Maybe it was the string of thunderstorms that rolled through the Millers valley on this Memorial Day Saturday because the parking spot at Wendell Depot was EMPTY at 4pm. The threat of lightning kept me car bound for a good half hour before I headed upstream to the Upper Trestle Pool. Conditions were perfect but the trout, with the exception of one rainbow, didn't want to play. Two fly rodding gents waved and headed upstream. I, in turn, headed for the Kempfield where I had the place to myself. Nothing was working the surface at the head or middle of the stretch BUT trout were making some splashy rises in the calm water of the big pool. The rises said "caddis" but there certainly was a lack of this insect in the air. Then I noticed that the shoreline on my side of the river was swarming with dark caddis. The logical choice was made and for an hour I threw adult and emerger imitations with no results. These fish were cruising around with no set positions which gave the game a "chuck and chance it" feel.
I was about to throw in the towel when I saw a rise in the current. One rise and then another = a trout in a feeding location. Off came the caddis and on went a dark tan cdc dun. It only took two casts before I set the hook. A few minutes later I was admiring the brute, a beautiful brown that ran about 18 inches. It was well worth the wait!!!
The Millers has entered it's summer phase. Mornings and evenings will be the rule until September. I love Summer evenings on the Millers. So do the Browns!!
11 comments:
I just sent the check for your guide today and can not wait to learn this river. I am an avid Westfield C&R angler, but the family BBQs drove me off this weekend. I am looking forward to a new experience. Thanks.
Hey Ken - I was part of that pair that said hello on Sat. We fished upstream of you. My buddy was casting streamers and hooked into a monster smallie - unfortunately his tippet broke off after about a 5 mins fight. I was fishing off that sand bar further upstream where there is a confluence of two flows - caught two Bows and a smallie all on a caddis pupa nymph. Later we walked back up the tracks to the parking lot and across the road under the trestle, where my buddy caught 3 bows, a brown and a nice sized smallie mostly on streamers. All in all a great day on the Millers!
Joe.
Ken, i was fishing w/ Joe on Sat. actually, it was a large dry fly that seemed to imitate a stonefly. a live one actually landed on my vest during that day. anyways, i put on the dry because the streamer wasn't producing and as soon as the fly hit the water, a huge smallie struck. having brought the fish in as far as the leader, i guesstimated his weight to be a min. of 3 lbs. i certainly thought he was a good sized trout @ first. i've never seen or caught a smallie that big. later in the day, i caught a few more smallies and trout ('bows and 1 brown) on dries and streamers. thanks for the great blog,
steve
I'm sitting here upstream of the UTP, in the shade with a nice breeze, waiting now for evening to come. I've caught some small mouths on a dry, seen some large stoneflies, but nothing else happening. If the water was 5-10 degs cooler with this flow....
Al
Joseph,
I'll be sending the "Guide" out shortly.
Joe and Steve,
Nice to meet you guys. The smallies - it's been said that large smallmouth come up from the CT. River in the Spring to spawn and they are measured in POUNDS!!! My largest was 3lbs. caught on a June afternoon a few years ago. There are lots of two pound fish in the Millers throughout the Summer. Fish deep for those guys!!
Al,
Freestone streams are freestone streams in Massachusetts. They will warm up during the day and cool off slowly in the evening. That doesn't stop the browns from doing their thing in the evening even if the water temperature is higher than we like. They will actively feed at dusk - the witching hour!!!!!!
I did catch a rainbow and a brown after 6pm. There were 4 other cars in the parking lot at 5pm; a total of 6 other cars at 7:45pm.
I was on the Swift at the Pipe area prior to the Millers and saw no one from 7:30 til 10am. I think I caught a "tiger" trout or it's a brown with the oddest markings I've ever seen.
Al
Was on the Miller's yesterday AM and being a Wednesday had the place to myself. River was pretty quiet, but there were a couple of sporadic rises in the Kempfield section. Eventually hooked a couple smallies on black and olive Wooley Buggers and called it a day.
Keep the reports coming !
Sam
Ipswich MA
Hey Ken:
I have never posted here... a friend pointed me... Love the blog. I was up in the area on Wed to drop off a rod at T&T and thought I would try the Millers... Because of your previous post about the bridge pool. (I have never fished the Millers) Fished it around noon for a few hours... Landed one nice bow, a smallie and a dace... all on an olive bead head nymph. There were some rises but I couldn't get them what they wanted... thank you for the info in this blog.
Kindman
Just taking a moment to thank all of you fly fishers on the nice words about this forum!!
I'll keep it coming!!
Ken
Wish I had the right words to describe last wkend. 05/29-05/28 I caught a total of 20 BROWNS and BOWS..mostly being BROWNS of the 12"-16" range. Fish are active even with water temp at 72° and higher. You must wait until 7pm for the action to really heat up. I caught 7 fish on 7 casts. I will let out my secret..Parachute Adams is getting all fish to take very readily.
Jay,
I'm guessing that you were on the Millers! Those outings are the kind of outings that we dream about. Good work!!
Ken
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