This Weekend - Where To Go And A Lost Rod Tip On The Millers

It is dead mid Summer and logic says go to the Swift. It's a safe bet because of the cold water and the fish population but there are options.

The EB - I guided someone with limited dry fly experience this past Tuesday evening with flows below 200cfs BUT we had rising trout throughout the evening. There are many trout there and with the bump in the flow this week AND with high temperatures in the 70 to 80 degrees with night time temps in the 50's we are talking about opportunities in the evenings and especially in the early morning. Give it a shot!!

The Millers - Up and down and up and down. It's down NOW. Fish in the evening and not in the morning if you plan to get there after 7am. Maybe I should of said 4am because that's when I had my best morning Summer results. Fish the Wendell section in the evening into the dark. My best dry fly fishing on this river over the past 30 years has been at dusk on the lower river!

Back to the EB. The weekly rain, be it a regional storm or a local t'storm, has kept this river fishing as good as 2009 which was the best season in the last five years. Try to make an evening on this river!!

If you lost a rod tip (maybe a 4pc 5wt)on the Millers just email me and I will try to reunite your family.

Ken

The Rain - The Good And The Bad Of It And A Lost Rod Tip - See Comments

The weatherman said look out for storms last Tuesday but as I headed east at 5pm the sky was nothing but hazy. Paul headed west towards Wendell Depot after a big storm hit his town just outside the watershed. We were hoping for a few hours on the Millers.

The flow had just nudged over the 500 cfs level when we started. Some may like this level but I don't especially in the Summer. Cut it in half and I'm fine. When a inch smallie rips line off your reel because he's broadside heading downstream the flow is just too high. I spent the next hour or so practicing my casting.

Then came the lightning. We made it back to the cars before the skies opened up with the heaviest downpour I've seen since Irene. The result of this: the Millers went from a rather high 535 cfs to about 2000 cfs in 24 hours. As I write this (6am on 6/19) it's still roaring along at 1250. It will take a while to come down.

The EB rose like a rocket too but has come down nicely to 272 cfs. That is PERFECT!! Fish this river this weekend!! This weather pattern has been great for the EB. That whole watershed is WET with every brook and spring keeping the river cool and at a good level between storms. This year is much like 2008 and 2009 where the EB was great through the Summer and the Millers was unfishable.

The Swift just keeps rolling along with the trout beginning to spread themselves out. I can't say the same for the fishermen who still school up in the usual spots. I took two new fly fishers to the Swift, showed them the crowds, and directed them to an empty stretch of river where they both caught their first Swift River rainbows.

This is considered "High Summer". It's that two week period in July when we have, historically, our warmest temperatures
of the year. The EB has made it through this period this year. The Millers???

Ken

Mid Summer Update And A Jerk On The Swift.

It was a good week! A Tuesday evening at the EB resulted in 9 trout (7 bows and two browns) taken on the surface. There was no hatch but the trout rose to a small hopper pattern and later to a size 14 hairwing adams. And they fought, especially the rainbows!! They jumped, ran and then darted away when released. The water was in the high 60's but there was a good flow which results in a good exchange of oxygen over the miles of riffles that this river has. High dissolved oxygen is vital for trout survival. These trout were healthy and bringing them to the net quickly will not hurt them.

The Millers is finally losing weight. Lets hope that the t-storm forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday doesn't cause this river to pig out - again.

Now for the Swift. Saturday morning was packed at the PIPE as the photo shows. I counted 8 from the pipe flow to the end of the Tree Pool. I found a lonely spot upstream and caught a few on pinheads. The trout have spread themselves around which is what we want them to do.

Now for the JERK. My friend Bill was talking to a fly fisher at the PIPE this week who claims that some guy in a canoe was trying to SPEAR trout in the Tree Pool!!!!!!!!! A totally illegal act and just another thing that we have to put up with. If it's not the trash dropping bait boys and the guys who keep their limit THREE TIMES A DAY it's now this. What's next, canoes with trawling nets??? Call the DFW law enforcement if you see stuff like that. 508-366-1176

Ken

The Three Rivers - Everything Seems Right But.......

Thunder is in the air as I write this. Arthur brought rain but not like his sister Irene did almost three years ago. The EB went up and went down as scheduled and if we don't get blasted in the next few hours it will be fine this week. A 1/4 inch of rain will not hurt. It will help in the long run. Right now it's a morning/evening fishery during these hot bright days but because of the flow mornings will last longer and evenings will start sooner.

The Swift - caught a bunch in two trips to the Pipe area over the long weekend and really didn't see the expected crowds during my morning (6am to 10am)outings. In fact, the place was pretty much empty when I left each morning. There are plenty of trout that took #18 and #20 pinheads and another #18 fly that I will mention later did very well. The bows are BIG, period!! Hint: stay away from the usual places.

The "But" in the title refers to the Millers. It's been fishing well if you know when to go (refer to the EB paragraph) but this river has put some serious weight on (high flow) since Friday. It's FAT again and I hope the storm that ran through the area around 5pm today doesn't add too many calories. 200 cfs to 300 cfs is PERFECT. It's over 900 right now. Wait to this weekend.

Tomorrow will be the Swift or the EB in the late afternoon and into the evening.

It's starting to rain. Looks like the Swift tomorrow but we will watch the flow and make a decision then.

Ken

The Swift - A Strange Day

One look at the Pipe parking lot said it all - two cars at 1:45 pm on July 1st meant that the lower C&R had not been stocked as was hoped on this first day of the new regulations. I met a guide who, after spending a few hours there, wasn't bragging about the catch. But I had the plan to fish anyway so off into the river I went.

Two bows were taken above the gauge and nothing was caught or seen in the riffles below. It was a repeat of the last two weeks with what appeared to be a scarcity of fish. It's what most have said about the place over the last two weeks.

Then I went to the Tree Pool.

At first it appeared devoid of fish UNTIL the "pellet hatch" started! Within a few minutes the place was crazy with rising fish. 20 or 30 were smashing the surface and that lasted for about 20 minutes and then it went dead again.

I have to say that I have been guilty of saying that the place was fished out. It's not. We just were not clever enough to catch many. What is fairly obvious is that this pool holds most of the fish where in previous years the trout were more spread out. Maybe the next stocking will be something other than a one spot "dump" and more of an effort to move the fish around.

The catch - 3 bows and 2 eight inch brookies. I didn't count the half dozen three inch brookies that seem to like that fast water right next to the Pipe.

We are supposed to get drenched by Hurricane (?) Arthur Thursday night into the 4th. That will help the Millers and the EB. Let's hope it doesn't "help" too much.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Ken