by Eddy Stahowiak
The long drive up north seemed even longer on account of the darkness, the pea-soup fog, and the constant worry that a moose might bound into the road at every turn. The weather forecast looked gloomy at home with Joaquin still forecasted to slam into the Northeast, and a week’s worth of rain and high winds even without the hurricane. With saltwater fishing off the table for a few days, we packed the truck and headed north to Pittsburg, New Hampshire and upper end of New England’s longest river, the Connecticut.
We arrived at the Cabins at Lopstick just before of 11 p.m. Tuesday evening. After arriving in the pitch black, it took a moment to adjust to the bright fall colors that surrounded us when we awoke.
After a quick breakfast, we met our guides, Bill and Greg at the main office. We made our gameplan, and ventured into the rain to fish for landlocked salmon. It wasn’t long before Chris Megan locked into one. Having only seen photos of this fish, I was awestruck by its beauty in person. From it’s flecked sides to the metallic blue blush on its gillplates, the landlocked salmon is one of the prettiest freshwater fish in the Northeast.
We traveled around the ‘fly-fishing-only’ areas using nymphs, streamers and bloodworms as the choice flies fishing the main rivers between First Connecticut Lake and Lake Francis to the south. Because I was working one of the cameras to film an episode of On The Water TV, it wasn’t until the afternoon of day three that I had my chance at catching my first river fish. I found an eddy behind a boulder and placed the bloodworm fly right where I knew there had to be fish. A fat rainbow trout proved me right, and then four more of his buddies did the same.
When we returned to the Cape, the northeast winds were laying down and the waters were cleaning up, making our perfectly timed escape to the Cabins at Lopstick, one of my most memorable fishing experiences of the season.
Be sure to tune into the new season of On The Water TV this January to see this episode and more.
Pittsburg, NH…….. Pittsburgh without the “H” and who’s Mike?????
Just Googled “Lopstick” – that place looks killer! Thanks for sharing and I hope to plan a trip up there next season!!