A Great Day in the White Mtn's

I would like to relive the Great Day of Fishing I had on August 1st 2010 in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

A Great Day in the White Mtn.

by: Lee Goldsmith

Lee's Fishing Page

 

Zealand River

It was a cold start to the day, 54 degrees but no wind. I had the car all packed and ready to go Sunday Morning. I had a quick bowl of cereal, glass of OJ and I was off. Made a quick stop at Phil's in the Eaton Village Store for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. My first stop was going to be the Zealand River on the west side of Crawford Notch. Up past the Mount Washington Hotel I made a left at Zealand Campground, past the Sugerloaf Campgrounds and up to the end of the Zealand Road. About 3.5 miles to the end, where I parked and got ready for the days fishing. Into my Shorts and wading shoes and I was ready to go. I was going to use my new 6.5' 4 wt. glass rod that Bill Franke made for me last year. It would be a perfect choose for this stream.  After a little bit of bushwhacking I found my way to the main river.  The water was clear and cold, 58 degrees.  I started up river and found lots of good pools to fish, and I came across one very nice pool with a big log across it. 

 I was able to catch two of the three fish in the pool.  The first was about 6 inches long and was being chased by a similar sized fish, needless to say I did not catch him.  The second fish caught is pictured here and was very beautiful, and also bent that new rod double.  After about two hours I wanted to move on so I beat my way back to the car.  On the way back I tried two sweet pools in a little feeder stream that I had followed into the Zealand earlier in the morning.  I caught one fish about 4 inches but that fish was so colorful I wanted to get a picture but missed.  Then I spotted two hikers who asked how I was doing and I told them how good the fishing was.  I think the gentleman will be back to try the river himself in the future. 

I now moved back down on the Zealand and fished a stretch I was very familiar with, parked and walked down river about half mile and then started fishing back toward the car. 

  I caught many fish in this section and was also joined by a New Hampshire Conservation Officer.  His name was Mark Ober and it was a pleasure to talk with him.  After I showed my license we discussed the fish and fishing in these wonderful streams, very good conversation.  After a little longer I decided to move to another river, it was noon so back to the car for some drink and food and I was ready to move on.  Next stop the Rocky Branch River.

Rocky Branch River

I arrived at the Rocky Branch at around 1 pm so I figured I had about 3 to 3 1/2 hours to fish it.  So I parked at the end of Jerico Road and walked down stream about half a mile or so and started to fish back toward the car.  The river was a lot warmer then the Zealand, about 68 degrees.  The fishing was good, I caught many small but also many good sized fish for this river.

The river flow was good for this time of year and the pools where many and deep.  I came up on a big boulder in the river with a very deep hole along the upper left side.  I placed the fly over the run and I saw this beautiful Brookie come up from the bottom and take the fly.  He had to be at least 10 to 11 inches long and was surely a wild fish.  His fins where very sharp and all perfect, no flaws at all.  To the best of my knowledge this river does not get stocked.  As fortune would have it I did not get a picture of this fish, my bad.  I completed my fishing at around 4:15 pm and was ready to go home after a good long day of fishing.  Go to Page two to see small slide shows of my other photo's from this trip.

Thanks

Lee