It may have been the biggest bow or maybe the ONLY bow taken at the head of the Tree Pool, below the pipe, in weeks but it was taken by client Zack who nailed this 16 inch brute on a size 16 grouse and flash AND it was his FIRST trout on a fly!!!!! Hats off to a good accomplishment!
Yes, there are trout there AND DOWN IN CADY LANE but you will not trip over them as in prior seasons. Stealth helps a lot down in Cady Lane.
The Millers
Yes, it's been stocked again and I and my client Gary actually witnessed it at the Bridge Street Pool yesterday. There are a lot of fish in that river and although the flow is still high get a wading staff and fish it. You'll need weight to get the fly down but that's a small inconvenience. Orcutt is very wadable as is the Kempfield Section. The Upper Trestle Pool and Erving Center are still on the high side.
Your Comments
You guys got a compliment yesterday by a client who said that the COMMENTS at times are as good as the blog and he was right. Comment writers are naming the river, the stretch that they fished, what fly they used and what they caught. You do not find that anywhere!!! My comment writers don't act like they are holding state secrets by refusing to name locations. People like tincup, bigmster127, hockey_dad, Gary C, falsecast, mattk and many others are not afraid of giving you true information and locations. Read the comment section!!!!
A Question
I've been conducting an informal survey of the many people that I've guided this season. The survey has one question: Do you own a nymph rod? So far I've found ONE person who owns one and he doesn't like it. (poor casting qualities). All of the others admit to using nymphing techniques on occasion but they use their conventional rods (the rods that they own appear to be on the fast side) and say that they do well.
I guess you can say that these folks prefer to fly fish!!
Ken
P.S. The EB got stocked this week for the TU Party this weekend. Have fun if you are with that group but the BEST fishing is next week after the crowds leave.
31 comments:
Ken
Myself and a friend had to swallow our pride, got shut out yesterday at the 1000 acre run on the Millers.
Tried everything you sugget in your guide, short cast weighted nymphs, and SH. Didnt see any action on top, although some bugs coming off in the afternoon.
MP,
I hear you. First, 1000 Acre is a hard place to get into and hard to fish. 15 years ago we used to float stock that section and the fishing was very good. I don't think that Chapter does that any longer in that area. South Royalston has been stocked recently and maybe the trout need time to move down there.
Ken
Fished the Millers this morning in Royalstion. Dead drifting a small wooly bugger did the trick.
A couple of rises, but that’s it. Fished shad for the first time on the Chicopee river on Thursday. A long ride but loads of shad. Tried the east branch of the Westfield river on the way home and was not disappointed.
Perk
Nymph rods---to each his own! I have them, use them, like them for certain situations. Can't stand nymphing with bobbers so I leave my 5wts (Bamboo and IM6) for traditional fishing only --wets and drys.
went to the millers this morning caught 20 fish browns rainbows natives 2 bass and a fall fish on spinners a joes fly one was the rainbow and the other was a black knat. new fishing was going to be good being overcast and cool. most fish were caught of crescent st section the power station and bridge street section. some really good fighting fish too. if anybody is looking too catch fish, fish the crescent st section there has been nobody fishing it. OTHER than a beaver!! lol
New to this blog and returning to fly fishing for the first time since my youth. Hit Lawrence Brook off of Brown Rd. in Royalston this morning. Managed to pull in two Brook Trout and a pickerel. First Brookie was on a brown Wooley Bugger. The next brookie and pickerel was on a gray fly that matched what was floating. Forgot how much fun and how relaxing it all is.
Todd
First time commenting on this blog and a to fly fishing since my youth. Hit Lawrence Brook off of Brown Rd. in Royalston this morning. Managed to pull in two small Brook Trout and a Pickerel. First Brookie was on a brown Wooley Bugger. The second Brookie and Pickerel was on a small gray fly that was close to what was floating around. I had forgotten how much fun and how relaxing it can be. Good day.
Perk,
Im afraid that I'm not going to hit the shad run. Too many bookings now and in the future. Keep me and others informed!!!
Anonymous 11;53,
I feel the same!!!
Todd Neale,
That's what it's all about: fun and relaxing is what is about. I bet that you had most of the place to yourself!!!
Yes. The only sound was from the birds and the babbling water. For someplace that is so quite, it gets loud...
Hi Ken. Hibernation Aka Will here... not sure my phone responds the same as the pc.
I own an 11ft 4wt CZN nymph rod from cabelas. I actually really like it all around. It's not great with heavy streamers... but for any ny.phing, dry fly fishing, west and smaller streamers it's great. One thing I love, on the swift or really anywhere, is that the length and fine tip provide good shock absorption during fighting, but the butt is real stout and helps challenge fish, ending fights fast. When I first got it, it felt cumbersome... but several years later and it's my go to all purpose trout road. Casts great! That said, if streamers are on tap I may not bring it... and if I expect mostly drys, or just feel "classical" so to speak I'll bring my 8ft 4wt instead.
All that said, if I could only have one, it would be an 8.5' 5 or 6wt...
Ken, I bet you could make any of the top end nymphing rods sing like a nightingale. Have you ever fished a 9'9" Hardy Zephrus Ultralite? Sensative? You bet! A pleasure to nymph. A pleasure to cast dry flies with a nice medium fast action. Light (2.5 ounces for the 3 weight). but tough (the 440 Sintrix is obnoxiously near unbreakable.)
However I'd also like to make you another bet - that you could outfish me with a $49 Walmart combo special.
I have a Fenwick Aetos 10ft 4wt. They were on sale this Christmas for $130, so I had to give it a try for high stick nymphing. I used it this winter on the Swift and had good luck. The extra length is good to managing conflicting currents. The fast tip makes casting reasonable and easier to set the hook. I had tried high stick nymphing with my 11.5 ft switch rod and that does not work well (too hard to set the hook).
While the 10ft 4wt is not as great an all-around rod like my 9ft 4wt it is useful when you know the area you are targeting.
Everyone,
Thank you for the great comments.!! If you like nymphing rods then fish them. I don't like them. Too heavy in the butt and too slow in the tip. I can skin a river with a fast action 9 footer going with a weighted nymph, changing to a soft hackle and then a dry without any trouble on any day. Just my preference!
Charlieinneedham,
I WON a raffle in February and it was a $40 6wt encased in clam shell plastic. I used it on the swollen and cold Millers in early April with heavy flies and a sinking line to see if it would work. It did! It cast ok and I caught fish. It had the same feel that I had with early (mid to late 80's) graphite rods which we thought were the best. I caught trout with them and the trout are not any smarter now then back in the day. Makes me think that marketing is selling us solutions in search of a problem!
Ken
Ken,
It's was pleasure to meet a passionate fisherman willing to pass on his experiences. I had a great time exploring
your recommendations up river.
Thanks for sharing a lifetime of knowledge. I will be visiting the river more often and hope cross paths again.
Mark
Mark,
It was a pleasure meeting you also!! Soon to see you again.
Ken
Oh I had a nymph rod...for a couple years..it was absolutely advantageous if you nymph 90% of the time. It was a pathetic casting too and was sold after a few outings. That being said I have heard from reputable sources that the new Orvis 10'4wt Helios...(the new one with the gaudy label) is very much an all around rod...just a foot longer than many. I am planning on trying one out in MT in July. If true it would be helpful for wet fly fishing as well.
In your blog you asked if anyone had a dedicated nymph rod and only one said yes and he didn't like it bringing us to your closing comment on nymph rods.
Ken said
"I guess you can say that these folks prefer to fly fish!!"
"Everyone,
Thank you for the great comments.!! If you like nymphing rods then fish them. I don't like them. Too heavy in the butt and too slow in the tip. I can skin a river with a fast action 9 footer going with a weighted nymph, changing to a soft hackle and then a dry without any trouble on any day. Just my preference! "
Well for the record I have eight dedicated nymph rods. Two 10' 2wt, two 10' 3wt, one 11' 3wt, one 10'4wt and two 10' 5wt. Of all of them my go to rod is the 10' 2wt. All but two of these rods are of European make, are light, balanced and cast beautifully. I have been nymph fishing for over sixty years. Notice I said nymph fishing as you said above: "I guess you can say that these folks prefer to fly fish". I have cast my 10' 2wt rod forty to sixty feet on the east branch of the Delaware nymphing to browns on a flat run using a DT 2wt and a nine ft leader. How is that any different from what a "dry fly fisher" does?
Do I Czech nymph? Yes, when it's appropriate. People use longer leaders when doing this and many folks think that is not really fly fishing. The reason for the longer leader was to keep the fly line from pulling the fly out of the water as its weight pulled the fly line back out of the guides. Why does a 16' leader when Czech nymphing make it "not fly fishing " but the same 16' leader in dry fly fishing is a testament to ones skill?
How about bobbers? Okay, "strike indicators", doesn't change their purpose. Personally I rarely use one, I prefer to feel what my nymph is doing and when a fish has taken my offering. And this brings us back to what a good nymph rod is all about, feel. For me I am one with my rod and fly. I'm not trying to sound zen like but I actually enjoy fishing at night where everything is by feel, the casting stroke, feel of the fish taking my nymph or soft hackle and the releasing of the fish.
I am a dedicated nymph "fly" fisherman, for reasons I won't get into, and have had to endure the stigma that goes with it. I have been tying my own flies since I was ten, wets, nymphs and soft hackles and spent the time to understand the types of water that I fish.
What all of us as fly fisherman need to do is give up on the petty bickering over which is the "true" fly fishing method and join together to promote the sport as a whole, try to get more interested in it and work on getting more areas designated as fly fishing only.
Joe C.
You say"I've been nymph fishing for over 60 years". I guess you are a nymph fisher. I've been nymphing for over 45 years so I am one also B U T I will not use a NYMPHING ROD because, in my opinion, they suck and are one trick ponies that do one thing and not much else. One can nymph there brains out with a conventional 9ft, 3 or 4wt, fast action rod and catch plenty of fish. The "stigma" is the hardware and not the style.
BTW, what made you collect 8 nymphing rods anyway?????????
BobT,
I've cast the new Helios (white label) and it casts well. Much better than your standard nymph rod. I don't think it's a nymph or hybrid nymph (shit, I've just created a new rod!!!!!) rod. More of a very good generalist rod. We need more of those!!
Ken
So, I went out this evening on the Millers (South Royalston - between two bridges). Managed to land two Rainbows on a brown Wooley Bugger. Hooked a third that liked to dance above the water. So exciting. They were jumping in the pool just above the broken dam.
Also ran into a beaver that didn't want me around.
Ken, do you really feel like nymph rods cast poorly? I had to get used to the length, it's like the wide handlebars on my new mountainbike... that extra foot or two out there sort of messes with your proprioception and understanding of how things work... But after that, my 11 footer has been great.
Case in point, is it "the first run", that first run/pool below the Rezendes pool with the narrow current shoot up at the start and big rock across the way? Well, that spot... From the cabin side, with the 11footer I can fish that whole current nicely and swing a fly through the pool... Just like with my 8.5footer...
But I can fish the still water below the rock and have a MUCH easier time with line management from that heavy main current.
I've also had times where fish were sucking dry's on the train side, and for ease I waded across the bottom and was able to double haul with that 11ft 4wt to land a dry way up in that still water.
Point being, that "nymph" stick, at least my Cabelas CZN (pretty basic by Nymph stick standards compared to Cortland's or hardy, Gray's etc... according to those who have fished them... As far as I know, they may come off the same factory line :)) is really just a decent all round rod that is pretty long with a lighter and quicker tip than my other rods. Sometimes I feel like they welded my 6wt BVK butt and first half, to the full length of my 7'6" sage Vantage (a lower end sage that's got a very "classic" feel).
Totally an individual thing... and point blank, had I just tested it out, and not "bought it" with my cabelas card points years ago, I'd likely have not kept it. But because I kept it, I tried to work through the uncertainty of how the length impacted me... And now I'm really glad, it's a very nice rod to fish.
Hi, Ken. I would never dispute with you on matters of fly fishing, but I can't help noting that the author of the river quote you begin your post with is not unknown. Rather, Plato attributes it to the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, who lived about a century before him. Sadly, Heraclitus's thoughts on fly fishing have not survived....
Hope to hit the Millers again soon, even if neither I nor it will be the same.
Cheers,
David
Hi Ken,
I'll add I guess on the nymph rod ownership fishing.. I have TGO Drift rod that converts into 9', 10', 11' 3, and 12' 3. It converts from a dry fly rod, to euro nymph rod, and light switch rod. I have used it with all three and it works beautifully!!! I even fished it 11' 3 on farmington dry fly action and it worked awesome especially reaching the fish on far bank that nobody could and was able to mend that line for a perfect drift. Some of the guys fishing right and left of me were scratching their head when I first got into the water but by the end of it they were asking "what kind of rod is that a 8wt", but it was a 3wt TFO, caught a lot more fish! On the other hand I have it set up with and OPST shooting head and lazer running line with a sink tip. I cover a lot of ground on foot with a streamer either stripping it or swing in it and have had a blast!! Again reaching all the spots that nobody else can with some of the other set ups. Its advertised as a euro nymph rod which I use it for a lot but casts like any other rod with high accuracy.
Thanks,
Damir
Ken, it was a pleasure to meet you today down at the tree pool. Good to put a face to a guy I read almost every day.
After we got done down there fished above route nine until 8pm, the browns they stocked today seem to be 5-11 inches with a few 11-14in rainbows in the mix. Used that fly that I showed you all day and ended up with a bunch.
Anonymous 7:00 pm
Sounds like a Swiss Army Fly rod. If that's what you like then go for it.
Ken
David Powelstock,
I am humbled by your knowledge of the classics! Thank you!
MW,
A pleasure to meet you too. Maybe again.....
Will (Hibernation),
Yes, they cast poorly and that's what I see after casting many rods that are dry fly rods that also swing soft hackles and small nymphs and weighted nymphs which is most of our trout fishing today anyway. We have become a sport of specialty equipment that is marketed by an industry that will sell us any solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. To each his own I guess.
Ken
MW,
Went to the Ware and found a lot of small browns like you did. They will be there this Fall like last year.
Good to meet you in person!!
Ken
Hi Ken,
I get your argument that you can effectively nymph fish with an eight to nine foot four or five weight rod, and that these rods are pretty versatile. I also understand that these rods tend to cast much better. But isn’t casting just part of what a rod does? Mending is also an important function of a rod. Do you think a nine foot rod mends as well as a ten or eleven footer?
Thanks,
Brian
I’ve never used a euro rod so I can’t say anything about those. I have a 10’ 4wt bvk that does alright when high sticking but it’s never really done anything that I couldn’t do with a 9’ 6wt. As a matter of fact I’ve caught far more quality fish high sticking with the 9’ 6wt. The reach is nice with the 10 footer but like you said earlier Ken it only serves one function. 2 extra feet, and then I think there’s a real advantage when nymphing but I just don’t think one extra foot is a true difference maker. I’ve used it for dry flies and have caught some fish with it but it’s an absolutely horrid rod for that. Really makes you appreciate a good 9’ rod.
Lenny
Brian,
How hard would it be to mend line with a 9 foot rod or an 8 foot rod on a 30 foot wide stream or a 30 foot section of stream? Not hard at all. But mending is like casting. You have to learn how to do it well and I've met some fly fishers who are poor at it and some who can mend line with a pool cue! Remember, it's the archer and not the arrow!
Lenny,
You hit the nail on the head. If you need an extra two feet then take two steps.
We gotta go fishing soon.
Ken
If you have any free time at all tomorrow, let me know. That’s my only day off before I head to Utah.
Lenny
Post a Comment