Story & Photos: A New England Grand Slam on the Upper Connecticut River

This beautiful brookie ate a caddis emerger imitation on the tailout of a plunge pool. All pictures: Charles Hildick-Smith

The northernmost city in New Hampshire, Pittsburg borders Canada, Vermont, and Maine, however extra importantly, it’s on the headwaters of the Connecticut River. The river rises simply 300 yards from the Canadian border and flows by a collection of lakes, between that are beautiful stretches of freestone water, every with its personal character.

My buddy Invoice Bernhardt had opened a brand new fly store and guiding operation, Points North Outfitters, within the spring, and he invited me as much as test it out. I made the five-hour drive north in late June, the place I met up with three of my oldest fishing buddies and my younger photographer buddy, Charlie Hildick-Smith. The night earlier than we had been scheduled to fish, we checked in with Invoice and his spouse Emily—the brains of the operation who runs the fly store—to speak about our plans for 2 days on the water. I trying ahead to catching fish, however I used to be additionally stoked to fish with Invoice for the primary time, although we’ve identified one another for nearly twenty years.

Tim Bayha with the primary fish of the journey, a fairly brown that ate a dry fly, as information Invoice Bernhardt appears on.

Day One: Trophy Stretch and Exploration

At 8 a.m. the subsequent day, my pal Tim Bayha and I hopped into Invoice’s truck and headed to the Trophy Stretch under First Connecticut Lake Dam. We hiked by the woods for about 10 minutes and emerged onto a stupendous stretch of water, with no different anglers in sight. Invoice arrange Tim in a run, and he and I set off to scout downstream. After we returned, Tim was combating a pleasant brown trout, which had taken a caddis emerger off the floor.

Invoice set me up with a double-nymph rig, that includes a Roza’s Pink Pheasant Tail and a caddis-larva imitation. On my second forged, I hooked an honest rainbow, which got here to the online after a brief struggle. Fifteen minutes in, and each Tim and I had been on the board. Over the subsequent three hours, we labored our means upstream, catching all 4 accessible species—brookies, rainbows, browns, and landlocked salmon. At one level, Tim and I attached on the identical time, and Invoice netted and brown and a landlock collectively. Then, as if somebody had flipped a swap, issues went chilly.

Tim and I doubled up on a brown and a salmon, which Invoice had within the internet on the identical time.

After lunch, Tim joined our different buddies, whereas Invoice took Charlie and me on a tour of logging roads to take a look at some native brook-trout streams. When you’re off the pavement, wilderness stretches in all instructions, and you actually get a way for the remoteness of the realm. Sadly, the water in each streams we fished was fairly heat, and though we bought a couple of hits on dry flies, and no fish had been landed. We returned to the Trophy Stretch and landed a number of extra trout and salmon earlier than calling it a day.

Day Two: Chilly, Rain, and Quick Motion

The following day, we determined to take a look at the tailwater part downstream, under Murphy Dam. It’s a bottom-release dam, and the water was simply 48 levels. The air temperature was only a couple levels larger, and darkish clouds promised rain. This stretch is thought for large browns—we’d heard rumors of a 36-incher(!) landed there—however they had been definitely going to be more durable to catch.

The large pool just under Murphy Dam gives quick, deep water and a few great-looking seams.

We began on the closest pool to the dam, which was deep and quick, however a double-nymph rig nor a streamer produced a strike. Invoice steered we head downstream to swing flies by lengthy, flat stretches. The skies opened up, and a gentle rain drenched us for the subsequent few hours, driving the chilly into our bones.

We lined a variety of water and landed a couple of cookie-cutter rainbows, however we might discover a huge brown. On our means out, we went again to the highest pool the place I lastly hooked an 18-inch brown on a San Juan Worm. The fish made three spectacular leaps proper in entrance of us and spat the hook. That appeared to be an indication that we must always head in to get heat and eat lunch.

This muscular rainbow, accustomed to dwelling in quick water, fought nicely for its dimension.

We completed up on a distinct a part of the trophy stretch, the place the motion was quick and livid on each nymphs and dry flies. The salmon had been significantly frisky, taking to the air instantly upon being hooked. The spotlight was the largest brook trout I’ve caught in awhile, which got here from a plunge pool under a big rock.

Invoice has been guiding on these waters for a very long time, and fishing with him was an effective way to study the perfect methods and flies for the Higher Connecticut. Catching the Grand Slam of salmonids was icing on the cake. I plan to move again up within the fall when the massive landlocked salmon transfer out of the lakes and into the river.