Autumn On The EB

Autumn On The EB

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Sinking Lines, Secret Weapons And Book A Trip

"There's no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm" -Patrick F. McManus


Back in the day, back in BG (before graphite) it seemed that nobody with any sense would fish one of our larger rivers during the Spring high water without a sinking line. And I mean a SINKING LINE as in a Cortland Wet Cell 2 as opposed to a sinking tip line by any maker.

Sinking lines get you DOWN so you can short line, tight line and high stick your brains out but still make traditional casts to swing streamers and soft hackles and such. And don't believe the conventional wisdom that these are a bear to cast because they are not. Picking 50 ft of line out of the water may be a task but who does that anyway. Most of our fishing is withing 25 feet.

The key is the length of your leader material (notice that I said "leader material" and not leader) which should be about a 5 foot section of 3x for those high water, heavy fly conditions.

These lines are cheap and you should have one loaded onto a spare reel "just in case". It has saved the day for me on the Squannacook to the EB and especially the Millers over the years.


I love bead chain eyes BECAUSE they actually look like the eyes of a large insect or crayfish plus they add just the right amount of weight to beat heavy flows. I tie them on small buggers meant to imitate dragon fly and damsel fly nymphs and they work. In fact, many years ago when I worked the shores of Wachusett Reservoir for smallmouth it may have been my top fly.

Go to a local hardware store for the beadchain.

Folks, I'm booking up this Spring for the Millers, EB, MB, Ware and the Swift. Just email me and the date is yours without requiring a deposit!!!

Ken







15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ken.

Will here from your blog – “Hibernation” or “Will” is what my name comes up as in the comments.

You keep posting cool flies. Attached is one I created years ago for the millers. It started as a craw fish, turned olive, got dumbbell eyes or bead chain eyes, got a shorter body, got plastic legs, grew a tail etc… And the end point was what I call the “ugly damsel”. Most of the evolution happened in the early to mid 90’s, and mostly while fishing the Wendell Depot area down through Farley Flats. But, I’ve used the fly since many places, for many species in still waters and fast, and it just works. My theory is that the extra long tail just gives it tons of action that fish love, and the hook rides point up so you minimize snags when it’s bumping bottom (it works great dead drifted, swung, then shook or stripped back).

Your post today or yesterday has a fly that looks like a longer body version of the same fly – so it made me think of this!

Thanks for the great blog!

Will

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Will,

That fly will get it done!!!

Ken

Anonymous said...

Ken,

I too have fished Wachusett with W. Bugger type flies and have done pretty well with the smallies. I'm tying some of yours with the bead eyes so the hook rides up and out of the weeds (hopefully).

GW

Anonymous said...

Good reminder on sinking lines. Also I have found a clear intermediate line very, very useful all year in rivers and still waters!

Falsecast said...

Happy Winter Ken - I know they are a pain to cast, and may not even be "fly fishing", but the old "Pistol Pete" worked awesome for me at Wachusett Res for trout, salmon the last time I fished it 20 years ago. I eventually lost them all and have never really seen them in shops since?

Another good high water "fly" is the "Wire Worm". I am a big fan of SJW's, but only recently tried the wire. Worked great and caught me some big browns in the Housy and MT too.

Anonymous said...


Ken, I've been reading your blog and would like to get a copy of your millers river guide. Thank you. Mike Murphy

Sent from my iPhone

Mickey

tincup said...

the old light bulb chains going back 50 yrs my dad cut them all of the cellar light and replaced them with cod line dacron. He would dip each side in black model paint and days later dip again in yellow for a great looking eye. Too much over kill but sometime the little details worked wonders. He had a bunch of stainless chain which he used on saltwater flys. And your right he would always go to craft stores for feathers and beads. And if a lady every came to church, with a hat with feathers he would ask if she had old ones for feathers only.. He got some great pintail and jungle cock feathers from those church conversations. JUST LIKE SHOPPING AT SPAGS

Anonymous said...

Ken,
Wet Cell fly line was made by Sci Anglers, not Cortland. I still use them along with some original Orvis Intermediate lines. My old Sunset sinking lines appear to have fused themselves into a solid lump of vinyl with a Dacron core. Apologies for my personal war against false news.
Phil Foster

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Andrew (Falsecast)

The Pistol Pete is a prop fly and they are supposed to be making a comeback in some circles. I'm afraid that's where I draw the line. I tied a few wire worms and still have them. I'll give them a try.

GW

Buggers and marabou leech patterns work well at Wachusett. I've caught bass on Stimulators there too.

Anonymous,

Good tip on the intermediate line!

Ken

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Bob (Tin Cup),

Feathered hats for church!!!! You and I go back aways!!!!

Anonymous,

You are right. I've used the Cortland sinking lines in the "333" and "444" styles for 40 years and not the Sci-fi Wet Cell.

Ken

Robert said...

Ken
I enjoy your site a lot. I'm looking to get back to stream fishing. I fish the Quabbin for salmon right know. Looking for new Adventures.

Robert

Anonymous said...

Ken,

Any chance you'll do a write up of the ware like your millers write up?

thanks
Joe

Dave P said...

Hi, Ken,
Question about full-sink lines. Cortland seems to make them in Type 3 and Type 6. Which would you recommend for the kind of fishing conditions you talk about in this post? I don't have much experience with sinking lines....
Thanks,
David

Millers River Flyfisher said...

David,

There is a Type 2 sinking line also which is what I use. Type 3 will work too.

Joe,

That would be years from now. It probably will not happen.

Baitslinger,

Let's keep that a secret.

Ken

Anonymous said...

Ken,

Guess that means we'll have to have have you guide us on the ware this summer.

best
Joe