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Troutl ines
Bas i l W . Woods , J r . Chapte r Trout Un l imited
September 2016 www.concordtu.org
Inside this issue: Presidential Commentary 2
Editor’s Soapbox 3
Parson Ponders 4
Deadly Hazard 5
Chapter Meeting
Basil W. Woods Jr. Next Chapter Meeting
Is
September 15 ,2016
Welcome Back Join us to for a Summer
conservation Update
:Officers
President:
Alex Hicks
Vice President
March McCubrey
Secretary:
Nancy May
Treasurer:
Brad Towle
Directors Bill Hall
Sally Turcotte
Mike Petrun
Tim Pease
Bob Ives
Steven Lowe
Ken Welch
Charlie Stumb
George Embley
Peter Denoncourt
On the Farmington river last week I happened upon a day with
water flows just under 200 cfs. It had rained the previous evening
and water had been released from the Hog Back impoundment. Even
then the fishing was challenging. I fished for a day and by the time I
left the flow had receded to 70 cfs and there, as of this writing, it re-
mains. Water temperatures close to Hog Back were very trouty but
only a few miles downstream the water was too warm to fish much
after 9 AM and before 7:30 PM. All fish needed to be enticed with
small flies on long gossamer leaders, played quickly, handled lightly
and returned immediately to the water.
I met a fishing budding yesterday who said the water release
from Lake Francis in Pittsburg now around 270 cfs was keeping the
waters cool far down stream. He recorded 62 degrees at the conflu-
ence of the Upper Connecticut and Indian Steam. He of course was
taking fish regularly but then again he could coax a 15” brown from
the Gobi desert.
Of course the mountain ponds remain effective heat sinks and can
be depended for trout but they will not tolerate fishing pressure as
they are extremely slow growth environments
Elsewhere trout fishing this summer has been marginal at best..
Many streams look like the one above Under these conditions con-
(Continued on page 6)
Summer Trout
PAGE 2 TROUTLINES MAY 2016
Presidential Commentary - Alex Hicks
Hi Folks!
I hope this newsletter
finds you well and full of
memories of a great
summer. It’s been a hot
and dry stretch for sure,
but all too short – as al-
ways. Like you, we’ve
been busy balancing rec-
reation with conservation and contemplat-
ing the plans for the fall. The chapter meet-
ing dates have been set – mark your calen-
dars for 9/15, 10/20, 11/17, 1/19, 2/16, and
4/20 – all at the Society for the Protection of
New Hampshire Forests, social hour starts
at six and presentations start at seven.
We’ll announce the programs soon – watch
the website, Facebook, and this newsletter
for updates.
I’m looking forward to catching up with
some of the folks that have been out and
about this summer. Stream crossing assess-
ments continued as part of the Warner Riv-
er Watershed Project. This multi-year pro-
ject helps identify where there are obstacles
to fish passage and how to open up more
habitat to native fish. The data can be used
by municipalities and other groups when
they plan culvert replacements. A landown-
er outreach program was also in the works
for this summer – I’m sure that was well re-
ceived. Speaking of outreach, I’m told that
there will be a display at the Hopkinton
Fair in the New Hampshire Fish & Game
building. What a great opportunity to share
information about this important project.
Soon, you’ll see updates to the blog, too. The
warm weather and lack of rainfall has cer-
tainly had an impact on our State’s waters
and illustrates how important is it to ensure
that fish can find their way to colder wa-
ter refuge in this warm weather.
Not related to the warm weather, but
certainly related to trout - Trout in the
Classroom plans for the school year are
already under way. In early August, I
was fortunate enough to sit in with like-
minded teachers, conservation educators,
and Judy Tumosa from New Hampshire
Fish & Game, for a discussion hosted at
Plymouth State University on how we can
help teachers new to the program be more
comfortable with the curriculum (and suc-
cessful in raising the trout in their class-
rooms). The TIC program continues to
grow by leaps and bounds (and very tiny
splashes). Watch for updates as the year
progresses. If you know of a teacher that
is interested in this great program, please
let us know!
So, among other things, September is
our month to catch up on who was doing
what and how it went. I started to list out
all of the things that members were likely
to be involved with this summer, but the
list was just too long and I was sure to
miss something important. With that said,
our September meeting is just around the
corner and it would be a great place to
catch up and find out all about what went
on. From the stream assessments, to the
fishing trips and the camps, I’m sure that
there will be great stories to tell. Come to
the program on September 15th, catch up
on the events of summer, and enjoy the
evening’s program. We look forward to
seeing you there!
Tight lines,
~Alex
PAGE 3 TROUTLINES MAY 2016
Joe fisherman 2016 is not the fellow of
old. He carries himself confidently, is
equipped to the teeth, is a relative fashion
plate, approaches the water as an engineer
and treats the pursuit of his quarry as
though it was an outdoor version of a video
game. Some of these buys are really good too.
Fly tying continues to go away from the
my old material world. I can hardly find
hares ear, beaver, bucktail; wood duck, mal-
lard and peacock in the mass of zlon, angle
hair, crystal flash, ice dub, holo dna, fish
skulls et all. Hackle now great but expensive
is hardly ever used. Duck butt reigns su-
preme. If it were not for the rabbit strip the
other world would not have streamers.
Archery Pond continues to be my neme-
sis.
November fishing on the Salmon river is
a social event of necessity but too, a joust
with the late fall elements. I relish both and
a chance for big fish too .
Looking forward to the time when con-
struction at Upper Dam on Mooselook Lake
is complete and I can put Rangeley back into
the fall rota
Sure do miss the brood stock Atlantic
salmon in the Merrimack. It provided many
a nice fall afternoons’ fishing. Still not sure
why the state could not, nay should not
adopt a brood stock program for browns and
rainbows in a similar fashion. Look how
popular the private fall stockings are on the
Great Bay tributaries.
The NHF&G folks are great to work with
and a more dedicated caring group would be
hard to find, but they have been beaten into
submission by the state budget cuts and I
find them less and less open to new and cre-
ative anything as they are haunted by the
effort to do anything that requires funding.
Who blames them? But a pity!. .
Random! & Apparitional?
I expect that some of these bullet items
will be topics for longer dissertations in the
coming months but for now just these few
words.
This years political discourse has had lit-
tle to say about the environment That seems
kind of ominous to me. Being ignored is not a
good sign.
This summer of heat here in the east
seems to be variously sourced compounding
El Nino with global warming. But, I did see
where recent research suggests that the slow
down in the ocean currents is likely to be at-
tributed to cyclical variation's recently un-
covered in the data. Comeback may be soon-
er than expected. But we are still 2C degrees
higher than the preindustrial world and that
can.t be good
Fishing more is not necessarily better
fishing. No doubt my senior status has less-
ened my skills and my “give a hoot” but for
all the fishing I have done this year and it
was plenty there were fewer fish and fewer
memorable fish too. I revert to “ It was a
good day to be on the water” far to often.
Note to self, need to fix that going forward.
The further north and west you go the
more it feels like the fishing of old, Few peo-
ple, a feeling of expanse and an expanse that
needs to be treated with respect for your
safety, The water is colder with no one down
stream gather the wayward; the fishing
paths less trodden. I should go there more
often.
It is remarkable how social fishing has
become, full of camp arrangements meals
and card games.. My email is littered with
trip confab. I got to admit though some of the
more memorable trip moments are actually
rooted in the food, adult beverage and verbal
gymnastics of a warm dry camp.
Editors Soapbox Tim Pease
PAGE 4 TROUTLINES
MAY 2016
Parson Ponders Parson Weems, north woods guide savant
periodically leaves his cabin and campfire to offer a few words and insights that can
only come from a dark sky view of Orion’s Belt on a clear New England night
It has been an odd summer. Not much
snow last winter and not so much rain nei-
ther. They been squeezing water outta the
lakes all summer so as we can fish and the
fishin has been pretty good with folks getting
fish below the dams at First Connecticut and
Lake Francis. Other spots been pretty dry
and if they got water it was pretty warm. Of
course we lost a bunch of trout down river
during the last warm spell and that ain’t
come back much at all..
There is a lot of edge showin on the lakes
so we surely need a refill this winter or it will
be real bad next year. At least we got a sec-
ond chance and some catch up time because
of the lakes. These lakes are doubly good cuz
the dams let water out from the bottom of the
lake where its is coolest. Makes a big differ-
ence
I been a thinkin that maybe I need to re-
consider all the stuff I been listen to about
dam being bad things. It’s true I guess that
dams keeps fish from going from place to
place but that may not be all bad as there is
stuff traveling around that should stay put
and if dams keep bad stuff from traveling
then maybe they are ok.
This cold water thing sure seems like a
big deal and so does just having some water
downstream even when mother nature don’t
help out. Them dams that let out water from
the bottom they callem tailwaters and the
fishing below all of them is pretty good and
lots a bugs too .
Naturally if you build a dam the lake be-
hind it has gotta be real deep so the water
can get cool, But, here in New Hampshire we
got some steep mountains and deep valleys
that .might help out. In fact some of the
slopes are so steep that today they just wash
stuff away and we got no use for the water
after its run off.
Bunch of guys from down state been doin
a lot of work trying to get what they call wa-
tershed tributaries in better shape so as they
can be places where trout can go when there
is low, no or hot water. Them tribs are also a
place to birth and raise trout young. They are
making some progress getting them tribs up
to speed but they still got a problem. The
main stems are just too warm and no mater
how good the tribs are unless the main stems
are fixed they will be having tiny match
book trout that fit only in the tribs.
So I been thinking if dams and big lakes
give us cool water and the main stems of our
rivers are too hot maybe we need dams to
help cool them down. Maybe we ever got em
already but just need to poke a hole in the
bottom to let the cold water out.
Back in the day folks worried that Atlan-
tic salmon would not get to their birthplaces
and have fry for salmon families, so we fig-
ured it would be good to take down the dams
not rememberin that if and when them salm-
on got home they would likely to find warm
low water too.
So maybe we need to fix the cold water
problem first then figure out how to get them
to it. Seems like we might want to rethink
this dam thing. Short of a solar powered
north woods chiller it may be the next practi-
cal solution’
I oncest asked one of them fine fish and
game fellas what he thought of my notions
and he said he
never thought
about it much cuz
he was too busy
just getting on.
Go Figure!
Parson Weems
PAGE 5 TROUTLINES MAY 2016
Beware of Mother Nature’s
Deadliest Hazard
Last week several news outlets reported the story of over 300 Norwegian reindeer killed by
lightning. I guess Santa must stay above the storms. It is however a stark reminder of just
how ;powerful lightning can be. Guess what outdoor activity leads in lightning deaths since
2006?.
NOAA's National Weather Service has discovered that 64 percent of lightning deaths since
2006 occurred while people were participating in leisure activities, with fishing topping the list
at 26 deaths. The National Weather Service, conducted the study by examining demographic in-
formation for 238 deaths attributed to lightning over the last seven years. NOAA released these
findings on the first day of National Lightning Safety Awareness Week to call attention to the
danger of outdoor activities during a thunderstorm.
Of the 152 deaths associated with leisure activities, fishing is followed by camping (15
deaths), boating (14 deaths), soccer (12 deaths) and golf (8 deaths). The remaining 77
people were struck by lightning while participating in a number of other leisure activi-
ties like enjoying the beach, swimming, walking and running, riding recreational vehi-
cles, and picnicking or relaxing in their yard. Between 2006 and 2012, 82 percent of peo-
ple killed by lightning were by male. “When people think of lightning deaths, they usually think of golf,. While every outdoor activ-
ity is dangerous when a thunderstorm is in the area, outdoor activities other than golf lead to
more lightning deaths. NOAA has made a concerted effort to raise lightning awareness in the
golf community since we began the campaign in 2001, and we believe our outreach has made a
huge difference since lightning-related decreased by 75 percent “The large number of fishing,
camping and boating lightning deaths may occur because these activities require extra time to
get to a safe place. “People often wait far too long to head to safety when a storm is ap-
proaching, and that puts them in a dangerous and potentially deadly situation,”
Prior to the lightning safety campaign, lightning killed an average of 73 people each year in
the United States. Since the National Weather Service launched the campaign, the average has
dropped to 37. Seven people have died from lightning strikes so far this year.
The best way for people to protect themselves against lightning injury or death is to monitor
the weather and postpone or cancel outdoor activities when thunderstorms are in the forecast.
Lightning can strike from 10 miles away, so if people can hear thunder, they are in danger
of being struck by lightning. The only safe places to be during a thunderstorm are in a build-
ing with four walls and a roof or in a car.
Pay attention save yourself. Remember what a great conductor graphite is too. Get under cov-
er, no fish is worth the fry!
PAGE 6 TROUTLINES MAY 2016
Newsletter Information Troutlines is published September through May. Chapter members who have given TU national their e-mail address will receive an e-mail
notice from us through the TU national server that the latest newsletter is online at our chapter website. Paper copies are sent to members
who don’t have an e-mail address listed with TU national. We periodically get returned emails announcing the newsletter is
available on line. Almost always this happens because your e-mail ad-dress has changed. Please log onto the TU national website and update
your email address so we can stay in touch. Only you can do it. If you would prefer to receive paper copies of Troutlines rather
than electronic copies, drop us a line to either our e-mail or mailing address. If you now receive a paper copy and would prefer to read it
online, drop us a note and update your membership information with
TU national. Basil Woods Jr. Chapter TU
PO Box 3302 Concord NH 03302-3302
www.concordtu.org
e-mail: [email protected]
September 15
1st Chapter Meeting
2016-17
All chapter meetings start at
6:00 PM, Social and Fly-tying
7 PM Program
At the Society for the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests,
54 Portsmouth Street, Concord
unless posted otherwise
Calendar
servation really counts. Low, warm water concentrates trout first by reducing the available
water and second by corralling trout to cool river seeps fed by springs and incoming feeder
brooks. Check your fish and game web sites to make sure that you can fish in or near these
feeder streams as they are often protected mid season on warmer years like this one.
Fishermen need to avoid these areas and give the trout a rest. Fish early in the day and
late in the evening when the fish venture into their more accustomed lies and by all means
handle all trout with care. Be sure to use barbless flies especially on sizes 18 and smaller as
getting those tiny flies out can be difficult and lead to excess time out of the water. Don’t be
afraid to break off a fly and release a trout quickly. This is not a time for picture taking.
With any luck we will have many survivors when the Autumn rains return. Until then be
wise ;conserve fish .
(Continued from page 1)
News from the Upper Echelons
Eastern Trout Unlimited Regional Meeting held a Sunapee Ski Resort in June over 60 attendees
Key issues, membership communication and growth. A day on the river in New Hampshire for regional attendees.
The Balsams resort development is closely watched by NH TU Council. We are providing infor-mation and perspective on how the development will impact the Androscoggin river and its trout and salmon population.
Still awaiting the outcome from TU response to the Northern Pass proposal. Ours and others re-sponses are still be digested so we have no new news to report at this time.
A temporary hole in the fishing regulations that inadvertently opened up some streams to the tak-ing of brook trout heretofore protected by catch and release regulations was fixed by Fish and Game and the assistance of the NH TU council in cooperation with Maine fish and game authori-ties.
Bozeman Montana will be the site of this years National Meeting and will be attended by members of the NH TU Council. Pass along any ideas of interest to the corner office guys thorough the BW Jr. web site and we will be sure to offer them for consideration.