There has been a lot of speculation regarding the effects of all this water in our rivers this Spring. There is talk of scoured stream bottoms and destroyed aquatic habitat. I say "Wait A Minute" because I recall events that were worse than this one.
In late August of 2011 Hurricane Irene flew in and dumped IN A VERY SHORT TIME about 20 inches of rain in Western New England in about one day. The Mill River behind my house went from about 30 cfs to 7500 CFS during that time with whole trees being uprooted and swept downstream. I thought very few fish could survive that beating but in 5 days the flow came back to normal and I saw hundreds of minnows feeding in the current. I caught a few trout too.
The worst event that can happen (IMO) is bulldozer effects of ice dams but the Ware survived a monster dam last year that tore up stream banks and dug out the river bottom. The Ware survived because its famous mayflies survived. The same with the Millers over the years.
I bet is that the Swift will do fine!!
The experts at Weather Underground are predicting only about a half inch of rain through Friday. That would be a relief!!!
Ken
10 comments:
Freestones are still very fishable. They are high but fish the right ones with some heavy split shot and good sized streamers and the fish will bite. I got into a few fat rainbows during some snow showers on Saturday. SNOW on APRIL 27th!!
Re salmon river. So, I can fish a regular fly line, 15' leader and slinky in the fly fishing restricted areas. Big deal! Fished that way twenty years ago with success. No need for all mono.
Joe Humphries was "euro-nymphing" twenty years before the term was invented. Only difference is that there are better fly rods to make the cast now. In fact a Tenkara outfit would be just about perfect for "euro-nymphing", but I'm too cheap to buy one!
Pat,
Thank you!!
Went out today to a large stream/small river where the current has come down. Used a 2 fly Tenkara setup (Asian nymphing) and did well. Much fun.
Anonymous 4:28,
Like your comment on Tenkara and "euro-nymphing". You are right on everything except shelling out the $$ for Tenkara. $150 or less for Tenkara vs $700+ for euro = NO CONTEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ken
Ha, old long IM6 flyrod vs buying new = NO CONTEST!
Anonymous 7:16,
11 to 13 ft IM6???? You've got one???
Ken
And why do you think you need such a long rod for nymphing? Can get by fine with a 9 footer!
Anonymous 7:45
I was talking about tenkara rods where the extra length CAN mean mean longer casts. BTW, most of my nymphing is done with a medium action 8.5 ft rod. Sometimes the rods are longer if the river is larger.
Ken
Ken,
True on the rivers and flow. The amazing thing with this, is the duration of stout flow, not acuity. It feels acute on the swift because well, normally the res protects the river from much over flow so you can fish years at 50 or 120 and this may be the only time in our lives it's over 1000. But man, the Millers, Ware, EB Swift (fishable), and blue lines as well as other smaller rivers... They are just sustaining a solid flow with peaks.
Irene was unreal. entirely new channels formed. Then the channelization of some rivers after was bad news (in an attempt to fix stuff, not what the storm did - though that was bad for folks living near those waters)... Overall, that was a really intense event.
People just flat underestimate how resilient fish are. The swift will be 100% fine as it settles to normal. As will the other waters. Fish are resilient and made for it!
Keep well
Will
I almost forgot about the nymphing thing... it's all fishing, just with style points. And I use indicators time to time, but when I meet an upity over the top fellow fly fisher, I do love to call them bobbers just to see their heads explode. I guess it's the rebel in me :)
Will,
We think alike!!!
Ken
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