I guided a fellow from New Hampshire on his first Millers trip on Sunday. We started at the Bridge Pool in Farley where he lost two good fish. After a while we headed upstream to Erving Center and fished below the end of the C&R. Again we had a good fish on but it throw the hook. Finally we made our way to the Kempfield Pool where we were greeted with a good number of rising browns. My client caught his first two trout on dry flies!! The first holdover brown was an easy 18 inches, the second just a bit shy of that. They both fell to a size 14 BWO dun. After the guiding session I went back and caught one of the two remaining browns that were still rising. They were all dark, beautiful fish!!
It was a good way to start the season.
One note: there's no such place as the Power Station or Power Pool on the Millers. The real name is the Kempfield Pool and it is a name that was used in the 1940's and that is documented. The "Power" label was thrown at this beautiful stretch about ten years ago by people who park near an electrical sub-station and fish from the WRONG side of the river.
Ken
14 comments:
Hey Ken,
How do you know if a fish is holdover or not??
Cliff
Cliff,
First, these browns were dark colored fish which is what happens to browns after they have been in the river for months. Second, browns will not be stocked in this section until mid May. Those fish will be lighter in color until they've been there a while.
Trying to make a trek up to a quality trout stream this Sunday. Is the Millers worth the drive, or is it worth going elsewhere? If not the Millers, what places in Southern NE have been decently productive?
Anonymous,
The Millers
The Swift
The Farmington
The Housatonic
They're all productive if you know how to fly fish.
Ken
Fished the Kempfield today, midday, and again late afternoon - saw 1 fish rising and missed it on a #16 hare's ear caddis. Then again, i could have missed those size #26 BWOs in the "power pool". My 1st trip this year to the Millers - can't help but notice the pine tree down into the top of the pool, by the brook; did that just happen from Tuesday's storms or from over the winter?
Al
Al,
That pine tree is news to me. Hope to check it out this evening.
Ken
Hey guys,
Are the browns going in tomorrow? Coming up from Worcester, and was to show my father the Millers. Nothing like a big'ole hog on a soze 6 Matuka!
Generally, do they stock the lower end of the river first? Besides the browns, has the whole river been stocked? Where seems to be the best action? not looking for secrets, just want my father to have a good first experience on the millers! thanks ken!
Fished the Millers for the first time yesterday. Beautiful water (thanks for the guide Ken!). Only hooked (and lost) one on a bugger. Saw no surface action at all (Kempfield and Upper Trestle), which was a bit disappointing. Maybe the active beavers in the Kempfield had something to do with that?
Bert
Don't think the beavers did it. I was in Kempfield pool last weekend. I was casting to rising trout while said beaver circled the area and slap its tail on the water to scare me off. It was quiet entertaining, only because it didn't seem to upset the trout. If the trout had shut down it would have been downright annoying.
Then it must have been a "should have been here yesterday"-type of scenario....the tail slaps are pretty entertaining.
Anonymous,
the browns go into the Bears Den section (upper river) tomorrow and go into the lower C&R next Friday. The whole river has been stocked with rainbows.
Bert and P Schueller,
I HATE tail slapping beavers!!!!!
Hi Ken,
Chris here. Is the bearsden going to be a good choice come this coming Monday in pursuit of browns? Looking to head up to the Millers for one last hoo-rah before I leave to go back home from school. Were can I expect to have the best results...It doesn't have to be the big ol'e browns either. Bows would be fine as well! Just looking for a spot that has been showing the most action, as I only have a few hours. thank you!!
The WRONG side of the river??? Kempfield pool not the power station? Ken, I enjoy your blog, but these comments make you sound a bit pretentious. We all enjoy fishing for trout on the Millers, regardless of what side of the river an angler enters from or what he/she may call a particular pool. . . I have always been successful fishing the power station pool from what you consider to be the wrong side
Anonymous,
If you park at the "power station" and take the very short walk to the river you will spend most of the season tucked up tight against the south bank of the river with very little wading room and even less back casting room just like the two poor souls that were doing just that on Thursday as my two clients, who approached the river from the north, were catching brown after brown with easy casting and easy wading.
I've been fly fishing this section for over 25 years and I know what I'm talking about. Fishing from the south bank is convenient but very limiting.
The "kempfield" tag goes back over 60 years. That's the name of this section.
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