The Swift - The Flow Goes Down And The Trout Come Up - And The Millers

It may seem counter intuitive to some (like a fly fishing rafting fan that I've encountered) that heavy rain will NOT raise the flow rate below RT 9 on the Swift. Only the heaviest rain, like last Fall, will do that. Quabbin will hold back it's waters even when 6 inches were dumped on that watershed like last Friday. In fact the flow was reduced from 125cfs to 50cfs AFTER the rain. As one contributor to this blog stated a year or so ago the Connecticut River flow dictates the Swift flow. The more water in the Connecticut River will cause a reduction in the Swift flow, pure and simple.

Anyway, the LOWER flow has brought the trout UP!! Monday, during the day, and Tuesday evening were banner occasions. I fished dries exclusively and landed trout in the 18 inch range in and around the PIPE section. What was strange was the ant event at dusk Tuesday night. One regular said that they looked like caddis but a very close examination showed winged ants in the size 20 range. I still had them on me when I got back to the car. Ant events are not a dusk event so this was strange. The bows loved them. My 18# parachute tan emerger brought some action until the ants took over.

Rafting fly fishers - Monday at noon saw an inflatable battleship, more at home on the Deerfield, trying to negotiate it's way down the placid Swift during a 50 cfs flow. Amidst the scraping noise and the "excuse me" excuses we watched the guide actually have to jump overboard to negotiate this raft through shallow water and deadfalls. Comments were made in their direction. Again, the Swift is NOT a river to be floated!! It's too damn small. It is a WADING RIVER. You ruin things for wading fly fishers. I hate to say it but I would rather encounter a kayak than one of these inflatable tankers. You are not allowed above RT9. The same rules should exist below RT9 until the boat ramp. Guess what - there's trout below the boat ramp. Go cruising down there!!!

The Millers - The flow is up (finally) and I'll spend some time up there. August has always been good on that river during the evenings. The days are already shorter with the sun setting much sooner than just a month ago. The browns have survived (they did in 2010, the worst Summer) and should provide some action as dusk settles on this wonderful river.

Ken

Fog On The Swift And An Old Fly Works Well

The Swift has been bouncing between 45 cfs and 125 cfs for weeks now. I can't talk about what's happening above RT 9 but the fishing below RT 9 has been better with the lower flow. There are a few reasons for this. A higher flow may move the bows around while the lower flow will concentrate them. But there is another reason for this and it's the Summertime fog that wraps up the river on high flows. First, the fog is created by the mix of cold air near the cold water and the humid Summer air above. At 45cfs there is little mixing of the air because the low flow has less cooling effect. Ramp up the flow to 125cfs (a lot more cold water) and you'll have those blankets of fog that can last all day. I see far fewer mayflies when a heavy fog is on the water, period!!! That means fewer rising trout!! All of this is moot when we have a clear, low humidity day. There will very little fog. The "Old Fly" - backcast to my post of 1/12/09. The old Millers Bivisible, a big bushy concoction, DID raise two bows through a heavy morning fog on the Swift. I think the trout could see it!! Ken