My hiking goes through a major transition about mid May through October when I change from hiking to snowy peaks, to backpacking into remote trout ponds in the Whites and camping for several days. To me there is nothing more beautiful in the Whites then a somber high elevation pond with birds chirping, moose wading in to feed, and the challenge of brook trout searching for insects below me. The only way to really fish remote ponds in the Whites, (different in Maine because of logging roads), is to have a float tube with waders. I hook the float tube onto my pack and hike in, then you put flippers on and paddle out to fish. Sometimes I hike into ponds with this huge float tube on my back and hikers are mystified by it, asking where the heck am I going. The truth is, most people I meet in the Whites know them as 4000 footers to hike, not fishing locations. But, the White Mountain ponds have some of the BEST fishing in New England. There are simply not fished, so the pressure doesn't really exist. Some of the ponds can stay so cold, that I get dry fly fishing into early August. I have taken (almost wild, or wild) brook trout up to 3.5 pounds, 18-19 inches in some ponds. Some of the best ponds are the small ones too, Upper Greeley is small, but very cold and well oxygenated, which is all that matters. It is filled with 8-10 inch trout, that grow up from the small fingerlings that get stocked. The size of the trout will depend on how much food and pressure exists there. All of the 50 remote ponds in NH recieve fingerling trout, which then grows up almost wild, just giving a helping hand. Some like Shoal and Ethan Pond and wild trout ponds, where they don't stock. Some of these ponds are quite an adventure to get into, and can be easy or hard to fish. Also, 95% or more of streams and brooks in the Whites have wild brook trout and are not stocked, look for deeper pools and undercut banks. What a great way to spend 5 months.
-Matt
