I Lovermont - Not Just Fishing

That's what the sugar packets said at the Bed and Breakfast where Elizabeth and I stayed. I couldn't agree more, Vermont has to be one of my favorite states. Its not just the scenery, and the maple syrup, its the fishing, friends, and all around outdoor activities the state has to offer. It also helps when your buddies own and run an outdoor store, that has everything you need from fishing equipment to camping and hiking equipment (Middlebury Mountaineer ). Anyway, back to it, the fishing was pretty good, had an awesome fall day chasing pike, and a nice cool morning fishing for browns. It was fall, so the warm water fishing was starting to slow, but the trout fishing was picking back up. However this was the first vacation I have taken in a long time, that wasn't formed around fishing. Elizabeth got to pick many of the activities, and hiking was on the top of her list. We hiked Mt. Abraham one of Vermont's four peaks of 4000 feet. It was a beautiful day for a hike, cooler temps and over cast skies, made for an awesome time hiking to the summit. Take a look at the photos from the trip. Thanks again Jesse, Steve, and Dave for showing us a great time yet again!!!

M&Ms, Road Trips, and Landlocked Salmon

Last Friday, Doug, Shane, and I closed the shop down around 7pm and head north beginning our 10-hour drive through the night. Over the past year or so, I have been working on a new program with localized travel. Trying to get people excited about destinations that can be driven to. I was talking to our Orvis rep, Doug Bear about it last year, and he loved the idea. He introduced me to the head guide and owners of Lopstick Outfitters in Pittsburg NH, at Somerset last year.

About six months ago they emailed Casey and I about coming up and checking out their operation. A trip to NH for landlocked salmon, yeah we were both in. Well Casey got a last minute call eight days before the trip, his brother was getting married. That’s a whole other story, so Shane got to go along.

Almost running out of gas, because the whole state of Vermont closes at 9pm, a family sized bag of M&Ms, at least three roadside bathroom breaks, and standstill traffic on Rt. 222, we made it to Pittsburg NH with about an hour to take a nap.

Now, on to the fishing, the salmon run was late, just like everything this year, so we didn’t see the numbers of big fish that are normally around this time of year, but we did manage to get into quite a few nice 14 to 18 inch landlocks, and a lot of rainbows, brooks, and a couple browns. We were fishing for three days, day one and three were trout and salmon trip, day two we changed it up a bit and took the bass boat out for pike. With evening temps in the low 30s, it was no surprise that the fishing didn’t really start until about noon. When that sun finally came over the trees, the pike turned their feedbags on!

The third day we fished on our own, and we had great success, with help from our guide, telling us where we should spend most of the day. The fishing was great, there was a trophy landlocked salmon landed and released without a picture (Shane!), a rare moose siting, and a nice little swim (me) to finish the trip strong!

All in all, Lopstick Outfitters knows their fishery and knows how to treat guests well. I would highly recommend, changing your next Montana trip, to a trip to New Hampshire.

Thank you Doug, Bill, and the staff at Lopstick for making up feel at home!

More Photos to come from Shane's camera!