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Bryon Anderson

Northern New England in mid-August--worth it?

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My wife and I are going to be driving my son out to Manchester, NH in mid-August to drop him off with a group that's going to go hiking on the Appalachian Trail. We'll be dropping him off on a Monday afternoon, and picking him up to head home the following Friday afternoon. While he's out hiking, we are planning to do a little general sightseeing in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, and I will, of course, be bringing a rod or two along and hoping to do a little fishing here and there.

 

I've been doing some reading on the fishing in that region--mostly in Flyfisher's Guide to Northern New England by Steve Hickoff and Rhey Plumley (1998). So far, what I've learned hasn't been that encouraging. Unless I'm misunderstanding the situation, it appears that August is not the best (and may be the worst) time for trout, as the water apparently gets pretty low in high summer. It also appears that you have to look pretty long and hard to find wild trout, which is disappointing, but what can you do? It looks like Vermont may be somewhat better than New Hampshire in these respects. In the section on Maine, the Flyfisher's Guide seems to focus on coastal fisheries for salmon and saltwater species rather than trout, but I have to believe a state with as much wilderness as Maine has to have some good trout streams...?

 

What I'm hoping is that some of the New Englanders on here might be able to point me to a few places where I might have some success fishing on my trip. And I'm willing to be flexible on the definition of "success". smile.png My ideal would be to catch some wild trout that a) were 8" or longer and b ) don't require hours of hiking to reach. 2nd choice would be stocked trout rivers where there is a chance of some holdover fish. I will also happily fish for smallmouth bass, if there are productive fisheries for them. Wherever I go, it will have to be wadeable or fishable from shore as I won't have my kayak or any other watercraft. I'd also like to avoid urban and/or crowded fisheries.

 

Thoughts? Ideas? Any and all help will surely be appreciated, and paid back in kind if you ever come fishing in Michigan. smile.png

 

Thanks!

Bryon

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August isn't the best month for fishing, but I don't think it's as bad as you currently fear. I fish plenty in NH during the month of August. Like many places, you will have better luck early in the AM and in the evening.

 

Wild fish are certainly possible - 8"+ might be a tough challenge.

 

I'd start with these guys:

https://www.northcountryangler.com/

 

Great shop in a really nice area (North Conway) with lots of fishy water in the area. The Saco will have stocked trout including big holdover browns. The Ellis has lots of mostly stocked brookies and rainbows. The Peabody should have wild brookies and the occasional rainbow. The Andro isn't far away and has big trout and the potential option for a float trip... etc, etc. Lots of options. You won't be hitting peak season, but you can still get into fish for sure.

 

My comments are on the North Conway area - there are a lot of other options (such as Pittsburg) that may be better and a similar drive from Manchester. North Country should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

Good luck and enjoy!

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When my youngest daughter was in grad school at UMaine I always wanted to try for a trophy brook trout on the Rapid River. I never made it over there but heard many locals rave about the brook trout and landlocked salmon.

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Bryon the upper Connecticut River system (NH) can fish well in August and western Maine depending on rain (rivers) still fair trout fishing in the ponds and lakes. I would bring a few rods.

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I've fished south central Vermont, Ludlow and Plymouth(birthplace of Calvin Coolidge) area for many years during the late spring and through the summer. I've caught trout in July and August, brookies, browns and rainbows. The Black River has good access and is wadeable or can be fished from the bank, a mix of stocked and wild trout. The Ottauqueechee, in the stretch I fish between Bridgewater and Woodstock has several access points and is very wadeable in low water, mix of browns and rainbows, brook trout in the upper stretches near Killington. Most of the ponds and lakes in the area have trout, and many have both largemouth and smallmouth bass in them. The White River has trout in the upper part, a mix of smallmouth and trout in the middle section and mainly smallmouth in the lower part. But on weekends you can be overwhelmed by the tubers, rafters and canoes. A couple spots to visit in that area. Plymouth has a excellent cheese factory. Weston is the home of the Vermont Country Store. Manchester has the Orvis flag ship store and its rod building facility.

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Thanks cphubert and Philly, that is a wealth of stuff to check out! I knew I could count on the folks on this board to steer me right. :)

 

I am planning on taking my 7' 3 wt., 8'6" 5 wt. Sage SLT, and my 9' 6 wt. That should cover me for trout and smallmouth in streams of various sizes, I would think.

 

I would dearly love to explore some of the more remote trout ponds in Maine, but we'll have to see. My wife will be along and we're taking her car (Subaru Outback), so I might be limited by both of those factors on how far out in the whoop-whoop I can get. We shall see. :)

 

I very much appreciate all the suggestions everyone has given so far!

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I didn't think "northern" new england started until you hit the Aroostook County line.....

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I didn't think "northern" new england started until you hit the Aroostook County line.....

I'm not very familiar with the area, I was just going by the title of the guidebook that I bought. Come to think of it, I don't actually know how many states are considered part of "New England"...when I hear that name, I think of Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Delaware, but I'm probably missing a few. Are New York and New Jersey considered New England states? If the name refers to the original 13 colonies, wouldn't that include Virginia and the Carolinas too?

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Since Delaware is south of the Mason-Dixon line in fits into the mid-Atlantic region. New Jersey definitely not. New York, as I think of it, is mid-Atlantic but then you have the Adirondacks. This is what Wikipedia lists as the New England states, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

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newenglandmap.jpg

 

 

just a few rivers in new england but could be low water in august

 

connecticut - farmington & housatonic rivers

 

massachusettes - deerfield & swift rivers

 

new hampshire - upper connecticut & androscoggin rivers

 

maine - kennebeck, penobscot, grand lake stream, rapid rivers

 

vermont - lamoille, deerfield, black, batten kill, white, clyde

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Thanks Philly, that is helpful! So I wasn't too far off in my own conception of what states make up New England -- mistakenly included Delaware and forgot Connecticut. Still, if that had been a test I would have gotten (rounding up) 67%...C-minus/D-plus territory. Time to brush up on my geography.

 

Thanks, Flytire for the list of trout rivers by state -- that will help me in planning my travels. :)

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Well, a big "thank you" to Fletchfishes for the tip on North Country angler--they were great! The owner put me on a nice stretch of the Ellis where I caught lots of beautiful brookies, including a coue of honest 10-inchers!

I also got out this morning on the White in Vermont;very tough fishing in low, clear water but I managed one rainbow that went 14" according to my Measure-Net. U fortunately it flopped out of the net as soon as I unhooked it, so no photo.

All in all its been a great trip, but I'm ready to get back to my Michigan waters. Thanks to all for your helpful advice!

 

Bryon

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