This Blog, River Update, Ready For Fall And Soft Hackle Mainstays

Ken:
I just wanted to say "Thank you" for the Blog. You do an excellent job, your flies are TOP NOTCH, and the reports are on the mark.
I have been "lurking" for several years, but wanted to let you know, before I drive the several hours to wet the line, I always check your blog to see what is happening. - Kindman - August comment by a reader.

It's been a great month of August even with the heat. A lot of that satisfaction that I've felt comes from the growth of this blog. I have stayed true to form by focusing on OUR RIVERS and doing that on a steady basis. YOU have responded by sending comments that ACTUALLY CONTAIN INFORMATION, a rarity in the fly fishing blogosphere!! You and I truly cover more rivers in Massachusetts than anyone else!!! Thank YOU!!!!

How are the rivers? As I write the EB is at 189 cfs which is perfect and we have been catching fish and now that the heat has broken this river will only get better. Pat's Rubber Legs and Buggers (size 12 to 14) work. Also check out the stonefly and Isonychia nymphs all over the rocks at the EB. Yup, there are still big flies around!!!

The Millers - It's finally coming down!!!!! 470 this morning and with no real rain next week it will get only better. It's amazing that we are still taking 'bows out of this river in August, a real rarity in years past.

The Swift - It went from 52 to 45 cfs during the last 48 hours and yes, some of these brookies are beginning to color up. Yes, there are plenty of rainbows!

The Ware - I haven't fished it since early July but I plan to be there next week. Stay tuned.

Book A Fall Trip

My calendar is beginning to book up quickly. It's not too early to grab an October or November date especially those anglers who are limited to weekends. They go quickly!!

The Partridge And Orange

This is the most requested fly that I tie and my top fly on ALL RIVERS during the Fall. Some say it works because it has the same coloration as the October Caddis (maybe) or that it has the color of trout spawn (don't think so) but I think it works because of the magical movement of the hackles and a "secret sauce" body that I use. Sizes 14 and 16 work on all the rivers mentioned above with size 12 best on the bigger rivers.

BTW, I just read an article about tying an October Caddis nymph.  This nymph had a tungsten bead head AND lead wire in the body.  This concoction must weigh a thousand times more than what it's supposed to imitate. That's why I like soft hackles - very lightweight and insect-like movement in the water instead of a static piece of submerged jewelry.  That's why they call it fly fishing!!

Happy Labor Day!!

Ken

A Short EB Morning And This Fall

"A Master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which." Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand

The air temperature was 64 degrees at 7 am below the Gorge and I had the place to myself. I needed an intervention via a stimulator (something smashing a big dry fly) and even though the flow was around 420 I felt confident.

The first brown was a good fish but the second was a horse that rode off to the center of the pool and broke me off. Another brown and two rainbows came to the net. It was a good morning.

If you read the comments section of this blog you will see a number of comments about the good fly fishing on the EB. In fact, I'm beginning to think that this blog is the ONLY blog that covers this river on a regular basis. Same with the Millers, the Swift and the Ware.

This Fall

Check out the brook trout in the photo. It's a Fall brookie in spawning colors from the Swift River which is the premier BT stream in Ma if not New England. If you want some of this action contact me for an October or November trip. BTW, I still have some September openings for the Millers and the EB. September is great. The sun is not as intense, the temperature is comfortable and you don't have to be on the river at dark unless you want to! Book Me!!!!!

Ken

A Short Break For A Big Event

Nothing is better than a video of a jumping trout!!!!!

I'll be taking some time to let my boots dry out. My youngest daughter gets married today and this is day two of a big event for us.

I'll be back on the blog by Sunday night. Don't wait to book a trip because I will be responding to requests and don't wait to hit the EB which will be in perfect condition this weekend.

The Millers - As I write the gauge is stuck at 1500 (Thursday level) but it may creep downward through the weekend.

The Swift - hardly anyone there on Wednesday. Lots of trout of course.

The Ware - Was high but now rounding into shape.

GO FISH!!!!!!

Ken

Needhami, Starling And Olive, Summer Food And Booking This Fall

Needhami Flies

If you plan on hitting the Farmie soon you want a bunch of Needhami duns and spinners in sizes 20 through 26. That's basically all I used on that river two weeks ago. This insect is of a chocolate brown color and a grey poly wing works best. I also dump the trailing fiber shuck and tie in a single strand of midge flash. Also, the body is made of brown thread and a thorax of fine synthetic dubbing.

Somehow this fly is called a tiny hendrickson in some quarters!!

Starling And Olive

BWO season is right around the corner!! It is the premier autumn hatch on the Millers overshadowing the pumpkin caddis, if not in sheer numbers then by trout interest. Before you start tossing dries drift a size 18 Starling and Olive soft hackle. It's the perfect emerger pattern for this insect in size, shape and color. Starling is cheap material but easily broken so go slowly.


Summer Cooking

I love to flyfish and I love to cook and summer means grilling and smoking. A week ago I did a pork shoulder in the smoker dry rubbed with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Tonight the skewers were loaded up with pork, mushrooms, plum tomato wedges, cut up bell peppers (the last two ingredients from my garden) and some tiny new potatoes. Give this a slight spray of olive oil and then a liberal amount of black pepper.  All of this ended up on the charcoal as did two ears of corn with the husks left on!!!! 



Fall Dates

Plenty of water, plenty of interest, the calendar is filling up, don't get left out.


Ken

A Millers Story, This Weekend And Fall Is Booking Up

"I still follow your blog (the only one I follow these days) and still love the job you do with it" - Client and Reader Jaime

I have been fishing the Millers through Summer evenings for over 30 years and have done pretty well unless the water is at flood stage, as now, or at drought stage as in 2003, 2010 and 2016. Still one hears or reads the snippets of misinformation about that river. Let's review them:

It gets too warm in the Summer - Freestones get warm but seldom get lethal. Trout find cool places to rest during the heat of the day and then start feeding at dusk, period. Your hand held thermometer will not find these sanctuaries but trout will. I regularly fish the Millers  at 70 degrees on summer evenings and hook and land trout in seconds without ill effects. BTW, the freestones are not the only rivers that get warm in the summer. I saw, fished for and caught rising trout on the Deerfield this July when the temperature was 68 degrees at 6:45 in the morning. I fished the Farmie for three days this month and never saw the temperature below 66 degrees and saw it at 70 degrees in the evening. Fish were rising everywhere and
EVERYONE was fishing it and I caught trout as did a lot of anglers.  Trout can and do acclimate to
 changing conditions and if brought to the net quickly WILL RECOVER!!!!! That is a fact. In three decades of summer fishing on the Millers I have hooked three trout and briefly played them but then broke them off only to have the same fish rise again and get caught and I retrieved my fly.  So much for stressed trout!



I ran into a guy that I guided two years ago on the Millers while fishing the Swift a week ago. He said that last August he was coming home from the Deerfield one evening and decided that he'd wet a line in the Millers. Even in low water conditions trout were rising and he took a half dozen on dries before darkness fell!

You don't need a guide on the Millers - If your experience is confined to popular stocking points then you don't need a guide but if you want the out-of-the-way places then you want a guide as dozens of anglers do when they contact me.  Many have my "Guide to the Millers" BUT they want to know how to FISH it and not just how to find it. Much of the great Farmie is easy access but it's crawling with guides because folks want to know how to fish it. You can catch dozens of trout on the Millers after a stocking but then you need some arrows in your quiver when the trout spread out.

This Weekend

The EB has dropped from about 1900 cfs on Thursday to 486 as I write at 1:30 pm on Friday.  FISH IT if we don't get rain overnight or tomorrow. As long as the flow is below 600 cfs you should do well. FISH THE SWIFT as a back up. A back up??  The flow will be fine but everyone will be there.
THE MILLERS still has to come down from 2000 cfs as I write. When it gets below 600 cfs all hell will break loose. No tailwater anglers allowed - only freestoners!! (hahaha) We have rain in the forecast but let's hope it misses us!

Update Saturday Morning 8/18

The EB is at 2100 cfs. The Millers is around 2600 cfs.  All of this came overnight. 

Ken

Old School Nymphing, All That Water And Book A Fall Trip

 

"I understand that to fit the profile of the modern fly fisherman I should be less the long-suffering sportsman-philosopher and more the conspicuous fanatic carpet bombing the river with the latest fly patterns, tackle and techniques: fishing from the same impulse that makes professional baseball players take steroids" - John Gierach

There he was at the head of a popular pool on the Farmie, about 20 feet out in the river and casting a 9 foot rod AND CATCHING TROUT! I was there to meet a fishing friend and with one eye on the road and one eye on the water I missed a few things but after a few moments I noticed the lightweight SPINNING reel attached to that limber road and that the casts were in the 20 foot range, always quartering upstream. The rod was held at a sight upward angle with his right hand and his left hand held the line out about 18 inches from the handle as his offering drifted downstream. No indicator was in sight. Bang, another fish, some quick work with forceps and the trout was released.

My curiosity got the best of me as he left the water. "What is that outfit" I asked. It was a 9 foot limber rod (not noodle rod limber), a lightweight reel spooled with 2lb flourocarbon, one tiny split shot about a foot or so above the business end which was a meal worm. All trout were hooked in the mouth and released unharmed.(Note: by holding onto the line with his left hand he was in constant contact with anything that grabbed that bug which would virtually eliminate anything swallowed).

This episode reminds me of the fellow on the Deerfield years ago who had a bobber (indicator), a large Montana nymph, a spinning rod and who also caught fish. That was crude indicator nymphing. The Farmie guy was more refined but still his technique was very simple as most nymphing is. He was doing what many "fly" fishers have done and that is to virtually eliminate the fly line and use a weighted fly to propel the long leader out into the river. I think he could of used a weighted fly and been successful too, even more successful than your average tight line fanatic.  Basically this is what we did years ago before we got bitten by the fly bug: we drifted bait with little weight with outfits that didn't come close to what that Farmie guy used. One thing I do know is that the Farmie guy didn't spend $600+ for that outfit and he can't really swing a soft hackle or present a dry with that outfit. That takes a fly rod and reel! (Neither can nymph fishers for that matter).

Turn Off The Water

Well, we asked for it. Two straight years of summertime drought left us praying for rain.  We prayed too hard!!!! As I write the Millers has leveled off at 3330 cfs!  This destroys the record for this date of 1920 cfs set in 1989 and it will not come down anytime soon. The EB is at 1890 cfs BUT if it doesn't pour in that watershed today or tonight it should drop enough (it usually drops about 300 cfs the next day after a big rain event) by the weekend to make a lot of it fishable. Tie up and use some Pat's Rubber legs with weight and when the water gets to 500 cfs go with big bushy dry flies.

The Swift

It's the only reliable game in town outside of some selected "thin blue lines". Now, the flow at the gauge says 53.7 cfs but Bondsville seems to have much more water. This makes sense since Bondsville is  4 to 5 miles downstream from the gauge and has more watershed to collect rainfall.  I know that the brookies like it!!!

One More Thing About The Swift

The Quabbin Watershed has received a lot of rain in the last few weeks and as of 8/1/18 was at about 94% capacity. Who knows where it is right now (measurements are published on the first of the month) and a lot of the recent rain still has to make it down to the "Pond". Now, in 2011 we had Hurricane Irene blow through and Quabbin overflowed just when the LL salmon began to search for spawning areas and followed the current right over the spillway into the Y Pool. We spent the Fall and Winter chasing salmon in excess of two feet long with the occasional Laker thrown in for good measure. Timing is everything for the overflow event. Too early or too late and you get nothing!!

It's hard to believe that the above salmon event was seven years ago. There is a whole new population of fly fishers who have yet to see something like that.  The photo on the left was from Nov. 28 2011 at the lower Y Pool and that big salmon was caught by a client.


Ken

Debunking Conventional Wisdom Again

We cannot imagine a color that we have never seen before. We only know the colors that we have "seen" or the colors that others believe we should see".

Lefty Greh said it all when he said that "there's more bullshit in fly fishing than in a Texas cattle yard." It is still a wonder to me how many of the 'young'ins" to this sport didn't recognize the brilliance of this man and left his passing last March as a non-event. But Lefty knew how to cut through the dogma (BS) that is beginning to envelope this gentle pastime and to get to the truth of what we want to do. My July 8, 2015 post exposed this.

Tiny Tippet is For Subsurface Flies

Think twice, or if you have to think three times about using 7x or 8x  or 9x when fishing below the surface.  You don't need it. As one of my readers commented on that July 2015 post said he never uses anything less that 5x on sunken offerings because he ties his size 28 and size 30 flies  on LARGE eyed hooks so he can use 5x tippet.  He claims that he doesn't spook any trout and doesn't have to play them out until they are half dead. I back this up totally!!!

Tippet Size On The Surface

If the tippet is below the surface it makes no difference to the trout. The trout either can't see it or doesn't know what it (tippet) is. But if dry fly fishing and the tippet is lying on the surface it will create "spots" of light to penetrate below the surface and alarm the trout. Use leader sink (saliva) to coat the last foot of the tippet and the tippet will sink, breaking the surface tension  and becoming almost invisible to the trout.  Case in Point - Twice over the last four decades I've left my nippers back in the car or at the tent. The last time was this past week at the Farmington. Now, I was faced with leaving the water to retrieve them or go on fishing. I tied on the sub size 20 dry fly but had an inch of tag material after tying on the fly.  I soaked the tag end with saliva and CAUGHT FARMINGTON TROUT just like I had before with Millers trout on a size 16 dry. There was a lot of leader material around that fly but it was below the surface which made it a non problem. The short lesson here is that BELOW the surface you really don't need ultra fine tippet material, period, and I don't care what the manufactures or their reps say. There's too much evidence to the contrary!

BTW,

We like to rhapsodize about how trout are becoming "leader shy". That looks good in print and leaders on the surface, as mentioned earlier, can spook trout BUT why don't we consider HOOK SHY trout.  Let's face it, in our C&R waters many trout have been hooked more than once but they don't seem to be shy of that pointed piece of steel sticking out of an artificial fly's butt but we think that we have to go from a 6x to 7x on that #16 pheasant tail nymph to fool them.  We, experts that we are, never consider that!!!! Consider this: present ANY fly, in a natural way, and the trout just may take it!

FARMIE BEAR

He showed up around 4:30pm for cocktails but couldn't produce a valid I.D. I tossed him out!!

Ken

Three Days On The Farmington, Book Ma. Rivers This Fall

" All trout rivers have elements that are the same as any other trout river. Some sections are a hundred feet long and across. Some only 20 feet long and across. Some are less. We seem to gravitate to the bigger rivers when we should learn to fish the smaller rivers."  ME

I just spent three days camping on the Farmington River and working some of it's "famous" pools and some of the "not so famous" pools/runs. It was a good time!

First off, I'm getting a bit "long in the tooth" to be thinking of sleeping on the hard,cold ground but a good air mattress (I wasn't on "the trail" where an air mattress was impractical) but in a campground with lots of space and had a good sleeping bag. I lived the John Gierach life for three days and it was fun. Being woken up at 5:00 am to birdsong is wonderful and camp breakfast, although spartan, fit the bill.

Where I went -

Name it, Greenwoods, Spare Tire, Central Riffles, Church and above BUT center stage went to the Campground Pool. It became my favorite in 2003 because of a massive ant fall (any pool would of worked that 3 day stretch) and a perfect dawn in 2008 when a size 22 olive emerger ruled the early morning and the evening and on numerous seasons before and after. It's my favorite spot on the river, populated from 10 am to 5pm and fairly empty before and after that.
If you want a full blown book on this river then buy "A Guide To Fishing The Farmington River" And Buy It At Upcountry Fly Shop in New Hartford Ct. I tell you where I do well but they tell you everything that I don't know unlike other online sites.

I took dozens of fish here with only the first being on a subsurface fly. Everything else was taken on size 24 sulphurs, size 24 Neddhami's and as it got dark a size 14 light comparadun. Most were 12 to 16 inches, good for rising fish, with one brute hitting 18 inches. I wasn't looking for a "feed a family of four fish" but just steady action to good fish, like 3rd round NFL draft picks. We all like 3rd round draft picks!!!!!

I spend far less time than I should fishing here. I live only 45 minutes away. Note to self: fish here more this Fall!!!!

I'm booking up this Fall and also these August evenings.  Don't wait.  Any email does it.

Ken

Weekend Update And Weirdness on The Swift

"Tailwaters are what Thomas McGuane called "the great theme parks of American fly fishing," with their more or less stable water temperatures and artificially inflated populations of insects and fish. They are irresistible for all kinds of reasons, but all of those trout breed the peculiarly postmodern sense that anything short of a 20 fish day is a bust, so when things are slow there's the temptation to lie about numbers or to vaguely allow that you are "getting your share" - John Gierach

Forget any mention of a drought at least for central and western Ma and that is a very good thing. The EB hit 1090 cfs on 8/2 and as I write it's a very fishable 486. The Millers is dropping slowly but at 544 cfs it is also fishable. Both rivers still have their fish but they're not going to jump into the net for you. You will have to work for them. Your main concern will be to keep an eye on the flows. We've had some rogue storms this week which have pounded some watersheds while leaving others dry. To check a rivers flow just Google: name of river usgs and you will get it on your phone.

Things are getting weird on the Swift. If I want plenty of elbow room I get there EARLY or stay late or disappear down in Cady Lane. EARLY didn't work Sunday when I encountered people in jungle hammocks next to the river and one dude apparently "sleeping it off" in his car. My feeling was that the "neighborhood had just gone to hell" so I headed downstream only to encounter a camping trailer on the side of the road. Now, this person (identity withheld) claims they have permission and I believe it BUT camping by the river only invites MORE camping by the river with or without permission. Around the 4th of July I saw some dope trying to pitch a tent on the aqueduct path!!! Add this to the moron built camp fires by the Y Pool and by the PIPE parking area and the bare-assed fool who took a bath in the Swift (yes, that actually happened) this summer and we have a problem. If something bad happens it will be the fly fishers who will take it on the chin!

I got to the Swift early on Thursday, saw only one person working the PIPE area, had three hits and landed two and when five people entered the water I packed my bags and headed to Cady Lane where I spent three hours working difficult fish (caught 3) AND SAW ONLY ONE OTHER ANGLER. When I walked back to the Pipe there were 9 in the water and things seemed to be getting testy as one angler accused another of being "territorial". This is what happens when you have too many people in a small place. SPREAD OUT!!

P.S. Pinheads and small starling and olives did the trick!

Getting It Done On The EB And Booking A Guided Trip

"In recent years, these Madison River trout have seen two hundred or more passing drift boats, each usually containing two fly fishermen, EVERY DAY of the season". Quote from Montana guide Tony Jacklin, circa 1994, in the New American Trout fishing by John Merwin

Maybe it was the great comment by reader Gary (read comments on previous post) who got me to head west to the EB early yesterday morning or maybe I was tired of the crowds on the Swift. Either way the EB seemed very appealing to me with a 350 cfs flow, some eager trout according to Gary and some solitude.

The EB has been "on and off" for me this year. High water then low water followed by a flood and so on. With the Millers having its BEST year in decades my freestone fix has been in Wendell and Irving and not in Chesterfield this year.

The first thing that you will notice is that there is water everywhere. All of the little springs and rills that were dry just a month ago are now fully charged and flowing. Past experience states that when the springs run dry on this river fish somewhere else.

I put on the only Pat's Rubber Legs that I had (Garys suggestion) and immediately hooked a 16 inch brown. It was a beautiful fish that had that color of butter that has been in the sautee pan too long. Then I was robbed of my fly by another trout which made me put on my Hellgramop (mop fly with natural colors to imitate a hellgrammite). That fly took another three fish, another brown and two rainbows, before I ended my trip after two or so hours.

Fish the EB. Last year during late August and September we had great fishing with flows of about 75 to 125 cfs. We will have that for sure this August!!!

Booking Trips

It's not too early to book a trip in September,October and November. My calendar will fill up quickly (it always does) and some will get left out. Three hour August evening trips are great to explore rivers that you know little about. So if you want to leave the same old spot on the same old river for some new waters then contact me at ken.elmer9@gmail.com!!!


That Time Of Year

Is it just me or am I seeing more canoe and kayak traffic on the Swift this Summer? I believe that the hot July just drove people to the river which gets me to thinking: fishers pay to use the water in the form of license fees and excise taxes on fishing equipment. Canoe and Kayak owners don't! They get a free ride down the river probably using public access that our fishing dollars purchased.
Something to think about!!

Ken