digging Deeper

Once you've thoroughly searched the web for mentions of wild trout streams in your state (see Part I), you should have a solid list of streams. But they might be too far away for easy travel or they might be popular destinations, and therefore crowded. What can you do to find more streams?

Fish Surveys

Many state fish and game departments perform electroshocking surveys on streams. Oftentimes, they publish reports which can be found online. Massachusetts publishes them as part of "Water Quality Assessments" (see Part I for link) which examine several water quality metrics, including fish species. The best trout streams are dominated by trout, with lesser numbers of blacknose dace and/or slimy sculpins. If a stream has few trout relative to other species and/or warmwater species present, the trout fishing may be marginal. There's still a possibility that they hold nice trout though, as some of the biggest trout in a system are often found in marginal water, so don't count this kind of stream out entirely.

Water Quality

Water Quality data is readily available in most states. While it is conveniently paired with fish survey data in MA, it is often reported separately. The two most important metrics for trout are temperature and pH.

A trout stream should ideally never go above 20 C (~68 F), but trout can survive higher temps if they are infrequent. Some streams have springs that serve as cold water refuge for trout in streams that are otherwise too warm, so warmer streams can still hold trout. Regardless, look for streams that stay sufficiently cold first - they are most likely to have a large trout population.

The ideal pH for a trout stream is between 7 and 8. Aquatic insects thrive in these conditions, giving trout a larger food base. Streams with pH between 7 and 8 are also more likely to contain brown or rainbow trout, which have a lower tolerance for acidity than brook trout, which can survive in streams down to pH 5.0. Streams that flow through limestone or other carbonate based rock often have ideal pH, while streams that flow through granite are often acidic, especially in areas affected by acid rain.

Aquifers (See Full Post Here)

Aquifers provide cold ground water to streams, keeping them within the ideal temperature range for trout. Because aquifers are often a source of drinking water, they are well-documented and often available as map overlays (see MA Oliver from Part I). All other things being equal, streams that flow through/near aquifers will usually be better trout habitat than streams away from aquifers.

Gradient

In warmer, low elevation areas, like Eastern MA, high-gradient (steep) streams often provide the best trout habitat, as they don't have much time to warm as they flow quickly downhill. Some lower gradient streams get too warm in these areas, but those that don't provide excellent trout fishing. Lower gradient streams are often better in high elevation areas, as they are one of the few areas the water can slow down enough to form the deep pools needed by large trout.

Wachusett

On one of my recent small stream trips I decided to switch it up and fish a bigger body of water. As the second largest body of freshwater in the state, the Wachusett Reservoir certainly qualifies as "bigger".

Though I was too late for the reservoir's famed Lakers and Landlocked Salmon, I hoped to find some of the monster Smallmouth Bass I've heard inhabit its waters.

I got one decent smallmouth from the main shoreline before the wind drive me into a cove. There, I found a nice sized largemouth slowly cruising one section of shoreline. I tried every fly in my box - wooly buggers, poppers, and finally a mouse, but I couldn't entice it to do anymore than take a quick look at my fly.

Just as I was about to leave, I ended up getting a hit on the mouse from this small rock bass - I'm not sure how he would have swallowed a real mouse, but props to him for the effort.