What do the fish know???

[jazzman]

We don't live on lake winni (yet), but tonight on our smallish lake in the Monadnock region, the fish were jumping out of the water all over the place at 7pm. I've never seen anything like it... Maybe it was the hurricane, maybe it was the fact that the lake has been lowered 18" in the past 48 hours... Very odd... Seems like you could have caught 100's of them with a net...

[Jonas Pilot]

Were there a lot of bugs flying around the water's surface?

[dayvsea]

yah I've heard this in front of our camp over the years, at night.. I think it goes hand in hand with some kind of hatch.. Usually seems to correspond with full moon..

[BoSox711]

I want some fish!!

[The Hairy Beast]

I want some fish!!

You got that right, brother! A couple of my buddies hit the Newfound on new years day with flyrods, they did well:

http://cdn.stripersonline.com/b/b9/600x447px-LL-b9522cb7_Screenshotat2012-01-01171813.png

http://cdn.stripersonline.com/4/4a/600x446px-LL-4a1f7505_Screenshotat2012-01-01172013.png

I had my kids so I couldn't go but I wish I had. Still, some ice fishing would hit the spot right now.

Winni is still wide open, here's the webcam on Black Cat Island:

http://www.stripersonline.com/image/id/2727485/width/600/height/443/flags/LL

[secondcurve]

HB:

Nice looking fish. I'm curious, what type of approach/flies were they using to catch those Rainbows, were they trolling streamers?

[Rattlesnake Guy]

What is the purpose of the nets you both have over your hands?

[secondcurve]

What is the purpose of the nets you both have over your hands?

It gives them better control of the fish. As they appear to be practicing catch and release (as most fly fisherman do for the majority of their catch) they want to make sure the fish doesn't slip loose and injure itself in a fall before it can be returned to the water.

[The Hairy Beast]

HB:

Nice looking fish. I'm curious, what type of approach/flies were they using to catch those Rainbows, were they trolling streamers?

Nope, they were wading the river, casting upstream and dead-drifting wooly buggers tied on a #16 hook. it's called "Nymphing". This time of the year all the action is on the drift, not the retrieve. Bugs hatch out of the riverbed and crawl along the bottom. The current shakes them loose and they go bouncing and rolling down the river. Trout hang in the current and see them rolling at em. It's an easy feed: the trout edges over, opens his yap and the nymph just washes into his mouth. Nymphing replicates that - you tie on a buggy fly, flip it upstream and let it drift along the bottom using a floating line. The strike tends to be subtle: you have to watch your line closely. If it stops in mid-swing SET THE HOOK!

<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="276" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x4boag"></iframe><br /><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4boag_upstream-nymphing-with-oliver-edwar_sport" target="_blank">Upstream Nymphing with Oliver Edwards (Fly...</a> <i>by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/peshinka" target="_blank">peshinka</a></i>

[secondcurve]

Thanks HB. I thought you meant Newfound Lake. Evidently there is a river with the same name, too.