It may have been the world's largest comparadun!! I was crossing the trestle Saturday evening when I saw something swimming downstream towards me. At first I thought it was a beaver BUT beavers don't have long ears or a long snout. It was a young deer, not a fawn but no more than a yearling. It came out from under the bridge where I snapped the photo. I've seen deer in this river before but they were the unlucky ones that drowned in winter or spring or were walking cross in the shallows. In any event it swam another 100 feet and then hopped up onto the shore.
The Fishing: I started at the bottom end of the C&R in Erving. I like this place because the tree cover shades this stretch during the day which means that things usually start earlier. They did. I noticed the rise behind a rock and then dropped a #12 MDW just above that spot. The 14 inch brown took it and was soon in the net. Another brown, slightly small, did a repeat performance further downstream.
I ended the evening at the Kempfield where I saw one rising brown but failed to get it to take. Blind casting to the rocks resulted in a another brown taken on a #12 stonefly dry.
Then another strange thing happened. I heard a splash to my left right up next to the bank. I figured that it must be a bass chasing something only to be surprised to see a brown, 14 to 16 inches, CLEAR the water six inches from the shore. What was he chasing? Minnows, crayfish, some thing that moves quickly obviously. It was a nice show but I wish that he was in midstream taking mayflies instead.
Try the Erving Center Stretch. It's a good place.
22 comments:
Ken,
I see you have your newest thorn in the side here.
Anonymous- when you send those pictures along of you "hammering fish", please include a photo f you handing your guide another $400you paid for having him show you where to go, what to use and where to cast. By the way,did he tie your flies on for you too?
BT
And 400.00 bucks? The harrison Anglers dont even charge that...Seems like another typical city slicker getting hosed. :)
Yes, you've made it very clear to plug the Outfitter's name now on 3 seperate occasions. I checked out the website. A float is $350 for the day (plus tip which I understand is typically 20%) so my mistake as I should have stated $420 for a day float.
My point is simply, your comparing floating the Deerfield to wading the Millers. of course its better!! However 99.9% of the people here do not have a driftboat nor can they most likely afford to spend $420 every time they want to go trout fishing!
Lets move on, this is a boring topic and I am sure not Kens intention for his blog.
Maybe you should take Ken's advice and start a bolg on teh Deerfield, we could use one....
-BT
Wow, does not say much for GS Outfitters. According to "Mark" its "peak" season on the Deerfield right now yet they are not booked solid with business so they give him free weekly float trips?...
Maybe we should all call GS Outfitters and ask them for a free floats since they have the time and willingness to take people down the river at no charge. Then again, if this guy is one of their "friends", not sure I care to know them regardless.
BT,
Thanks for your input. He should write his own blog. He should join Bass masters.
Ken
BT,
BTW, this kid isn't doing his friends, who are generous, any favors. I know the Harrison Brothers and refer people who I guide to them for the Deerfield. Would I refer anyone to this new outfit?? "Birds of a feather..." as the old saying goes.
Time to reel back into the fishing reports. Yesterday hit the EB of the Westfield to test drive my new fly rod and had a great day as always. Fished from morning until around 2pm. Caught a good number of bows and browns. Hooked my largest bow and brown all on dries and had some great screaming reel action. I did a lot of nymphing but the dry fly action lasted all day. One note was that if a fish came up to your dry fly once and you didnt hook it game over, you couldnt get them to come up again. Only saw one other fly fisherman all day and that was first thing in the morning. There was one spin fisherman but he wasnt there long. More sunbathers and people walking their dogs than fishermen.
Anonymous,
You need to move on. You've made your point. We all know the Deerfield has fish, its no biggee.
Ken's blog pertains to wading the Millers, EB and Swift. And it's not a contest. If you ahve a report on one of theses 3 fisheries woorth mentioning, feel free, otherwise enjoy your time on the Deerfield and we'll look for your pictures on the GS Outfitters website. BTW, you mentioning that the owner called Ken a douche is not going to help his business. I think Eric would agree that he would be better served by you keeping your mouth shut.
I was on the Millers upstream from the Wendall bridge last night. The rises started early (5:30pm) and only lasted about 15 minutes. Most fish caught were either very small browns or river chubs...however, I was able to hook into a large brown right at dusk in the riffles above the tracks. All in all, it was a good couple hours of fishing for a 90 degree day.
My goto flies are usually the hornberg or this thing I created last season (I think it simulates a crayfish or small minnow). I'm sure it has an official real name, but its essentially a brown woolybugger with a duck wing laid flat across the top. It was the only fly working last night for sure.
Ken,
Recently returned from vacation in Scotland (no fishing unfortunately) with the obligatory side trip to Loch Ness. One of the theories there is that some of the "Nessie" sightings are really red deer swimming across the Loch. Maybe you should start a legend of the Miller's very own own "Nessie"! The "Millers Monster" as it were - think of the tourist $!
Two weeks ago I saw the same thing on the millers. First I assumed the deer was on its way to drown, but when it came closer (it actually went under the trestle I was standing on) I saw it was not in distress and gently paddling along. I could follow it for at least 150 years, until it disapppeared around a river bend. Pretty cool, I had never seen a deer swim before.
meant to say 150 yards, not years, in case there was any confusion...:-)
Kozman,
Were you the guy who was wading wet just above the trestle? If you were then we spoke briefly!
Fished the Bears Den last night and temps were into the 80s. (water temp). So, I barely fished but had a field day flipping over rocks just to see what was crawling around, while I waited for the sun to set. I am going to put fishing on hold on the Millers for a while. I fished from 5pm-930 and the temp did not drop to a safe number, so I am unsure why people claim the "evening" hatch is a good time. I assume the morning hatch would be a safer time to target these fish.
With this hot spell not letting up for a while, I assume even the morning hatch will be compromised. I hope others hang the fly rod up or head to another impoundment where water temps are safer. I can't wait for the fall thoughon the Millers!
Safe wading
A string of 90+ days will put most freestone rivers down. This weekend I fished/guided in the evening and I/client caught trout which swam away quickly but it wasn't as HOT as it is now as I write. A previous poster did the same. The Bears Den has always seemed to be impacted more by heat than the lower section. Why, I don't know.
I wouldn't wait until Fall. Between 7/13 and 8/13 we will lose an hour of daylight and that always effects things. A cloudy day or a misty/rainy day will start things going too.
I remember decades ago when people told me that the Squannacook wasn't worth fishing during mid Summer. I always caught trout, browns of course.
Ouch, this should impact fishing the Swift. From the gaging station chart it looks like the spillway shut off today around noon. Flow has fallen from 110 to 60 cfs. Hope the water temps stay cool enough to support July's fresh infusion of fish. Perhaps they'll open up the bubbler a bit.
Bob O,
FINALLY!!! When the spillway water was in the mix at 160cfs the temperature was around 62 at the Pipe. Now the water will be in the mid 50's which is where it should be for the Swift. The flow is around the historical average too.
I like a mid Summer flow between 60 and 80cfs. 60 cfs means tiny flies and fewer tubers!!!!
Ken
Folks,
The storm appears to have past. The attacks on Summertime fly fishing on the Millers appear to have passed. It's NEVER easy on the Millers, or any other freestone Ma river, at this time of year but fly fishing awaits the angler who takes it slowly. The fly fishing literature over the last hundred years has spoken very well of the obstacles and SUCCESS of freestone fly fishing during the height of Summer.
For a different environment I say go to the Swift OR contact Harrison Anglers for a float on the Deerfield. Dan and Tom run a first class operation on this river. Their guiding experience from Montana to Chile brings a boatload of experience which is, of course, invaluable to the drift float angler. They wouldn't have received national exposure in Flyfisherman Magazine if that wasn't the case.
I've only recommended one other fly fishing business on this site and that's Charlie Shaden's EVENING SUN FLY SHOP. HARRISON ANGLERS IS THE SECOND.
BTW, I've never received anything thing from these good people in return by promoting them. I just like them!!
Ken
Fished the swift 7/15 caught 5 or 6 nice strong bows on my go to fly, partridge and orange/yellow/green pick any color. Very short time line for dries, fishing was tough, was liked they flipped a switch around 630 or 7, no more fish for jonesie.
Ken,
That was me doing the wet wade. Glad to finally put a face to the name. Just after you left, I caught a really nice brown in the fast water right above where the guy you brought along with you was fishing. It caught me off guard a bit as I only threw it in because I tend to have the habit of checking areas for fish where I will be standing next. This time it paid off.
Ken,
Planning on heading up for a mid day trip to the Millers...scheduling and Kids only really give me time for mid day fishing. What would you suggest? Im thinking an afternoon from Wendell Depot down river later this week. Let me know! Thanks!
By the way, good to see everyone acting like Gentlemen on the forum again.
Kozman,
Good work on that brown!! I was on the river Wednesday evening and finally saw rising fish at dark - as I was leaving!!
Tony,
Mid day will be tough unless it's cloudy. Even then it will tough. Try something large to get their attention.
Yes, we are trying to behave ourselves. I think we are doing it!!
Ken
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