September Browns On The EB, The Swift And The Millers Stocking

Mid September and fly fishing has been good, mostly.

The browns on the EB survived the Summer and have been rising at dusk for me. Sunset is around 6:50 now and these fish didn't start to dance until about 6:30. I took two at the Bliss Pool this week between 6:30 and 7:00pm. Two browns came to the net on size 14 olive comparaduns which seemed to match the large mayfly (maybe a cream cahill)that was hatching. One brown went 18 inches, a very good fish and the other was about 14 inches. I live 15 minutes from this gem of a river so I can time these evening trips pretty well. I was there for only an hour. It was worth it.

The Swift has been producing as usual despite the flow changes. Just adjust your tactics. One fly fishing site said the dry fly fishing on the Swift was off. Think again!! Low flows bring the bows up and it's been like that all Summer.

The Millers - This is my 30th season on this river and it has been sub normal. Normal means rising browns when flows are good and the flows have been ok through July and August but things are, to me, different and the reports that I've received back that up. If you have been doing well then that's very good for you but for me it hasn't been that good. An "off" year?? Maybe but why? Things seem the same as they have been but the action just really isn't there.

Maybe the Fall bow stocking will wake the browns up. We have another month or so to find out.

Let me know how your're doing on the Millers. Maybe it's just my luck or.....

Footnote (9/23)- Heard that the Millers will get stocked with Browns this Friday.

Ken

The Swift - It's Ups And Downs

The Swift ran at 50 cfs since last Fall and then made the jump to 125 almost three weeks ago. Then it fell back to 50 on on Monday but jumped back up to 125 eight hours before I wrote this. That low flow on the Connecticut River controls much of this but it doesn't put a damper on the trout fishing. It's been good regardless of the flow although 50 cfs requires more finesse than 125.

Earlier this week I spent a short evening below the gauge just hours after the tap was turned down. There were plenty of trout and I caught my share on a size 18 nymph that I will write about in a later post. That nymph will work now even when the flow is higher.

"Spent a short evening" were the words that I wrote. The evenings are getting shorter. Sundown that evening was at 7:06 pm, light enough to fish but not for long. I was fortunate for the two hours on the river but I kept thinking of the light at that time two months ago and the long cold season ahead. Short evening trips will soon be a thing of the past. Soon the trips will be full daytime trips much like anglers that have to put on the miles to find good fly fishing. I guess I'm lucky to live close to good rivers.

The Swift is fishing well. Fish the Swift!

Ken

The Swift - Late August Into September

It's that time of year again. If you are unfortunate enough to not live close to trout streams then you may not realize that shorter days are here. If you can only fish from 8am to 4am then you will only know that the sun rises later each day and that full sunlight in very early July means that you can fish at 5am and may need sunscreen. Not now. Fly tying light without a flashlight is after 6am and the evenings are much shorter. I live close to trout streams and my weekends are there BUT my evening trips are getting shorter. 8:30 in early July meant sunlight. Now it means darkness. The dreaded dark season will be here soon.

The Swift has been a charm and I'm talking about below route 9. The whole place is full of trout. Since the flow increased from 50 to 125 cfs the trout have moved around and are not stuck in the same places that we saw them when the flows were lower. Last Sunday morning I was the only one at the Pipe at 6:30 and saw only one other flyfisher until 10:30 when I left. I hooked about 14 and managed to land 9 and they were all strong, eager rainbows except for a 3 inch brookie that decided to get into the act. It was good fishing from the Crib Dam to the Pipe. The trout fell to a swift serendipity and (mostly) to a fly that I will mention later.

The Swift is this State's only tailwater trout fishery. We have to realize what this means to us and protect it. There are those who would want to see this as a "multi-use" recreational water resource but we are the dominate recreational user and have been for decades. Let's keep it this way.

Ken