Hope

I always used to look forward to a trip to Romania, and I kept hoping that fishing is sometime going to get back to what it was back then .... And with every trip it seemed that I was drifting further and further away from that. And finally a pleasant surprise. Despite the fact that the waters of the Mara River are probably forever gone, there are still some streams where the wild trout and grayling continue to fight and even thrive. 

Increased awareness and involvement of the general public and fishermen, decreased poaching, are all factors that could help bring some of those streams back. We are seeing some of that. The rivers are not asking for much, just to be allowed to heal. And with great happiness I saw some of the healing happening. I was great to witness numerous and even some big grayling feeding in the sunset, and catch wild brown trout in small streams where they almost disappeared in the past from excessive poaching. 

This is the photo story of my journey:

The places:

 

The fish:

 

 

And the bonus:

Gin

 Finally a day off!!!! Ready to soak up some sun, despite the temps still hovering in the cool range in the morning. I hit the river in hope for some action. I love the clear green water, which is not too common in New Hampshire. The river is perfect, and I can spot a few precocious stoneflies scraping the surface. Not even one rise though.

 Soon enough I snagged on the bottom and pulled out a small branch filled with fish snacks: caddis pupae, probably getting ready to hatch later this spring. This river can have some amazing tan caddis hatches in May, extending into June, and can provide some memorable moments on the water. It looks like this year is not gonna be a bad year form this point of view.

The fishing was quite slow in the beginning, despite some very nice looking spots, but this made me go off the beaten path a little bit and enjoy the nature's return to life.

And then all of the sudden I found them, they were there, waiting for me to deliver the goodies and sitting still for a picture, but not before an all out fight. Yes, there is a fish in the next picture.

 Lesson of the day: hard work pays off , don't judge a day based on the first few pools. Now get on the water and spend some quality time out there!

As cold as ice

Winter fly fishing is one of the perks we have in New Hampshire. Season starts on January 1st and some of the rivers still have some open water. This winter was rather mild, and some of the outings rewarded us with some cranky rainbows. However, this has to best enjoyed like fine bourbon: in small doses.

In this situation light nymphing in slow moving water was the right ticket. Dead drift with with some twitches in close proximity to the ice shelf. And the takes were not too shy, these guys were pretty determined, despite the water temperatures in the 30's.