MAINE - Life in the Slow Lane
Hmm I bet you will Koda
I wounder what kind of smelt they are . I have never heard of a translucent minnow at least not in fresh water. Rainbow smelt ? I will do some research on this one.
OK this a Delta Smelt has a Translucent appearance. One problem they are found in the west coast .
My Guess the common smelt sense it is distribution is more wide spread and lives in fresh water. The size is more what they described Koda. It is translucent as well. It really dosent have large eyes though.
Dave
I'd guess Rainbow Smelt since the Gray Ghost was targeted at the regular smelt. But I see a shade of red in the Rainbow Smelt and he seems to have married the two flies. Whatever he did/is doing, the Salmon are all over it.
I'll try the back door, if that don't pan out I'll resort to the bamboo splints under the fingernails. He'll talk 
Quote by: KodaDave
I'd guess Rainbow Smelt since the Gray Ghost was targeted at the regular smelt. But I see a shade of red in the Rainbow Smelt and he seems to have married the two flies. Whatever he did/is doing, the Salmon are all over it.
I'll try the back door, if that don't pan out I'll resort to the bamboo splints under the fingernails. He'll talk
Koda once you get one of them secret weapons from one of those fellows post up a picture of the fly . If you want to keep it a secret I will understand. I know the smelt up at Eagle Lake in northern Maine had a translucent look to them and yes had large eyes for their size. Maybe there is a cross between the rainbow smelt considered as an invasive species these days with the common a bit smaller smelt. Sure would like to see what he has come across. I am hoping he let the 30 plus inch salmon slip back into the water . Hate to see one of them broods go on the table.
Yeah I don't really know how I feel about eating salmon at this moment. You can't knock people for doing it as it is the reason why people began fishing. But I'm telling you when Zig and I went fishing on opening day people were loading their coolers and do it all the time. How many fish can there really be in that lake? And yet they have to stock them to meet fishing demands.
The people who will be the first to complain there aren't anymore fish will be the ones like a guy I saw asked another guy for his catch.
Again I don't have anything against eating fish, but are we being conservative enough? When people can bag two a day and drag there kids along for more fish, and fish everyday it adds up. Just like all these damn immigrants that line up at the river after stocking like when they get their food stamps. WTF!? So I got nothing to catch until the next season. And since most of them are unemployed government charity cases, they have all day every day to fish. Okay getting of course here.
They stock and a week later there aren't any fish left to catch. Honestly that is the part I love. Without fish to catch then what would we do? I keep dreaming about hooking into a massive salmon or brown trout. I'm thinking like an 8+ pound fish, and yet you have to wonder what are the chances? Not too good I imagine.
Theron,
That's the NH way!!! It happens every year. Basically the fish hatcheries are around to feed people every spring. Why even bother putting them in the river. Just let everyone go down to the pen and net em out.
Where you guys were this weekend sounds like the conditions on the Piscataqua. I used to enjoy fishing the delayed harvest zone through New Boston. Use to be really nice there 8 years ago till the Bosnian's ruined it. Didn't take long for them to figure out the free resource. Fire pits and trash all along the river. One day I saw a school bus show up and a dozen losers descended on the river with spinning rods and bait containers. After I almost got into a fist fight with one of the slobs I quit going there. He was absolutely convinced it was ok to fish with bread balls in ALO water. I can still hear him say in his heavy slav accent Bread is not bait.....still makes me mad when I think about it.
For the most part, NH is put and take on fishing. And as you guys have seen, the element of greed gets right in there when they figure they can get something for nothing.
Ole Nate used to put me right over the edge with his "Wild trout" crap on the dark forum. Oh we got some, but they are fingerlings. Once they get of any size some worm totin hee haw cleans em out.
Two places that will pretty much always produce, remotes, and deep waters. Remotes because the masses don't know about them yet, and the deep waters because even a 12 pound cannon ball won't work in 180 feet of water.
Think it's bad up here? NY on the Salmon river. The immigrants like to line, or snag the salmon. Highly against the rules, but they do it anyway and then play the "no comprende" trump card when they get caught.
IMHO, we let all together to many migrants into this country. One of these mornings we're gonna wake up and the Sons a Bitches are gonna own it. Don't start me on this 
I to laugh when I hear the term wild NH trout. I think of wild as being native. Yes they might be spawning on their own and putting new generations out there but their great great grandparents were raised in a tank. I would be surprised if there are any brook trout anywhere in NH that have 100% pure wild genes. Rainbows & Browns certainly don't their genes came from Europe and the Rockies.
FC
Way back I used to fish Pittsburgh NH. Right about the time the dude from CT caught the NH record Brown below Murphy's dam. In those days they stocked, but there was in fact some local breeding going on.
It wasn't so well known then and it wasn't a dream to hook up with a 5 pound + rainbow or a 3 or 4 pound Brookie. You could wear out a fly rod fishing Scotts Bog up on the mountain.
All that has changed now, and 3rd parties stock the waters to keep the traveling fly fisherman in the fish. If it wasn't for stocking I think we'd have a lot of waters that are barren.
I look at the younger pups and feel sad that the opportunities aren't there for them like they were for us. Myself, I miss the late 60's and early 70's. I think those were the best of times
I am going to pipe up on this thread and make one statement. Brook Trout and for that matter Browns and Rainbows born in the wild, not a hatchery, are wild fish, but by no means are the Brook Trout Native, those days are gone now in New Hampshire.
Oh and a second statement, in Maine there are Native Brook Trout, not a lot but a fair number of places where they are true Natives.
My 2 Cents
See Yah
Lee
Got a call from one of my local customers today looking for another... Bear Cub reel. Thought he was gonna cry when I told him no more. So you're not alone T Bone.
Anyway, he is 65, fished with his Father on Sunday on Winni. His Dad had the Bear Cub, loaded with 4 weight line, and they were trolling. What does the Dad hook into but a 32 inch Salmon! And, Landed it!
Seems the son has made some observations regarding Winni. Appears to be a translucent smelt in the lake, about 2 1/2 inches to 3 inches long. Not the usual smelts. Says the things have HUGE eyes. So he did a hybrid fly that is a cross between a Gray Ghost and a Red Ghost with a Huge eye. From what he is saying, the Salmon can't stay off the fly. He and his Dad have limited out every day so far.
The fish seem to be going for the smaller trolling size in flies from his report. He also said they troll with 3 and 4 weight lines and no longer use the heavy rods as they aren't necessary on the lakes.
Do believe I'll be hooking up with them shortly
"Life is a journey, not a destination. Take the time to enjoy the gifts of the Great Spirit along the way." Coug2wolfs ~ Dances With Bears
"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."