Well here we are in early January of 2020, and I’m not sure where all my time went. Oh wait, yes I do! 2019 was my busiest guiding season of my career, and though I had promised myself I would keep my website more updated with content, I failed miserably! A big thank you to all of my repeat clients for fishing with me again this season, and to the other businesses that help keep me busy! Bosebuck Mountain Camps, Pond in the River Guide Service, Hill Country Guides, and North Country Angler to name a few. I couldn’t do it without all your support. Since I fell behind so badly in posting this year, I figured I should give a little recap of this past season, so here it goes….
Winter 2019 was a chilly one with a lot of snow. I was able to do a little winter fishing in New Hampshire here and there with some friends. We caught some fish and had a good time, but by March we were pretty eager for winter to be done with. Unfortunately Mother-Nature had other plans. There was a nice window of weather in late March and early April. Pre-runoff fishing was good on both streamer float trips and wade trips. As usual, I didn’t get a lot of guiding requests, so that left me to enjoy the early season for myself. I made the most of my free time by feeding my streamer addiction and landing some of my best fish of the season.
Mid April still had us buried in snow, and that’s when Mother-Nature decided to prolong my agony and dump inches upon inches of rain on the Northeast. The result was one of the wettest and worst Spring fishing seasons I can ever remember. Even by mid-May it was still a struggle to find rivers in fishable shape. Many of my May guided trips had to be cancelled or postponed. I still managed a few solid outings with clients, and was able to find a few fish myself, but May 2019 was a month to forget.
As the saying goes: “if you don’t like the weather, just wait an hour…” things changed dramatically in early June. It stopped raining, and didn’t rain again until September. June float trips on the Andro bordered on epic, with some days seeing close to 100 fish being hooked (though not all landed). In Maine, brook trout trips were fabulous and the dry fly fishing was fantastic. It seemed like fish everywhere were on overdrive to make up for lost time. But the hot fishing should have been a sign of things to come, because with the lack of rainfall and warm weather, conditions began to deteriorate for the summer.
Hot weather in July and August slowed fishing on the big rivers. Brook trout were pushed into their summer thermal refuges. It became an early and late game, as often is the case in the summer months. I had to work a little harder to find fish some days, but small brook trout streams and cold tailwaters still produced some very memorable days. By mid-summer the terrestrials were out in force and early hatches of Isonychia mayflies began to perk the fish up.
Cold nights began to manifest in late-August, and despite the lack of rainfall, this simple change in the weather dropped water temps just a bit and really got the pre-spawn bite going. In New Hampshire, some nice browns and rainbows began to show on the tailwaters, and in Maine some very healthy brook trout began to appear in their fall staging areas. Fishing was still tough under the bright sun, but some very memorable fish were caught by those willing to work for them.
Finally a decent rain storm rolled through in early September, and the rivers again came back to full life. My September guiding was again dominated by trips for Bosebuck, and the Upper Magalloway watershed didn’t disappoint. The early rain pulled a lot of fish into the river, and those folks that were lucky enough to fish near rain events and on overcast days had some very good days. A lack of rain in the middle of the month slowed the fishing again, but patient anglers were still rewarded with good fish every day.
The last full week of September saw a break in my Bosebuck guiding, and I had the opportunity to guide some other waters. My good friend Kieran came for a visit and I had the chance to guide him on both well known and some lesser known waters in Western Maine. Some days fished better than others, but Kieran is a very fine angler and he found big fish wherever we looked for them.
With September in the books it was on to October and the last of my guiding for 2019. Early October float trips on the Andro were spectacular, but the cold nights took their toll, and the fishing fell off later in the month. I had a few chances to guide extended season water in Maine, and had some very memorable days. Low water left us working to find our fish, but find some nice ones we did. Cold weather was setting in by mid-October, and sadly that was the end of my guiding.
Fishing season in 2019 ended much as it began, meaning some free time for myself to feed my streamer addiction along with my fellow guide friends. Cold, dark days casting big flies resulted in some more of my best personal fish for the 2019 season. One particular outing with my good friend Mason from White Mountain Anglers saw 7 brown trout over 20 inches (that’s ‘saw’ mind you. Even us professional guides are known to screw up a few fish). The fall streamer bite was a good one, but short lived. Early November saw record cold temps and accumulating snowfall. Snow and ice covered the boat launches, and though I made a few other trips, I resigned myself to a long winter season of tying flies for 2020. It was a fun year with lots of wonderful people, and I look forward to this coming season with you all again!