Autumn On The EB

Autumn On The EB

Monday, October 19, 2015

A Good Swift Weekend, Bad Fish Handling And The Squannacook


Take away the Pine needles and the leaves and this weekend could of been epic but it was pretty good none the less. On Saturday Phil and I "found" a legendary school of trout that only a few regulars know about. Bruisers that rip 30 feet of line off your reel before popping the 6x kind of bruisers! Don't think I'm telling you the location. The Swift is small enough so you can find it yourself. No hints either.

Alex and his dad Tom had a good morning as Alex caught his first trout on a fly. In fact he caught his first 6 trout on a fly which may have made him the top gun on the Swift yesterday. It was a good time.

Later on during the afternoon while guiding I witnesses the worst fish handling scene in recent memory. This guy lands a large rainbow, drops it out of his net onto the rocks and begins to take pictures at different angles, then picks the fish up in a head lock for the traditional "head shot" (I think there was a selfie included). I'm about to leave my clients and walk up to this guy when he puts the fish back in the water and tries to revive it. I can see his attempt at resuscitation is going badly because the fish is going belly up. Finally he stops working the fish and I assume that it survived because it didn't float downstream although it may have died later. All told this trout was out of the water for 5 minutes easily. A word to those who should know better. 1. Land the trout in the net. 2. Unhook the trout while it's in the net. If you have to grab the trout do so while it's in the net with the net between you and the fish. 3. Take one good photo while the fish is in the net and release the fish. One minute tops!


I was talking to Charlie of The Evening Sun Fly Shop recently about the Squannacook River. The water is low but the fishing is good and if we get rain it will be better was his summary. This river is of special interest to me BECAUSE it's the place that I learned to fly fish decades ago. I caught my first trout on a dry here. I caught my first trout on a dry that I tied here. I learned the classic upstream approach for dries and wets here. I learned to " high stick" and "Czech nymph" here before the techniques were named. But most of all I learned that trout season does not end on the 4th of July but lasts all Summer if you know when and where to go.

I love this river and have been away too long. This river needs some good will. Years ago a sports writer from the Fitchburg Sentinel would write about this river weekly. Now nobody does. Starting (hopefully) next month and picking it up next Spring I'll be working this river and comparing places and events to what it was like years ago. It will be fun.

P.S. People say that the Bertozzi area on the Squanni is crowded. It was crowded 40 years ago too!!!

Ken

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Bertozzi crowded? Cable pool area - usually. Plenty of river. I am almost always alone upstream if you do not mind a hike. Caught a nice 16" holdover rainbow Saturday during the 2 hour window I had. A lot of bugs on this river. An evening in May June is like magic. A lot of deep pools and still water.

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Bill,

The cable pool (guess that's what they called it in the 70's) was always crowded. I fished the river from Townsend Harbor to Groton years ago and had the place to myself after Memorial Day. Always a good place.

Ken

Sam said...

Regarding the Swift, it has always intimidated me with my limited fly fishing abilities and the highly selective nature of the trout there. I scouted it out this weekend after many years of not going there. One fella I talked to said long leaders, like 12' and #24 flies or smaller are required for success. Do you agree with that, Ken?

Also, where in the world is Cady Lane...I never did see it, nor is it on a GPS map? I would love to attempt fishing the place, but don't want to fish in a crowded area, whether I catch fish or not. I release the few I catch anyway, just looking for peace of mind and a chance to catch a few. Thanks in advance.

Millers River Flyfisher said...

P. Adams,

This past weekend we caught trout on 9ft leaders size 5x and 6x and flies in the 16 to 20 range. If I were fishing to imitate tiny midges and such then I would use what that guy mentioned but most of the time my flies are larger.

Cady Lane is downstream from the Pipe. Get on the Pipe side of the river and follow the cart road downstream until you see a sign for Cady Lane.

Ken

Anonymous said...

Ken,
Thanks again for the good times on Saturday. Yes that school was legendary, wish we could have landed that monster that snapped me off!! I just have to remember where that spot was, damn sudden amnesia!!

Phil

Sam said...

Thanks for your response, Ken. I learn a lot from your web site and appreciate it.

Sam (Parachute Adams)

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Phil,
Here the cure for sudden amnesia. Email me if you forgot. I think that you didn't!!

Let me know! If you're cured of "sudden amnesia" then you know where to go!!!!!

Ken

P. Adams, Keep talking to me. I appreciate your input!
Ken

Sam said...

Will do, Ken. I will book a fishing trip with you once my work traveling slows down. Might not be till spring, but I look forward to it whenever I get to fish with you.

Anonymous said...

Ken quick question. Where is the bliss pool on the E.B

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Anony,

Drive a half mile down the dirt rd and you'll see a sign for Bliss State Park. Look to the left and that's the pool.

Ken

BobT said...

Ken-how is fishing above the gorge? more specifically how is access above the bridge on Main road? Everytime I've gone out there I just never have bothered to go that direction because fishing from the gorge down as far as you want to go has been good. Its a pretty long haul for me so exploring has been limited.

Anonymous said...

FYI,

The Swift is UP again.

Ken

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Bob T.

After you take the left hand turn after crossing the EB on RT 143 you will see a brook. There is bush whacking access to the river there. Also you will see a dirt road after that that will take you down to the Chesterfield "town beach" just above the Gorge. It is an interesting spot.

Ken

BobT said...

I'll give it a go at some point in the next couple weeks. I was wondering about above 143. From Google Maps it looks like it could be good water.

Terry said...

Bob/Ken,
I've fished above there a few times. There are some pretty nice runs and pools if you are willing to hike. I enjoy this area quite a bit, the fishing there in my opinion is it's more difficult. My theory is that the holdovers that make it up that direction of the river have become more "wild." It's definitely not a numbers game up there but worth the hike if you are looking for solitude and challenge.