Wringing Out

Two weeks ago a good portion of my hometown (Newmarket, New Hampshire) was either very wet or under water. With three or four days of on and off rain followed by two days of solid rain the Lamprey River, as well as many others in New Hampshire swelled like an infected bee sting.


My lovely wife, baby, and myself live in a basement apartment (bad news), but our apartment building is on the top of a hill (good news). The result was our humble abode stayed drier than a Lundrunner post. Not everyone fared so well, and my thoughts and prayers went first to those who were injured or lost loved ones (fortunately, very few), and then to those who lost a great deal of possessions (unfortunately, very many).





My thoughts then strayed to our fishery. Newmarket has boasted a tradition of great fishing for much longer than I've been enjoying it, and will hopefully remain so long after I'm gone, but I have to admit I was more than a little concerned. Just a week earlier, Asa and I were rippin' the lips off of paper mouth crappie up in the shallows for a little romance (the fish, not Asa and I), and now all those shallows are washed and new ones created. A bit of reading assured me fish will survive fluctuating water levels with ease, as I should have remembered from the resevoir fishing in Kansas, but that doesn't mean their spawns wouldn't be drastically affected. The largemouth should have been building nests if not already on them, and the crappie were obviously doing their thing. Would they be washed out to sea?



One week later, Asa and I were at it again, and the crappie were right where they were two weeks prior. I also indulged in a new favorite game of mine; pulling bluegill from the shallows with a fly rod. The water level was still a little high, but NOTHING compared to the wash out we experienced the previous weekend. We also slid the Lund into the salt side to see how that water was doing. Asa pulled our first striper of the year, and I began to relax.






Just this weekend, Asa and I put a good deal of time into working the top of the salted Lamprey. We were not sure these rumors of Striper were true. First, at low tide from Heron Point, Asa pulled a pretty 25", and then after a dinner break when the water came up enough we put the boat on. This was an after dark reconnaissance mission, so no camera was available on the boat, but I'll leave you with a few pictures. Fulfilling our goal of "catch a keeper" we both landed these two beauties along with a couple 25" fish. Not big fish by veteran lineside hunters' standards, but you'll never tell us we fell short.