Fishing the Upper Ellis River
Here is a story of my fishing trip to the Upper Ellis River in Pinkham Notch NH (Sat July 14th).
By Lee Goldsmith
Lee's Fishing Page
Saturday was a spectacular day, cool dry air and plenty of sun. I left the house around 7:45am with the hope of getting on the river by 9:30am. Made one stop on the way up at Bobby Sues for coffee and a goodie too suppliment my bowl of cerial I had at home. I reached my destination around 9:10am and would easily make it on the river by 9:30am. I parked in the parking area just north of Dana Place Inn at the beginning of Pinkham Notch.
From here I started my day. Slipped into my shorts and put on my wadeing shoes and I was off, got down to the river and I reallized I had forgotten my sun glasses. So back to the car to get them. When I returned to the river I caught the first fish of the day. It was a 4 inch native brook trout. I played with several more fish on my way up river. I was fishing my 7 foot 4 weight fenwick rod using an Elk Hair Caddis fly. Thats seem to be all you really need for these mountain streams.
I managed several more fish until I caught what would be my first Stocked fish. The water temperature at the start was 58 degrees (very nice for this time of year). As I proceeded up river I ran into two other fisherman. This was the first time I have ever seen another fly fisherman on this river except for those who were fishing with me at the time. I spoke with one of the two, his name was Larry, very nice man and he was wondering if there were any large fish in the river. I told him that 8 to 9 inch fish will be the biggest you can expect in this section of the river. After a short chat it was off again up river. Many nice pools and runs lay ahead and most did not disappoint, as I caught fish after fish in most of the good water. Mind you they are small (most being 3 to 6 inches in size) but fun. At 12:30pm it was time to go back to the car and have something to eat and drink. It was easy at this point to get out and back onto the highway (Route 16) and walk back to the car. It was a short 10 min walk and I stopped on the way back for some wild bluebarries, not many but good.
I probably caught or encountered around 35 to 40 fish on this morning fish. Most are wild but three were stocked fish, but very pretty fish to be sure. The state has a wonderful strain of fish they are stocking that look almost like wild fish, they are around 8 to 9 inches in length and very colorful.
From here I walked down river to a spot I know well and beat my way into the woods to the river. There is some great runs and pools in this section of the river and the fishing was great.
Here is a slide show of all my pictures from the day, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the day of fishing.
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