Wonderful Rain - Hit The Rivers This Weekend

It's been getting dry. We haven't had any real rain in two weeks and the EB and even the Millers got down into the 100's (cfs) over the last few days. Short term that is not a problem. Long term it can be.

ALL THAT ENDED LAST NIGHT!! A line of late night storms barreled through Western Ma. and sent the EB from a placid 150 cfs to over 1600 by dawn today. IT IS PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If we hold off on additional rain the EB will drop quickly to the fishable 500 cfs range by Saturday morning and then stay steady.

The Millers got into the act too. As I write the flow on the lower river is around 350 cfs, up from about 200. This needs to be watched. Flow spikes tend to be delayed on this river.

We need these rain cycles. They recharge everything. If we can hold this pattern all summer it will great.

Fly Fish this weekend!

Ken

River Review As Spring Moves Into Summer

How have the Millers and the EB been fishing? The answer - perfect, excellent, best in years as my own observations and others have pointed out. The Millers has been running at a steady fishable pace for weeks now which usually isn't the case. The EB has had the flush of local T-storms to keep it from getting to bony. Having fishable flows and cool weather (nighttime lows in the high 40's really help)have kept the trout active.

The Swift - below rt 9 it is slim pickings and above rt 9 not too much better. We can count on the 7/1 regulation change below rt9 to give us a good stocking of trout (it always has)but why do we have to wait sooooo long for this when the vast majority of anglers who fish this section are C&R fly fishers who don't litter the place with coffee cups and bait containers and who stand in the middle of the tree pool waiting for a "bite" on their power bait which keeps everyone else from effectively fishing this pool?? Thankfully "they" have dwindled over the last few weeks because there are few trout because they caught and kept them all. Personally, I am tired of this policy. This is a fly fishing river pure and simple.

The Millers and the EB will be swinging into summer mode very soon. The great mid day catches of a month ago will cease with action occurring very early in the morning and in the evening into dark. If we have a cloudy, cool and misty day in July and August your daytime catches will improve because of that weather especially for browns. The Swift will be the Swift - flowing along at 58 degrees and hopefully some trout.

One of the above pictures shows a stocking just upstream from the Pipe last year. The trout are tossed into the river just above the intake building where they school up for days and are hammered by everyone. One would thing that the boys would swing the truck around to River Rd and toss some at the gauge and the other up river turnoff. Hopefully they will read this!!!

Ken

Sorry for the delay in posting. Lots of guiding, lots of fishing and lots of quick tying to get my fly boxes replenished.

Here it is:

Fish the EB - This river has been producing very well even through some weekend crowds(it's not really crowded) Find your way out here during the week and you will find next to nobody there. The fly fishers that you run into are just like you: friendly, low key and are just looking for a wide section to fish. There's plenty of that on the EB.

Fish the Millers - flows are very good and the Thursday Friday rains haven't (so far) jumped the flows into something that is unfishable. HIT THIS RIVER. Lots of bows and browns.

The Swift - I've heard the story about the lack of fish. It may be true or not. I've done well and so have others while others claim to be fishing a desert. One thing is true - there are fewer trout especially below RT 9 but trout are there. After the July 1st regulations change we will see more trout due, hopefully, to a late stocking for the catch and release folks who are the ones who REALLY cherish this river.

What's been working - soft hackles have been ruling the day for me on the EB, Millers and have been working well on the Swift by the Pipe. Any dusky olive pattern in average sizes works well. WB's in SMALL sizes (10-12) cut to the chase on the Millers/EB. Choose the dry fly pattern to fit the occasion on these rivers.

We are into PRIME TIME on these three rivers. Within two weeks we will be into the summer mode on the EB and the Millers - early morning and evening fishing until mid September when it is all day fishing.

I don't want to think about September now. We have three months of great fishing on three great rivers.

GO FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ken

Forgetting What Worked....

Sometimes you wonder why you stop doing things especially things that work. Maybe because they may seem passe or old and from an other time. Maybe you stop doing something that works because you know that in a short time you will be in a situation where that technique will just have to be stripped away in order to deal with an evening rise or some other situation.

I had a short window of opportunity to work this presentation out of my brain. As I crested Chesterfield Center at 5:00pm the temperature read 83 degrees but the darkening haze to the west let me know what was in store. At 5:30 I was in the water on a very average riffle/run section of the EB. It looked more like 8:30!! On went a size 10 yellow and partridge and a size 10 tarantula as the top fly.

I used to work this set up ten years ago on this river and had very good success but I abandoned it for a single fly approach. It was perfect for the riffles and semi plunge pockets that the EB is famous for. A great trout hunting set up.

I fished for 45 minutes before the distant sound of thunder made me leave. Three large 'bows came to the net. Two on the surface fly and one on the soft hackle.

If you are addicted to indicators I would ditch the indicator and use a large dry fly like a tarantula, simulator or a size 10 Adams or any large mayfly. You can practice your dry fly technique and still catch trout!

On the way back I stopped at the Bliss Pool and saw some rising trout but the thunder was very close and I had done what I wanted to do. I felt fine.

As I crested Chesterfield Center on the way back east the temperature was down to 67 degrees. The skies opened up when I made it to home in Leeds and it poured for an hour. Wednesday (tomorrow) will be in the 70's and the forecast for the next few days will be cooler than the last two. Good news for the EB!!

I saw NOBODY fishing the river!!! So much for weekday crowds. For those who want to fish the EB in mid June please remember that early morning and late afternoon are prime. Mid day.....not so much unless it's cloudy and cool.

I'll hit the Millers again on Thursday if it's not too high.

Ken