June 23, 2022. I spent the previous night in a section of forest near the Swift Diamond River west of Error, NH. This small river is not stocked in order to let strains of wild brook trout remain wild. They tend to be pretty small (less than 8 inches) but are the real deal.
Upon waking, I broke camp and scouted out a bend in the river, knowing that bends typically create nice pools. Weather was rapidly varying between overcast and mostly sunny but the forecast said it would not rain. I entered the water around 9:00 AM and fell in love. Gently flowing, about 50 ft wide, varying in depth from a few inches to a few feet. Pocket water with gravel bottom but not quite typical NH gin-clear but clear enough. Very pretty, not a soul to be seen.
For the first hour or so, I methodically worked likely pockets but no strikes at all and no rises. Tried my franken-caddis, Jimmy Hendrix-son, and dry-dropper combo. Nothin. Every turn in the river looked better than the last with some long 2-3 ft deep pools but the lack of action was discouraging. I decided to work my way back upstream to the truck.
Switched to hopper with pheasant tail nymph as the dropper. On revisiting a pool I was sure must contain some fish, a 4-inch brookie wailed on the hopper. Over the next hour, I caught close to a dozen brookies ranging from 3 to 7 inches. All wild with beautiful colors. Closed out around 1:00 with a cat-and-mouse contest with a brookie that would rush up to my fly but never take it until I switched up from Hendrix-son to Sulphur. With that, it was time to head for home. One last look at a very pretty river on a lovely day.
Took an hour to reach the nearest paved road and five more hours to get home.
Wild daisies. Zoom in.
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