The Millers is loaded with Trout. The Swift is loaded with Trout. Take your pick of either river. You will not be disappointed!!! I guided on the Millers this past Saturday and my guy hooked a dozen. I took 11 in an hour and a half late Sunday afternoon on the Swift and a return trip to the Millers late Monday saw another four brought to the net in short time. The holdover/spring stocked browns are there with some new fish. Yes, there are rainbows.
The flows, around 200cfs for the Millers, are perfect. Ditto for the Swift.
I've seen some great fishing on the Millers in November but it is a rare due to high water from the Tully drawdown and Autumn rains. Hopefully that will hold off this year.
Don't miss this wonderful season. Winter will be coming soon!
Ken
22 comments:
Hey Ken,
Fished Sunday and netted no less than 19 rainbows (why doesnt our DFW get it?)in the Wendell section. All on traditional wets. Unbelievable few hours on a wonderful fishery. Unfortunately I only had 4 browns come to hand.
Scott
Ken,
Do you think the millers has some natural phenomenon that allows it to holdover browns better than other freestones in the area like the Ware river? Or if C&R areas were created for other rivers the outcome would be similar to the Millers in respect to holdovers?
Still enjoy your posts Ken, thanks
Cliff in Sturbridge
Sure does have a natural phenomenon, in the form of cool tribs and a great food source both the buggy and fishy kind not seen in other Mass rivers. The sheer size of the river both in its long journey and healthy width helps keep down angling pressure as well.
I have not fished the Millers this year but am drooling over the flows as of late, coupled with good reports and a decent stocking. Perhaps a "sick day" from work is impending. Think I feel a caugh coming on :)
It's a bit of a drive for me, but I'd like to hit the Millers this week or weekend. Do you suggest the Trestle and Kempfield section? Is Wendell a different area? Any dry fly action?
I happen to be in NH this past weekend and fished the Amonoussac in the Mt Washington valley. Small water, lots of brightly colored wild brookies. All on high floating dries like Wulff's and Adams. Easy wading with no fish bigger than 6/7 inches, but lots of fun. I recommend it if you haven't been up there.
Cliff,
Only the C&R areas get brown trout every year on the Millers. They have the most holdover trout BUT browns can be found everywhere on the Millers.
Falsecast,
The Upper Trestle and the Kempfield section are close together. The Upper Trestle gets dicey when the flow gets about 400cfs. Fish both sections.
Ken
Ken what are the flies for the Millers as of late? I'm thinking mid sized nymphs, some high riding dries like dark caddis maybe? Wooly buggers and some basic streamers?
I'd like to head out there if I could in the next ___ or so, work depending of course.
Was on the Miller's on Tuesday. Banner day. Nailed it Ken, these days is utter perfection on this river. Browns and Bows all day long! Tigh lines!
Shad
Tony,
All of the flies that you mentioned are working. It's really great on this river right now!!!
Ken
Fished the Wendell Depot area for a couple hours this mid-day. Three browns and a rainbow - all caught on my woolly-daddy crawdad fly.
Gerry,
"Wooly Daddy Crawdad Fly????" You introduced me to root beer buggers so I will believe you. Share the tying instructions if you dare!! Glad to see you on the Millers!!!
Ken
Guys,
What a week!!!! Everyone is fishing the Millers and everyone is catching trout!!
Ken
I spent a good amount of time at the Miller's yesterday. I worked the riffles above the Upper Trestle pool. There were tons of BWO's around. At the pool there was a lot of top water action. I caught 3 chubs and 2 smallmouth all on size 18/20 duns. Don't think I've seen bass feeding on top like that.
Switched to a bugger and went below the tracks, lost one under the road and ended at the Kempfield, but no fish landed.
The BWO's were everywhere and fish were rising, but not the trout were not that active for me?
Earlier in the week I fished the Squannakook which was fishing well due to fall stocking.
My brother in-law and I fished the lower parts of Kempfield from about 8am yesterday morning into mid-day. Netted a really nice brown on a bugger on the third cast and two others throughout our time there. Moved up to the riffles b/t the trestle and rt.2 bridge for a bit, but no luck.
Made the drive to Greenfield for lunch at The People's Pint, great food, better beer, and drove back to Orcutt to finish out the day. Netted 4 bows, two obvious holdovers, really firm, dark fish, w/ red bellies, and two soft, light colored stockers, in the riffles on bh-hares ears.
It was a good day, that started out at Flaggs, where Mr. Flagg had us in stitches as we walked in, by asking us if we were going ice fishing =D
~Pete
Fished the Kempfield section for a couple of hours yesterday and also found the only fish rising to be chub and sunfish. Shame since it was a nice BWO hatch. Did get one brown and one (dark) rainbow on streamers though, which was icing on the cake on such a beautiful afternoon on the river.
Brendan
Ken,
Have a quick question. Looks like there was a significant leap in flows starting Monday afternoon. It's settling out now but had gotten up to close to 500cfs from the 200 range pretty quickly. Looks like more than the bit of rain we got. Is this Tully? And if so does it shut down the river for a few days, or is the flow, which is normally very wadable at this level generally not high enough yet for a big effect? Thanks.
I don't think it is from a drawdown of Tully Lake. The lake is still at normal summer levels:
https://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/nae/cwms_realtime.projectpage?gagecode=TLD
Paul
FWIW - the outflow at 7am on Oct 14 was 14 cfs; the outflow on Oct 15 - 27 cfs; on the 16th - 48 cfs;
today (17th) - 69 cfs. It jumped from 48 to 70 cfs between 7am and 9am on the 16th. Thanks for the link, Paul. I had planned on fishing there today to enjoy the 200 cfs range flow.... didn't happen.
Al
There are a few things that we know about the Millers in the Fall: The drawdown from Tully will add about 20% to the average flow at this time of year. Fall rains will increase the flow due to the fact that vegetation is not drawing up moisture in the watershed. Add the lack of evaporation (it's Fall and not Summer)and we are left with the water having to go somewhere and that's the main river. It happens every year.
The Millers is below 400cfs as I write this. Rain will come tonight and tomorrow. Check the online gauge readings before you head out this weekend.
Ken
I fished from below the bridge pool?? to the Kempfield and got 2 Rainbows and a bass swinging buggers. Was higher than weekend, but fishable.
Ken, couple of questions about that stretch;
1. Is it worth fishing the riffles and skinny water? Last time I nymphed like crazy and had no action?
2. Do you think the Browns are holdovers from last fall, meaning a full year, or from the spring? How well do they holdover in general. 20+ inch fish?
3. I assume the smallmouth and other warm water fish swim up from the CT. Do they adversly effect the ability for trout to hold over? Do you catch them throughout the river or just the lower section?
4. Has anyone ever considered "put, grow and take" for this river? If it doesn't have wild browns, perhaps heavy fingerly stockings could grow some nice fish, no?
Thanks in advance.
Falsecast,
What I call the Bridge Pool is a few miles downstream from the Kempfield. It's at Bridge St., off RT2, in the Village of Farley.
You may mean from the lower trestle to the Kempfield section, maybe. This is a good section to fish especially when the Kempfield gets crowded.
The browns are a combination of Fall and Spring stocked fish and, because of a mild, ice free winter without floods, holdovers from 2011. I caught those fish before the Spring fish were dumped in.
Most of the bass were born in the Millers. I suspect that some of the large (measured in pounds) smallies caught in May/June may have come up from the Connecticut River. You find very large smallies below Bridge St. at that time of year although 2lb fish can be caught all the way upstream to Athol. I've never caught a smallie in the bears den, really!.
The smallies don't harm the trout.
Don't get me going on the last question. I could go on forever!!! Remember, there are watershed born browns in the Millers. The DFW says so. Will they try to improve these situation?????
Ken
Ken
Blogger Millers River Flyfisher said...
Gerry,
"Wooly Daddy Crawdad Fly????" You introduced me to root beer buggers so I will believe you. Share the tying instructions if you dare!! Glad to see you on the Millers!!!
Ken, I dared! See it on my blog:
http://flyfishnewengland.blogspot.com/
Gerry
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