Autumn On The EB

Autumn On The EB

Monday, February 29, 2016

The Other EB And The MB - Reporting And Guiding

"Living only a few miles from the East Branch, Elmer is one of the most diligent and passionate fly fishermen you'll encounter on this river. You will find him there not only in May and June, considered by most the height of the season, but also on late summer evenings, waiting by himself until the sun hides behind the western ridge to catch one more brown on a Blue-
winged Olive, and at freezing late fall dawns, netting a few more rainbows on soft hackles and Wooly Buggers before ice and snow cover the pools. I knew that, by following Elmer, I would gain extremely valuable information on the East Branch'
Christophe Perez, Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine September/October 2014


Ok, time to report on exploring one of my favorite rivers. As you are aware the C&R section of the EB is a popular place with lots of water but there are other places "above the Gorge" that are great fly fishing stretches that NOBODY fishes or guides on. I spent time exploring this upper river last season and I'll be reporting and GUIDING on it this year. We are talking MILES of water in an eastern Berkshire setting. Beautiful!!


The Middle Branch of the Westfield is a hidden gem. Tucked into the foothills it's got trout and lonely country scenery that is postcard perfect. It's a small intimate stream just right for that 2 wt or a tenkara set up. It flows into Littleville Reservoir which is the home of smelt and BIG trout which will find their way into this river. I've caught them! Wanna try for them?? Keep reading this blog this season and you'll get more than a primer or book a trip with me starting in late April.

That's not all!! I'll be posting on other "new" Massachusetts destinations this week. Instead of just writing about 3 rivers I'll be personally reporting and guiding on 6 and will have reports from the Evening Sun Fly Shop on eastern streams. All your information for a successful season will be here!!!

P.S. Watch for the Ware River!!!!!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good work! Keep telling us. There's so much water out there!

Jef

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Jef,

I will keep telling you!!

Ken

Sam said...

I look forward to hearing about the Ware River. The Quaboag River interests me too, Ken. I always thought it warmed up too much in summer to support holdover trout, but that thinking changed this Decemter when I caught a small native brookie and a very silver 10" brown that I have to believe was stream born by the looks of it. Maybe the Quaboag stays colder than I thought in order to support trout throughout summer, most especially the cold water requiring brook trout.

Regards, Sam

Josh S. said...

Parachute, the quaboag is great after they stock it but it does get warm and low by mid summer. Year after year i've caught multiple rainbows in the same two locations, however you need a canoe to access most of the good spots where they congregate.

Ware river is "nice looking" but I haven't had much luck in the places I tried. Bait boys were everywhere the last two times I've tried the ware river. There are fish there though, seen a bunch on stringers...

The east branch is where it's at!!

Anonymous said...

Ken, I am very excited to see that you are going to branch out with your water reviews. I may not be the typical blog reader and only learned of yours when I saw the Westfield River article in a fly fishing magazine a couple years back. I live in Ct so I hardily ever get to fish the Western MA rivers but your information is so helpful to any fly fisherman that I find your blog addicting. I just had to say thank you and keep up the great work. It is probably a time consuming task to keep writing like you do but believe me when I tell you that you cannot know the appreciation we have for your knowledge and efforts. Sincerely, DaveE.

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Dave E.

Thank you for the good words and I'm glad that you enjoy this effort. Gonna keep at it1

Sam said...

I agree, Josh S. about the Quaboag getting warm and low in the summer, because it surely does. That small brookie and brown I caught out of there in December looked native to me which tells me there must be some springs seeping into it to keep the water cold enough for hold over trout, at least in certain parts. Maybe they came into the river from a brook that feeds into it.