Mike and I decided to set up the campsites before everyone else arrived. Soon, Patrick showed up with a pickup truck full of everyone’s gear. After setting up our site, we decided to help Jerry out by setting up his tent before he arrived. That was a big mistake because Jerry’s tent is the size of the Ringling Brothers’ Big Top. It has three rooms and must be 200 sq. ft in size. We pulled the tent and poles out of the bag and laid them all out. Quickly becoming frustrated, we decided to put it off until later and go fishing. Down on the river, I started to teach Mike the ways of tenkara. Mike hasn’t fished a whole lot, but was excited to learn how. I guess my fishing stories got to him, or he wanted to shut me up.
While I was teaching Mike how to read the river and cast a tenkara line, the clouds opened up and it poured rain.
I asked Mike if he wanted to go back, and he said he wanted to continue fishing. Well, we completely forgot about Jerry’s tent lying in the grass. By the time Jerry and Charlie had arrived, the tent, which wasn’t even standing yet, was filled with water. Whoops! Sorry guys. Of course, the rain stopped right after the last tent was set up.
We were all starving by that point and looking forward to a couple of beers. Thankfully, Jon had brought his awesome marinated steak tips and a vegetable dish. We were so hungry that we were eating the tips off the grill. After dinner, Charlie, Jon, and Jerry went to check on their tent. Unfortunately, it was filled with a couple of inches of water. So Charlie and Patrick went on a mission to find a mop. They ended up at a Wally World, and a couple of hours later, the tent was dry.
Mike and I took a short drive to Lincoln, NH, to visit Mountain High Fly.
I always visit local fly shops to support them and get some local intel. We met the owner, Sarah, and her guide, John. They were both friendly and very knowledgeable about fly fishing in the White Mountains. We bought a map and asked them to highlight some areas to fish. They were quick to recommend a few hot spots as well as flies to use. Please note: Mountain High has closed. If you want great information on fly fishing the White Mountains, visit Steve Angers at North Country Angler in North Conway.
Back at the campground, we were able to get a fire going with wet wood and a little bit of rocket fuel. We stayed up late, drinking beers, chirping each other, and telling stories. The next morning, after breakfast, I gathered the guys around the table to show them how to set up a tenkara rod and gave them some quick casting tips. This went well as everyone listened eagerly. Actually, it was an instruction interrupted by everyone chirping insults at each other. A bit like students with a substitute teacher.
After a quick instruction, we headed to the Mad River. Along the way, much to my chagrin, we stopped at Dunkin’ to grab an iced coffee because that is what New Englanders do, no matter what the temperature is outside. Arriving at the river, we found a couple of trailhead parking lots filled with cars and hikers. We finally found an empty spot that was a very short hike down to the Mad River.
We hiked down, and I quickly extended the RBT ONE rod that I had rigged earlier with a dry fly.
The Mad River is beautiful, filled with rocks and hiding spots for brook trout. It truly is an amazing trout habitat, but it is also difficult to see the trout, even with polarized sunglasses. I made a cast upstream towards a fast-running section and dead drifted my fly past some good hiding spots, and saw a brookie take notice and come out of the shadows, but not strike.
The second cast, I repeated the same path, and sure enough, the brook trout came out again and grabbed the fly. I quickly set the hook and brought it to my net. It was a small brook trout, but it had awesome colors. These native fish have some of the coolest color patterns. I gently unhooked him, and Jon took a quick picture before I released him back to the river. Knowing this was going to be a great fishing spot, I gave instructions to the guys and set them up to fish. Mike took to it right away and caught three brook trout. The rest were not too far behind him.
After seeing the guys start to grasp tenkara and feeling a little crowded with six guys in the same section of the river, I quickly headed downstream. I collapsed the RBT ONE rod and began to jump over rocks and under branches to get some distance from everyone. That is the beauty of tenkara. It travels very lightly, making it easy for you to move on to the next spot.
After I made my way downstream, I began to fish all the pools and hiding spots I thought the native brookies would be holding in.
It was an awesome experience, casting a dry fly upstream, letting it drift down, and seeing these small to medium-sized brook trout appear from the shadows to grab a fly that appeared huge to them. I made my way about a half mile downstream and probably caught about twelve fish. I wasn’t counting because I was too busy taking in the amazing scene around me.
At that point, I realized I should return upstream and check on the guys. When I got back, Mike was still fishing the same spot. He could see a couple good good-sized fish right below him and was experiencing the same frustrations we all know. How do I get that fish to strike? The other guys were ready to head out for something to eat, but Mike, Charlie, and I stayed behind and continued to fish. We caught several more small fish but were unable to get the big brookies to strike. I think the fish were just spooked.
We grabbed a bite to eat and a beer on our way back to the campground. When we met up with the others, everyone seemed tired, but Mike and I still wanted to fish some more. We drove to the entrance of the campground and found a short road leading to the Pemigewasset River. Approaching the river, we noticed some fish breaking the surface and going after a recent insect hatch. We geared up and began to cast flies we thought were close to the hatch. The longer we stayed, the more fish we saw hitting the surface.
This was an awesome scene as every few minutes we would see brook trout aggressively grabbing flies off the surface and flying through the air. After several frustrating casts and seeing fish feeding so close, I decided to wade in some. I was wearing water sandals and shorts and had my iPhone in my pocket. But I wasn’t worried because it was in a waterproof case that claims you can use it to take pictures underwater.
None of my fly selections were working, so I rigged up a dry fly and ran a San Juan worm below it. Hoping one would attract attention, and maybe the fish would go after it. I was about to give up when a beautiful rainbow trout grabbed the dry fly as it shot through the air. I quickly set the hook by raising the RBT ONE; in reality, it was probably already set. As I guided the fish upstream towards my net, Mike came over to help. I grabbed my iPhone out of my pocket for a quick picture, but the screen stayed black. I guess the waterproof case wasn’t so waterproof. The seal must have been compromised. Mike quickly grabbed his phone and took some pictures as we admired this awesome brook trout and released it back to the river.
We returned to the campsite to meet up with the guys and tell them about the trout we were fishing and my phone getting wet. After more chirping, mostly towards my phone getting wet and the tent full of rain, yeah, I know it was a wet weekend, Jon and I headed out to get some rice to see if we could save the phone.
When we got back, the fire was blazing and the crew had settled down with some cold beers and BBQ chicken sandwiches. We spent the rest of the night carrying on, drinking beers, and listening to music. We had a lot of fun this weekend, and I hope it becomes an annual event. It was awesome sharing my love for tenkara, and I hope the guys enjoyed it too. I just hope I can retrieve the photos from my wet phone.
“no reel, no problems” -Bill Holleran
