Autumn On The EB

Autumn On The EB

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Holtshire (Orcutt) Bridge Removal And A Soft Hackle Bivisible


"They say you forget your troubles on a trout stream but that's not quite it. What happens is that you begin to see where your troubles fit into the grand scheme of things, and suddenly they're just not such a big deal anymore". John Gierach



Bill from Tully filled me in first. The demolition and replacement of the Holtshire Road Bridge that spans the Millers River in Orange at the stretch known as Orcutt Brook has begun. Actually it began five or so years ago when the bridge was closed to vehicular traffic but not to foot traffic. Now both ends of the span are gated off. Now, what does this mean to fly fishers?

1. Access may be denied even with the construction of a footpath over the railroad tracks on the north side. I bet the footpath was constructed to give WORKERS access to the site and not us.

2. Temporary easements have been granted to park and store construction equipment and workers vehicles during the project. That could very well be in the spots where we have traditionally parked our vehicles.

3. Forget about the DFW stocking off the bridge if the bridge is gone. This may be a good thing because it will force fishers to EXPLORE instead of doing the same old, same old!!

One can get to the river by going up and over the tracks or bushwacking down Orcutt Brook or becoming friends with one of the neighbors for parking purposes but the REAL question would be if law enforcement will force us off this active construction site. This will not be a month long project but should last many months. We will see!!!

Soft Hackle Bivisible

I wanted something BIG that would imitate some of those large caddis and large mayflies (such as the March brown) that we see in the Spring.  Using TWO partridge hackles over a body color of my choice would work. This fly has action and looks great when it's wet! The Millers and the Ware wold be the perfect hunting ground for this pattern.

Check out the color of the March Brown that I included. Same color scheme as the Bivisible?  You bet!!!!!

Ken

P.S. As of now (Friday morning) the Swift is down to 400 cfs. Fish it today before the snow storm!


















5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try a Hare's Ear Flymph for March Brown or a #6 Hare's Ear Wet Fly.

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Anonymous 1:26,

A hares ear in any form will always work. Check out my 1/7/19 post. The fly is very close to a H.E.

Ken

Anonymous said...

Ken,

It was 25-30 years ago that the RT2 bridge at the Depot had to be replaced. Then it was the Wendell Road Bridge over the Millers. I guess nothing lasts forever. It would be a shame if we couldn't fish that stretch.

Anonymous

T Neale said...

Came across this on the TU page. Thought others might be interested. http://www.riverscalendar.org/

Millers River Flyfisher said...

Todd,

I've seen this before and then promptly forgot about it. It is a worthwhile project which I'm going to try to contribute to. There are a few Swift River regulars involved.

Ken