nhamateurangler

This is a fishing trip from April 26, 2014.

Today is opening day for trout ponds here in N.H. and though at 6 a.m. it was not raining, today promised to be cold and drizzly. Trout anglers in N.H. are used to cold and drizzly when it comes to opening day though as this seems to be the norm. I don’t remember the last opening day that was warm and sunny. I’m not complaining mind you as this is the type of weather that brings back wonderful memories of opening days past, spent with my pop and brothers. Great times we had, the four of us fishing out of a ten foot jon-boat. Cramped, cold, wet, stiff from sitting for long hours, but making memories to last a lifetime. Those were good times with pop.

This opening day was like reliving those times only with a little less cramping into a boat. My brother and I were the only ones in the boat today so there was plenty of room. My nephew came too, but he has his own kayak that he likes to fish from. Today we decided to go to Clough Pond in Louden, N.H.

We arrived at the boat launch as 6 a.m. only to find that we were far from the first ones there. The parking lot was already full and there was at least 20 boats already on the water. The banks were lined with fishermen, women and children, all there for one reason only, Trout. The state routinely stocks trout into ponds and rivers throughout the season, but in Southern N.H. ponds are usually stocked for opening day.

We launched our boat but we never got too far from the boat launch. We fished less than a hundred yards from the boat launch. There was a canoe nearby with a father and two sons fishing in the same area and though they were not with us I could not help but smile every time one of the boys hooked a fish. It warmed the heart to see the memories being built in front of me.

Out of the three of us, my nephew was the first to catch a fish, but it was not long before we each had one.

Just to make things a little more interesting, I brought along my ice fishing rod. It’s only 26 inches long and doesn’t cast a long way, but being in a boat, I didn’t need it to. Let me tell you, that little rod was a lot of fun to catch fish with. When I hooked into a trout the rod bent way over and the fight of the fish on a small rod and light line was so much fun. All you have to do is look at the smile on my face to tell how much fun I had with this little rod.

If you have the opportunity I would highly suggest to try your luck at Clough Pond and if you want a lot of fun, then try it with a small rod.

If you like to see more of my fishing adventures, visit my blog at http://amateuranglers.wordpress.com/

A day of fishing