Conference wahoo::fishing

    I have never fished it, but would like to as the waters look very
    trouty. The saco is reputed to be superb just a few miles upstream
    in teh North Conway area. I suspect that the fishing is quite good.
    
    dave

    the saco river on the NH side is an excellent trout stream, mostly
    brookies.  there is a FLY FISHING ONLY section from LUCY BROOK to
    MILL BROOK in n. conway or conway which holds 6+ lb browns.  the
    water is very cold so don't expect anything too early.  the staff
    of NORTH COUNRTY ANGLERS in N. CONWAY could give you more accurate
    info including the MAINE side.
    
    john

    Last year I caught 2 brookies right at the falls (near the fairground)
    in Fryburg while waiting for others in our party. You can get a
    license right in Freyburg at one of the local markets. Also downstream
    I caught a mess of perch and several good size pickerel. I was 
    fishing the spot that opens into a pond on the left. Can't remember
    the name, but I'll look around for my map.
    
    Guy

My friends and I (4 of us in all) have gone camping and fishing on the
Sacco River the past 2 years and we are going up for the 3rd year at the
end of this month.  We put our canoes in at Glenn, which is the next town
north of N. Conway.  We finish up 4 days later at Fryeburg, Maine.  We just
take our time and fish.  The whole trip is about 22 river miles.
The Sacco is cold in the Glenn area even at the end of June when we go.
The water table has been low up there the past couple of years also.
From my experience I have found that the fishin' is best just before
you get to Conway.  The water level is a little deeper there and the water
temp. is much warmer than up in the Glenn area.  In fact none of us have 
caught any fish the first day on the river!  The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th days
are Fantastic!  We've caught mostly trout and some small mouth bass.

THEE lure for catching trout and bass on the Sacco is the Mepp's Aglia.  
Over the last 2 years all four of us have used everything in our boxes 
but we all end up with the Aglia on our lines.  We also found that the
fish are NEVER swimming around in open waters.  They love swimming around
fallen logs.  We caught all of our fish near logs or under trees, and 90% 
during the dawn and dusk times.

I can hardly wait for this year's "3rd Annual Sacco River Run".

Fish Beware!

Tony.

    I'm doing the Saco for Labor day weekend and I'm considering tossing
    my elec on the canoe...
    
    Do any of you mainiacs know if this has to be registered???
    
    I'm pretty sure that a canoe w/ elec should be registered in NH,
    but I don't use mine often enough to warrant it...
    
    Don Mac  _hopefully_trout_for_supper_

    

    Any powered boat must be registered if you use it in Maine, if you
    already have a registration I would check out whether or not that
    registration is considered valid in Maine (I don't know). Hope this
    helps.
    
    dave

    Be careful of your motor in the river on the N.H. side.  There are
    quite a few places where the water is no deeper than 6 inches.  If
    you put in at Saco Bound or further down the river you'll be ok.
    This year my buddies and I put in at N. Conway and went down to
    Brownfield, Maine (about 40 miles).  The best fishing was in the
    Conway area.  The first night we had 7 nice rainbows for supper
    between the 4 of us.  They averaged about 3/4 lb. and 12 inches
    in length.  For the Saco that's good size.  The biggest fish caught
    was a 15 incher that weighed in a little over 1 lb., using a cheap
    tackle box spring weigher so it might of been more.  
    
    We've been going up there for the past 3 years and it's evident
    that the fishing goes downhill after Conway.  My advice is to put
    your canoe in at "The First Iron Bridge".  When you get to Conway
    Center ask for directions.  Everybody knows where it is. 
    To be honest with you I haven't seen a single motor on the river
    in N.H. and the only one in Maine is a motor boat parked on the
    river between Fryeburg and Brownfield.  I recall seeing a sign about
    a River Ranger there......
    I wouldn't reccomend a motor in N.H. not only because of the low
    water but the river flow is sufficient to keep you moving.  After
    Saco Bound the water is very slow and deep (ave. about 6 ft. ?).
     A motor there would work out nice.
    
    I'd be happy to talk if you want to give me a call.
    
    
    Happy Trouting!
    
    
    Tony Jordan.

Thanks for the info.  The canoe's not registered, so I'll probably leave the 
elec at home.  If it didn't have to be registered, I'd bring it for the heck
of it.  

One year, because we had such a large party (most rentals), Saco Bound 
wouldn't put us in at Fryeburg, our route was moved down stream a few miles, 
and the take out was changed to Hiram damn, we ended up paddling our buns off 
the entire third day, until dark to get to the take out - an electric would 
have been REAL handy then!  [although the other 20+ canoes probably would have 
tried to make me tow them 8^)]

In previous trips, I've covered from the put-in a few miles upstream of Swans
Falls, Fryeburg - to Hiram, but I've never done anything above that. How is 
up there?  Is it as nice as the Fryeburg area?  Nice sandy beaches to camp 
on, etc...?   

We usually have between 5 and 25 canoes and go for three days.  DRIFT for 
approximatley 4-8 hours on the first day (what a sight, 20 canoes tied up,
party barging it down the river), then camp on one of the sandy beaches until 
the morning of the third day, then paddle 3-5 hours to the take out.

So, if anyone has any suggestions for a route with good camping and fishing,
I'll look into it.  Oh yea, we don't do portages or anything above a LOW
class II rapids... we dump canoes on rips, let alone rapids...

Don Mac

    No matter how you look at it, the Saco is a beautiful river; good
    fishing, nice camping beaches, and serenity are there.  I remember
    the first year we went up there, it was about 10pm and we were camping
    on the side of the river just drinking beers and relaxing.  I was
    laying on the beach looking up at the stars on a clear night.  I
    couldn't believe how many stars were up there.  Being a Mass. city
    boy, I wasn't used to the lack of light-pollution!
    
    Don, there is a difference between the Fryeburg waters and the N.Conway
    waters.  Up in the Conway section the water is *crystal* clear and
    alot colder than the Frye area.  About a mile or two before Saco
    bound the water starts turning greener than upstream.  It's not
    polluted or anything but since the water is warmer the plant growth
    turns the water green.  Up in N. Conway area there is no growth
    and the water is clear.  The first two years we put in at the covered
    bridge in Glenn (next town up from N. Conway) but the water level
    was too low and there were no fish - but the water was like it just
    came off the mountain.  This year we moved downstream.  The Saco
    is nice this year.  With all the rain we've had this summer the
    water level is good.
    
    I can tell by all the notes you've written in this file that you're 
    really into fishing Don.  Do yourself a favor and fish the Conway area.
    That's the best area on the whole river for trout. <--- my opinion 
    
    
    Tony.

    Has anyone been up to the Saco recently?  I'm thinking of doing
    a weekend canoe trip in the next month or so and I'm curious of
    the water levels and fishing reports from up there.
    
    Don Mac