It was a busy weekend with hitting the Swift put on the back burner. But moving the clock ahead opens up late afternoons/evenings which figured into my plans nicely. I would be on the Swift late Monday afternoon!
I passed the Y Pool lot at 4:30. 8 to 10 cars were there with another 6 or so parked across from River Road BUT the Pipe lot was EMPTY!!
I fished for 90 minutes from the Pipe downstream and took 5 'bows. Two were large fish (14 and 18 inches) and the others were around 10 inches. The big guys fell for a #12 scud with a green,glass bead head. A Swift Serendipity(#16) and a larvae pattern (#12) took the others.
The Swift flow is around 175 cfs with half of the Pipe showing. Still a little high but it's heading in the right direction.
Spring is here!! The "Dark Season" is over. Soon the freestone rivers will get their fish (look for holdovers after this Winter)and life will be fine.
9 comments:
Rather large flies for typical swift'ers! Glad to hear about an enjoyable run on the river. Those sizes would be enjoyable at the vise...at least for the sake of my eyes vs. tying 26s & 28s!!! Can't wait for the dogwood out my window to bloom, thats a good indicator of when the bite will officially turn on! Everything is popping out of the ground, trees are in Bud, safe to say that groundhog was right a little off
Unless at the Y pool or its feeders where micro flies can be requisite, I've had good success with 14's and 16's. Generally my scud and caddis ties, soft hackles or even the SJW are on a #14 scud hook. Getting 'em before willing fish is the trick. I've found also that variety seems to work. If the fish turn off after a couple are taken, a change of flies can often spark further interest.
I find 175 cfs is not an uncomfortable rate. The spillway must still be flowing. A good rain (and we're due) will jack things up again. Till then - let's enjoy.
I had the pleasure of fishing my small homewater stream on Sunday and took a number of beautiful local browns and brookies - none over 11" but full of color and energy. All on a tan caddis larva (hares ear) with a brown antron head with just a touch of ice dub for flash. Yep on a #14 scud hook.
See you on the water.
Bob 0,
You are a trusted source. Variety is the trick when casting multiple flies. The three patterns that I used all caught trout and they were from #12 to #16. I feel that smaller patterns would of also worked but I was too lazy to change the 5x tippet!!
175 cfs will work especially since we haven't seen that flow since October. I'll take it but 100 cfs or below during the mornings/evenings of late Spring and Summer is what I can't wait for.
I'm tying scuds and those larvae patterns in the meantime!
Ken
Hit the millers yesterday for a long walk and some fishing in the deeper, slower areas. Early Dark Stones were taking flight up and down the river by the hundreds. A beautiful sight to behold coming out of winter. Had to climb into the water and wade afew times just to cool down! In early March! Action was hard to come by except for a trusted winter hang out or too....DEEP dead drifted streamers was the ticket. Oh, and the first mosquitos were already hovering around at the car afterwards. It wont be long now!
The Ware's been stocked.
Saw one spin caster on the river by my house when I got home from work. By the time I'd gotten into the waders and walked back down to the river, there were three more.
I thought that the nice weather was bringing them out, but after a hook-up on my second drift I realized that it had been stocked. Landed a couple of nice rainbows in faster water, which surprised me, as it's a freestone and all, but after a half-hour and once the temps dropped by 5:30 they had all moved down into the pool.
Size 16 tung bead z-wing caddis. Saw a few decent hatches too.
I took a long hike on Monday too. I bushwacked about 2 or 3 miles up the Quinnepoxet near the headwaters in a section I hoped would yield a lot of wild Brookies. I found great plunge pools, but got zipped.
I fish the Quinnie a lot, but rarely fish so high up on the river. It was worth the hike and also had to get in the water to cool off. Crazy weather. Anyone know if north of Mill street bridge is worthwhile?
Someone here was doing well on the Quinnie this month, but it was not me. :)
Yes, the walk upstream of Mill St is worth the walk. Another option is to head downstream from the quinnie reservoir damn. Some nice water through that stretch. If you don't mind saying, where were you heading in from?
upstream from Mill St bridge...probably hiked a couple of miles up,but didn't hit the dam. Lots of buswacking. I usually fish below (or just above) rte 31.
Should be getting good soon.
I'd rather drivee 30 minutes and bushwhack all day on a local water, than drive 6 hours and see a throng of CT fly fishermen (all Yankke fans by the way).
The days on the Farmington are over for me. 40 guys fishing today in mid march and in mid 40* temps.
I'll stick with the sox fans in MA, NH, VT & ME!
-BT
Post a Comment