Autumn On The EB

Autumn On The EB

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The Westfield-Thunder, Lightning And A Great Night!




I took some time early Monday evening and headed out to the East Branch of the Westfield. I took a rainbow on a #12 stonefly dry and then decided to scout around. There seemed to be a lot of flyfishers for a Monday night and their success was spotty. I sat down and watched two anglers working one nice stretch for some rising 'bows and saw one trout brought to the net. Hmm...maybe I should come back the following night and see what I could do.
Tuesday afternoon found me driving through a real cloudburst. This would bring the water up but maybe not too much to ruin the conditions that I hoped for - low, cool water. A quick check of the weather map showed that the thunderstorm line had past the Connecticut River valley but another line was forming in eastern NY and heading for the Berkshires. A tight window for sure but certainly worth the effort.
5pm had me on the banks of a favorite pool with the telltale clouds forming to the west. The water level was up and a bit cloudy but very fishable. What to use?? There were no rises so I began prospecting with the stonefly from the night before. What happened?? I took five 'bows that came up and smashed that large fly in forty minutes. That's when the sky began to darken accompanied with the sound of distant thunder and that's when the 'bows began to rise in earnest. Don't believe the wives tale about fish going off the feed when a storm aproaches. I switched to a #16 olive emerger with a cdc wing and took and lost another fish. That's when I saw the first flash of lightning. The first thing that came into my mind was whether bamboo is a lightning rod (I've asked myself this for decades). A very stupid question to say the least!! I headed back to the car to try to wait out the storm but this was futile as the heavens opened up with a blinding cloudburst. The ride home was a full wiper ordeal but made very easy because of the hour or so that the flyfishing gods smiled on me.
The East Branch rises and falls quickly. Not like the Millers which stays high much longer with the same amount of rain. Hit the East Branch!!
P.S. Those five inch salmon look sooo beautiful. Too bad it's a lost cause!
Ken

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ken,

Nice writeup. I've been wanting to head to the East Branch soon, but have had trouble finding some info. Do you hit above or below the Knightville dam? And how do I know the river is fishable, am I looking for a certain CFS flow rate at the Knightville dam gauge? Sorry to ask so many questions, but I live a couple hours away and would hate to make the drive only to find high murky h2o. Thanks,
Greg

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Greg- I've been fishing above the Knightville dam. I go in at the Trustees Of Reservations property (Chesterfield Gorge) and drive down the dirt road, parking at the turn-offs by the side of the road. There's good water at each one. Anything below 500cfs is good although it does get low if we have a dry spell. Last year we had good levels and this year more of the same. Good Luck!

Ken

Anonymous said...

Hi Ken:
Thanks for the previous streamer recipe.

I'm heading to the Gorge vicinity for a couple of days. Could you recommend any particular motel/lodging that may be close by for the wife and myself?

Regards,
Rick
RI

rmitchell@neit.edu

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Rick,

I would google up lodging in the Northampton area and then take your pick. There are some nice B&B's in the Williamsburg area.

Ken