Fly Fishing Castle in the Clouds

Above, Native Brook Trout George Liset photo

WRITING ON THE FLY

By GEORGE LISET

This summer has been an atypical one weather wise here in New Hampshire. If you have spent as many years as I have outdoors and on the water, you come to know New Hampshire as being unpredictable.

As we New Englanders like to say, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.” So when my friend Terry called to see if I wanted to fish I agreed. I asked him what he had in mind and he mentioned fishing the Seven Falls Trail in Moultonborough.

I mentioned to him that all the water levels were low around the Seacoast and asked if he thought the streams up north had any water. Terry assured me that even if there wasn’t, it was a nice ride and great scenery. Terry is a small stream fisherman and hadn’t steered me wrong to this point, so I didn’t ask any questions and we agreed to meet in Alton and drive up around Winnipesaukee to Moultonborough.

On my drive up to Alton I stopped to check a couple of streams and brooks that I would be fishing soon when the Landlocked Salmon made their fall run to spawn. When I arrived at my first spot my mouth dropped. A river that normally would be between knee and waist deep was only about shin deep. There was a little more water by its mouth where it entered the lake. I met another angler who was doing what I was doing. He had driven down from Meredith and said every place he stopped was the same. He mentioned he might not even fish for the Landlocks if the water levels were not up. Needless to say, that was discouraging.

I met Terry and a mutual friend of ours named Gary, and we drove around Winnipesaukee until we arrived in Moultonborough. I had looked at a map and saw a set of falls by the lake, so when Terry headed up the entrance to the Castle in the Clouds I was surprised. I knew the Castle was a tourist destination, but it is not known for being a fly fishing destination.

I had been to a magnificent wedding at the Castle. The Castle is nestled in what was once Ossipee Mountain Park at a spot called the Crows Nest. The view is panoramic, especially in the afternoon light. When we arrived, we strung up our fly rods and walked down to the Seven Falls Trail. I was a little more prepared for this trip. I put on a lighter and shorter leader and tied on a 7x tippet. I then tied on a size twenty Caddis.

I usually prefer fishing streamers where you don’t need such a sensitive touch. Fishing for small native Brook Trout is great fun on a dry fly. You watch the fly float on the surface and the little Brookies come up and grab the fly. It is a lot of fun, especially on a three weight fly rod.

When we reached the first set of falls we spread out along the brook. It didn’t take long before we started catching fish. The falls were beautiful and there were little pools between each set of falls, each containing those small three to six inch native Brook Trout starting to show their fall colors. I keep reminding myself that people come from all over the Northeast to fish for these beautiful fish and I get to do it all the time.

We would fish in a pool and then walk down the trail past each other to the next fishy looking pool. After a while I began walking down the trail and passed Gary and kept walking but didn’t see Terry. I did see a great pool that I knew had fish, but it was sixty feet down a steep cliff. I weighed the pros and cons of sliding down the cliff and finally decided that it might not be worth it. I started heading down the trail when I heard huffing and puffing. I walked over to the edge of the cliff and there was Terry climbing up with his fly rod in hand.

I put my fly rod down and grabbed a tree so I could reach down and give him a hand up. When Terry arrived at the top of the cliff, he nonchalantly dusted himself off and exclaimed, “I’m not sure that was worth three fish,” and then headed down the trail. The Seven Falls trail was a gorgeous fall walk. As the sun began to set we headed back to the truck.

Driving home I was thankful for the spring fed brooks. I wondered if there was any rain in the forecast. The Farmers Almanac predicted a mild wet winter. That would be typical for seacoast New Hampshire. Then I thought about joining a climbing gym to keep up with Terry next spring.