Along with the weather the fishing is heating up!  The ponds and streams have all received stocking and the northern rivers are receeding so opportunities abound.   Now is the time to head on out.  Lots of dry fly action on the central  (Lakes Region) streams with caddis and drake hatches.  A recent outing had clients catching fish on stimulator and prince nymph dropper rigs.  In the faster water rubber- legged wooly buggers (olive of course) have been productive.  With all the spring rain be sure to bring plenty of bug spray as it’s not just the fish that are biting!

The big lakes are producing lots of 2 year old salmon.  Streamers and hardware (small spoons) are productive.  There is a missing year class and it can’t be emphasized enough that in order for this fishery to survive you must show some ethics out there.  Hook wounding is a major issue with nearly 40% of Lake Winnipesaukee salmon that were surveyed are showing wounding.  You can’t just continue to catch and release salmon after salmon and think that there will be no effect on the fishery.  In fact it would be less harmful if anglers kept their daily limit of two fish and then stopped fishing rather than catching and releasing double digit quantities.  Yes it is time to limit your catch and release.

Pick of the week: how about a trip into one of those mountain ponds or streams?  You’ll be surprised at how well they fish this time of year and you can’t beat the solitude of getting off the beaten path.