On Thursday the 24th the Millers gauge at Erving read 565cfs at 5:00am. high but acceptable. I knew that the river was rising but didn't know that it crested at 760cfs at noon until I got home in the late afternoon. The fellow that I guided had multiple hits but few landed and that was because of the heavy flow. The area deserved a second chance.
Friday morning I hit the Orcutt section.
This place has never been a favorite section due to the heavy crowds. It is a very easy section to fish in high water and today there was only one other fly caster. One wades down the right side of the river and casts across. Normally this is a good technique but the flow was too heavy to fish it correctly. I waded across the flow until I was about between the center and right bridge supports looking upstream and then cast a #8 black WB into the calm water near the opposite bank.
I took four large browns and two rainbows of the same weight class. These big fish dug deep and took some effort to get to the net.
Now the Kempfield - The water is too high and I didn't want to bother the goose family that claimed the "Island" section which is still fishable. So I went down to the large pool at the end of the run, waded out on the sand bar as far as I could go and dropped that wb for a slow deep drift. I took two very healthy browns doing that. Personally I like light lines and lower water and today's fishing was something that I would consider for Patriot's Day but not Memorial Day Weekend.
There is no rain in the forecast so this river will (hopefully) drop by Sunday and Monday.
THE EB - It is loaded with fish but success has been spotty. I took a few in a few hours. It will get better soon. The fish are there!!
Ken
16 comments:
Hit the kempfield pool on the Millers last night from 6pm until dark and it was fantastic; 6 big browns to the net and lost 2 others. The fish were rising in the foam line all evening, I suspect to caddis emergers as the fish were taking something subsurface, the rises were their backs and tail fins like a dolphin. I tied on a soft hackle dropper to my CDC/Elk and immediately landed a nice brown. Continually worked at catching some really nice fish. I did alright but I just could not completely dial it in with what they were going after. Any advice Ken? Right at dusk sulphurs started coming off. Even noticed some large stoneflies. Only saw one other fly fisherman who left at 7pm and some spin fisherman who were more interested in partying on the other side of the river. The Millers has been fishing really well cant believe no one was there.
Tom,
They may have been going after sulphur emergers. It's just a guess. Glad to see that you did well. I saw one fly fisher on Thursday and one on Friday on the Millers. Also the Swift was only lightly fished this morning. Lots of room and lots of fish. Maybe Memorial Day activities don't include fly fishing!
Ken
I have been fishing the Millers a minimum of 5-6 times every week for months now....the fishing has been fantastic and the pressure light...Early success in Athol near the Shore Drive aptmnt....recent success at the Orcutt section....many nice rainbows and a select number of nice Browns...not a ton of fishing pressure anywhere along the river.
No need for me to drive from Ortange to the Swift when the Millers has been fishing so well.
Tom from Orange
Tom From Orange,
The Millers is a great river and your posts give evidence of that. I fish the Swift because I now live fairly close to it and the fishing is very good BUT it is a different river, a tailwater, which makes it very different from the Millers. The Millers, after 29 seasons of fishing, is still my home river. You sound like me back in the 1990's - WHY GO ANYWHERE ELSE!!
Since 2008 the Millers has had extremes of flows which is something that I NEVER saw before. If we have a NORMAL season like most of the almost 30 seasons that I have seen we will be doing fine.
One of my Kempfield browns was very dark. Most certainly a holdover!
Ken
I fished the Swift on Friday and it was pretty busy.The fish were rising to Sulphurs.
Mike
I fished the Bridge St. Area of the Millers. Caught a ton of smallmouth, perch, and a couple nice brown trout throughout the day. Very productive stretch. Was hoping for more trout on the line...but the smallmouth couldn't resist my fly and they were fun to land either way. Had to leave before the evening hatch...would have been interesting to see what starts hitting the top at sunset. Tight lines everyone.
I'm planning on hitting the Millers tonight after work at the spot below the "dam" in Orange as I've heard it's a good evening dry fly spot. Does anyone have any recommendations for or against this idea?
PCL - hope you enjoyed the last sub 500 cfs flow probably for the next 1 1/2 wks. How did you do? I was planning on doing the Millers Thursday and Friday.... of next week now.
Al
Ok, not on the millers, but the EB Swift and Quinni, I have caught several (5 or 6) 16-19" brookies (yes, brookies) this spring, and more brookies in general than probably the last 5 years combined on those rivers - and I've fished less this year (sad). Anyone else noticing a higher number of brookies and a larger size to them this year? One of about 18" on sunday looked like it could have eaten the 3-4" brookies I'd started the day fishing for in a local native stream!
Al,
Don't be too sure of high flows for the Millers "for the next 1 1/2 weeks" because of last night. There was a sharp rise in that river today and a quick DROP in flow. That is not normal for the Millers unless the hydro operators in Orange are playing some games. They have done that in the past. I think that the river will come down if we don't get additional heavy rain. We will see.
I plan to fish it Friday evening!
Ken
Al,
I stuck out on trout, but was only there about an hour before the weather rolled in. No hatches and nothing doing under either, nymphs or streamers.
It's an interesting spot, for sure. I definitely noticed the flow drop while I was there in the run that flows out from under the building, so as Ken said above, they maybe messing with the flow rate.
Ken,
This is a bit off topic but last year on a guided trip you gave me a nice stonefly-ish type fly for general dry/wet fly fishing. It has worked great and I would like to tie more. You said the was a certain material for the wing. What material do you use?
Thanks,
Mike
Mike C.
I think that it may have been a stimulator and the wing is made from elk or deer hair.
Ken
Ken,
The fly has a lot less hackle than a stimulator, just a little at the head. You had mentioned the wing material floated well and therefore didn't need as much hackle. I thought you said the wing was a synthetic. I can try some with deer or elk.
Mike
Went to the Millers yesterday (6/1) in the early AM. Water was very warm, over 70 degrees, and the river was running a little on the high side, 565 cfs. My two friends and I had a few hits by small fry. We saw no trout. I was able to bring a smallmouth to the net but that was it. It hit on a caddis emerger. There was a nice hatch going on but no rising fish. I suspect the warm water and sunlight had something to do with it.
LindaP,
Good to hear from you. Last evening I drove by the Millers (no time to fish) and saw a fly fisher at Orcutt with a good fish on. Minutes later I went past Wendell Depot where I saw 6 or 7 vehicles in the lot. It was a PERFECT evening for this river. I'm sure fish were caught. It was also good to see people fishing this river. 20 years ago it was a different story.
Ken
Post a Comment