Two things had to be done this past Wednesday night: hit the EB before the monsoon blows the river out and watch the Bruins!!
We did both.
The upper sections had more than the usual number of anglers as it appeared that they wanted to take advantage of the flows. We went downstream a bit and had the place to ourselves.
The short hour and a half trip produced a half dozen browns and 'bows all taken on the surface. Water levels were great, caddis filled the air and the section that my friend and I fished had what appeared to be a steady grey fox spinner fall. I used stoneflies, caddis and a big, scary hair wing Adams. They all took trout with that aggressive, splashy rise of trout chasing caddis. Then it was time for the Bruins.
We made it to the tavern in Willimsburg to catch the end of the first period. This place has a Wednesday special of a glass of craft beer and a burger with fries for $5.00!!! We caught fish and our team won! A perfect night.
Anyway, the EB and the Millers will rise again starting today if this forecast is true BUT the EB will begin dropping by Sunday and be fishable by early Tuesday. I'll be there!!
Ken
15 comments:
Fished it yesterday. All I will say is the feed is on. Stones, Iso's caddis, sulphurs. Took an 18" brookie and brown on top.
-BT
The Millers was high but fishable Thursday night. There were bugs on the water: scattered mayflies, small dark caddis, and yellow stoneflies. For 10 glorious minutes, the fish were practically climbing into my fly box to get at the yellow Stimulators. Looks like it'll be a couple of weeks before we'll be seeing Millers browns again.
Brad
Brad - what area of the Millers did you hit Thursday night? I was thinking about heading over to Wendell but opted to stay on the Swift and get frustrated with a sulphur hatch.
Came upon a good March brown spinner fall yesterday morning below Rt 9 which the fish had no interest in. Sulphurs started coming off good in the early afternoon. The fish were keyed in on only the emergers - duns were not touched - and I did not have the emerger they were interested in.
Al
Al,
I was at Kempfield. It was quiet--only three of us there. There's still time for those who aren't stuck at work: the Miller's is at 450 CFS...there are probably a couple of hours left.
Guess it's time to be frustrated by sulphurs on the Swift. I can think of worse fates.
Brad
Al,
I was at Kempfield. It was quiet--only three of us there.
The Millers looks like it'll be fishable for maybe a few more hours, until all this rain makes it downstream.
Then we'll all be getting frustrated by sulphers on the Swift. I'm looking forward to that.
Brad
Ken thanks for letting us know about that special at the Tavern in Williamsburg on Wednesdays, I would have stopped in myself for a celebratory beer and burger after the spectacular fishing on the EB that night; looks like I will be leaving work early on more Wednesdays this summer. The rain though untimely will keep the EB in good shape. I've barely been able to get to the Deerfield with its constant high water releases. Guess I will tie more flies this weekend
As I write this the EB gauge reads 2470 cfs. This is misleading. The gauge is below the flood control dam and is reading the RELEASE of water held back earlier this weekend. All the gauges in Western Ma are going DOWN as this gauge is going up. I took a ride through the Gorge and the flow is probably around a 1000 cfs or so.
Now it's going to rain Monday night through Tuesday and rain HARD!!! We'll see what happens.
Ken
GOOD! Will spread the fish out and continue good fishing into July!
-BT
Made my first trip to the Swift since the winter. Plenty of fish in the FFO section. Got fish on top on ants and sulfur emergers and underneath on scuds and other generic nymphs in size 14-16. Left in mid-afternoon so I missed the evening rise.
Fished the EB in the Gorge on Sunday; had to dodge the sunbathers and dog walkers. Flows were high which really put a limit on where you could drop a line into but I managed to land two nice browns, a rainbow and a 5" wild brookie. I raised one huge lunker twice on a tandem streamer rig but I just couldnt get him to commit. This is the second time on the EB that I've witnessed an exceptionally large fish while fishing streamers. I will try again soon.
Tom,
I took a ride down the road next to the EB Sunday afternoon to check out the current. That must of been you fishing just upstream from the lower gate.
The kayak folks must of had fun.
Ken
These flows...¡No bueno!...The rain always seems to coincide with my days off of work, my wife must have made a call to order up this rain haha On the upside my lawn and Tomatos will be great this year!!
-Tony in Medway
I was listening to one of the Orvis podcasts on Caddis. What species of Caddis is on the Millers, EB and Swift? Or is this a mute point?
Dave
EB is 3,800 cfs today. Get out the Ark! The good news is the fish should be spread out, as in the woods!
-ASM
Dave,
Mute point for the Millers because it has many caddis species. The same for the EB. For the Swift it's the Winter Caddis of February through April that is of note.
Ken
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