A "Three Rivers" Trip....

The Three Rivers Stocking Association did a wonderful job this fall.  There were some absolutely beautiful fish put in and it made for very productive days of fishing.  I tend to get very busy in the fall and only got out a few times with clients, but when I did we were rewarded.  I really can not say enough about the beauty of these rivers as well.  I tend to enjoy each river in different ways during certain seasons as well.  For me, I enjoy fishing the Isinglass in the last couple of weeks in October as well as the first few weeks in November.  The leaves have turned and mostly fallen by this point and it is just about as scenic as you can get.  The Cocheco is one of my early season spots and I tend to fish there more in late March or early April.  The fish spread out and can be caught large distances below where they have been stocked.  If you explore down river, you will be pleasantly surprised with how scenic the river really is.  The Lamprey has always been a late fall / early winter area for me.  The faster water keeps the ice away and will fish better later in the year.  I am already starting to book trips on the weekends in late March and early April.  If you would like to explore the three rivers feel free to shoot me an email.  Even if you just have a question, send it my way and I will do my best to lead you in the right direction!  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season! 
- Patrick@fishstoryguideservice.com

Nice Cocheco Rainbow

Fall Colors on the Isinglass

Silvery Lamprey Bow

Time Flies....

Hello Everyone!
     Happy Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Holidays in general!  Man I can not believe how the time has flown by this fall.  There are way too many fish stories to be told in one post, so my plan is to try and do a few posts here in December on a few different fishing events from the fall.  I am in the tail end of my deer hunting season as well and have yet to get my deer, so I need to focus for one more weekend and then it is back to the normal routine of things.  But back to fall fishing.  The end of the Pittsburg season was great as always and many clients were able to get into some fine looking salmon.  I kept exploring, and found some more productive salmon waters in the area as well.  I really enjoyed meeting a lot of friendly folks on the river and it seemed like most people were having a great time with the leapers.  It is always bitter sweet on the last weekend of the season and it always leaves me wanting more.  I am already chomping at the bit to get back up to Pittsburg with a fly rod in my hand.  Enjoy some of the pictures from our fall trips in Pittsburg!

-Patrick

Nice Salmon Earl!

Salmon

Chuck's Salmon

Cool Looking Eye

Rainbow in the Mix!

Bruiser 19" Salmon

Nice leaps from this one!

63rd Birthday Fish!

Fall.... An Outdoorsman's Dream!

Hey Folks!
     So my summer adventures in Pittsburg are over for the year, but what a great time it was!  I learned more about the area than I have in my last 20 years combined and I luckily still have a lot more to check out!  The start of bow hunting season is exactly one week from today and that has been on my mind a lot lately.  There is just something about the changing of the seasons and the new adventures for an outdoorsman that it brings.  I am almost completely booked for the rest of the Pittsburg fishing season on weekends, but I may have a day or two if anyone is still looking.  I will be doing a decent amount of fishing myself in the next couple of months as well.  The salmon will be well on their way into the rivers after a long summer of patrolling the lakes and the deer will be moving into their fall feeding patterns with the cooler weather.  The steelhead are starting to move into the rivers in New York and the grouse season begins in the beginning for October.  There are so many opportunities to try and take advantage of and just plain and simply, not enough time to do it in!  As for down in the southern part of the state, the Three Rivers Stocking Association is planning to do a large stocking in the middle of October and I hope to get some clients into some great fishing.  I do still have a few dates for late October and November if anyone would like to explore the Isinglass, Cocheco or Lamprey rivers.  The weather is fine and the time is now!  Get out and enjoy the fall in New Hampshire! 

Patrick@fishstoryguideservice.com

Hike in Pond Brookie

Rainbow!

Cool Shot!

Can you find me?

Father and Daughter

 

What a team!

Nice fish!

Steady now...   *Photo Credit  Mikayla Jutras

 

The Old Farmhouse  *Photo Credit Mikayla Jutras

Pittsburg is Still Paying Off!

Putting in time in Pittsburg is the best way to increase your odds of landing a monster fish.  I have been on the water a lot lately and have even got a chance to fish a bit myself the other night.  I had my cousin up and helped to guide his buddy from Michigan.  We started off in the Trophy Stretch and landed quite a few nice fish.  The water is still way down, 68CFS or so, but the fish are still there.  They are spooky, but willing in most pools.  My flies of choice for the Trophy have been the elk hair caddis and my Pittsburg Bugger.  After a while we decided to target some larger fish and Ben got into a beautiful brown trout!  I was happy to be a part of landing his largest brown ever. 

Ben with his personal best brown!  19"

 As I mentioned before, I was able to throw some flies around this week as well. Between exploring and just plain putting in hours in some of my favorite spots, I was rewarded.  I saw some scenic areas and some finicky fish, but in the end it is always worth the effort.

Hike random ponds!

Pretty Bow

Brookie slammed the Caddis dry!

One of my top 5 Connecticut River rainbows!  Tape measured at 21.5"  Estimated 6+ lbs.

Summer in the North Woods

Hello Everyone!
     Summer is flying by up here in Pittsburg and the fishing is holding strong.  The flows in the Trophy Stretch have dropped to just about the lowest flow I have ever seen in the past week, but the water temps remain in the mid 60's.  The fish have become very spooky with the low water, but they are still there.  I have had many wonderful clients recently, including a buddy who had never been fishing before.  I also had two great clients who have spent a lot of time in Pittsburg, but wanted more detailed information on areas to fish and some new techniques to try.  The weather has been nice lately, but we are in need of some rain to refresh the system.  I do still have a few openings on weekdays in the next two weeks, but after that it is back to teaching and I will only have weekend days available for guiding.  The books are filling fast, so if you would like to get a Pittsburg trip in before the end of the season please let me know! 

 

 

Adventures...

Hello Folks!
     For the first time in a long while, the rivers are pretty much back where they should be flow wise.  I am really encouraged by this and hope to show some new clients what Pittsburg is all about in the near future.  Over the past week, I have done more exploring and bushwacking than I ever have in my 20+ years in Pittsburg.  I made a list of all of the areas that I wanted to check out at the beginning of the year and am flying through it.  Some of these places are not too difficult to access, while others are just plain and simply hours of bushwacking into areas that may or may not even hold fish.  It is fun to just grab the Topo Map and pic a dot of blue to find.  I have been checking the well known areas also, and the fish are ready to go.  The high water as of late has given them a chance to spread out as well as dodge any fly fisherman, which is making them even more willing to take a well presented fly these days.  I have seen more wildlife up here in the past week than I can remember as well.  I hope the summer is treating you nicely and if you want to escape the heat and have a little fun fishing in Pittsburg, let me know!

Patrick@fishstoryguideservice.com



18" Salmon



Look Closely :)



Moose



Backwoods



Perfect

I Think the Rain Just Stopped....

This was my thought last night around 8 PM as I sat on the deck of the camp.  It has been raining off and on up here for the past week.  Literally, each evening we have been getting some torrential downpours along with some days of just good solid rain.  I woke up this morning and it was still raining, but at about 9 AM I saw the bright fireball in the sky and it has not left all day!  I hope this is the beginning of a nice long dry stretch to get the flows back under control.  Just as a heads up for you, the flows have been posted wrong all week long.  They were showing 1st Lake Dam at 144cfs and it is currently somewhere around 400-450cfs in my best judgment.  Needless to say the Trophy Stretch is barely fishable in only a few select safe areas.  The lake is coming down nicely though and I would expect in the next few days that they drop the flows to a normal 200-300cfs.  There should be some nice salmon waiting for us when they do! (Power of positive thinking!) I have had some successful clients in the past few days and we did the best with what we had for conditions.  High water usually brings out some nice fish and these trips were no exception.  I knew our numbers would be lower due to the lack of fishing in the Trophy Stretch, but was pleasantly surprised with a few of the other fish we did land.  I still have openings for July and August, so let me know if Pittsburg is on your agenda! 
-Patrick@fishstoryguideservice.com

22" Leaper! 

20" Salmon, What a show that one put on!

15" Holdover, Drag Runner!

Venison ;)

Having Fun in Pittsburg!

Just a quick check in to let you know that I am in Pittsburg for the summer and still have a few open slots.  I do have a couple of weekends as well as many weekdays.  I am checking my cell phone every day and my emails every other at this point, so get in touch and I will get back to you as soon as I can!  I hope to hear from you!
-Patrick@fishstoryguideservice.com

30 on His 30th!

My best bud Weston was up with me in Pittsburg this past weekend to celebrate his 30th birthday.  We have fished together over the years, but usually I take him along when I have some harebrained idea of where some fish may or may not really be.  Well, this weekend I promised him we would hit the mother-lode for his birthday in order to repay him for all the hit or miss trips.  Pittsburg did not let us down.  He was a brown trout shy of the "grand slam" in the first half hour and the fish just kept on coming.  Once he hit thirty, we stopped and called it a morning.  It was a great feeling to just relax and enjoy being on the river with a good friend and not have to worry about the stress of getting him on fish. 

I still have some more available dates for Pittsburg this summer.  Please let me know soon if you would like to give it a shot, as I only have a few weekend days available.  If you are lucky and have some weekdays free, I do have a good amount of those still open.  I am looking forward to my trips coming up in the next few weeks!  Thanks!

Patrick@fishstoryguideservice.com

First nice brookie of the trip!

Artistic?

Muppet

Nice leaper

Who looks the best in this picture?

Nice orange belly for a stockie