First trip to Adirondacks and New England; where to fish

[edwardo]

My wife and I will be making a trip in late June to NY, VT, NH, and ME. While there l want to get in some fly fishing. I have purposely planned to camp on some rivers to sneak in a little more fishing than my wife is aware. I will be in Wilmington, NY on the Ausable; in Middlebury, VT on Otter Creek; on the Meadowbrook Creek/Gale River at Franconia, NH; and the East Branch of the Penobscot near Medway, ME. Any information you guys might wish to share would be appreciated: fly shops near these places, general or specific areas to fish, wade vs. float fishing, tips, etc. Also, will the flies/mosquitoes eat us alive? Other waters nearby these places? Thanks in advance.

 

[Rip Tide]

My wife and I will be making a trip in late June to NY, VT, NH, and ME. While there l want to get in some fly fishing. I have purposely planned to camp on some rivers to sneak in a little more fishing than my wife is aware. I will be in Wilmington, NY on the Ausable; in Middlebury, VT on Otter Creek; on the Meadowbrook Creek/Gale River at Franconia, NH; and the East Branch of the Penobscot near Medway, ME. Any information you guys might wish to share would be appreciated: fly shops near these places, general or specific areas to fish, wade vs. float fishing, tips, etc. Also, will the flies/mosquitoes eat us alive? Other waters nearby these places? Thanks in advance.

The East Branch is good, but you might want to try the West Branch
It's a "salmon factory"
http://www.maineflyfishing.com/penobsco.htm
http://www.perfectflystore.com/wpenobscotr.html

Oh, and June is black fly season

https://youtu.be/qjLBXb1kgMo

 

[Ard]

All sounds good but I agree with Rip Tide on all points especially the black flies. They can be a real pest and be very sure to protect the women folk or you will never be forgiven. The first run in I had with them was on Ausable River, I was always in Maine in September after they had passed but on The Ausable they are ferocious June through August. You'll love the landscapes and the rivers, have fun

 

[plecain]

In NH you said you'd be near the Gale River. It's an OK river but you'd probably be better off in the river that the Gale flows into - the Ammonoosuc River.
The Ammonoosuc is a small mountain stream along Base Station Road, the road that leads to the Cog Railway. If flattens out around the Mt Washington Hotel and golf course. All the way to Bethlehem there are good places to fish.
It will be heavily stocked in June. It does have some wild fish, too.
With a short drive you can go over Crawford Notch to fish the Saco and its tributaries.
The Pemigewasset River starts in Franconia Notch. Between the notch and the town of Lincoln is frequently good.

Black flies might, as suggested, be bad. They're one reason I never wear shorts when I'm fishing in that area.

 

[edwardo]

Thanks for all your recommendations; any others?

 

[Rip Tide]

Thanks for all your recommendations; any others?

Sure... with question or two
Why Middlebury and Otter Creek?
I have a family friend who lives in the area and he fishes that part of Otter Creek exclusively. But out of his kayak.
It's not that I dislike that part of VT. It's a beautiful farming area with views of the mountains on both sides and there's some fine campgrounds on the lake (Vermont state park campgrounds are the best !), but if it were me and I was thinking of trout fishing, I'd push on to the east.

 

[stanbiker]

Just to continue the black fly thread, about 20 years ago I took my son on a early trip to the East Branch for some fishing. On Monday, the school sent him home because he had "Chicken Pox". It was a quick lesson that sometimes you really want to bring that bug net/bug jacket with you.

 

[Rip Tide]

The black flies aren't everywhere ( in some spots the mosquitoes are far worse ) but that particular river in my picture above is always especially bad,
The first time that we fished there, we pulled into a stream side parking lot where there were some older gents fishing. 75 - 80 years old
Got to talking with these guys and all of them had rivers of blood running down their faces !
It wasn't quite horror movie bad, but disturbing none the less.

You don't really feel it. All the the swarming around your face is the worst.
I don't wear a head net. A stinky cigar works for me.