An Excerpt From The Millers River Fly Fishers Guide.

I decided to review some very old stuff from previous posts (after seven years it is old but very worthwhile) and cut a section from my Millers River Fly Fishing Guide which will always be a resource. I hope you enjoy this. I did!

“Whetestone Section”. It's the Kempfield Section. Pay special attention to the rocks that protrude the surface during early summer onward. It seems that surface action begins behind and in front of these rocks. It is dry fly water supreme. This is really the home of the large mayflies that I mentioned earlier in this guide due to the sandy bottom. Fishing a dry across the river is much harder due to the many currents that will cause drag. Fish your dries upstream!!!!

The Pool – The pool starts at the last rock that breaks the surface on this section, about 30ft from the right bank. This is a gem during the late season. Water level is low enough to wade out far to position yourself. Earlier during the season (April through June) you will have to content with being within twenty feet of the bank. Back casting room is adequate so not to worry. This pool is deep but flies swung just below the surface get action during the high water of the spring. The largest trout that I have caught on the Millers was a 23 inch clonebow early in the season on a marabou streamer just below the surface. It doesn’t count as far as I’m concerned. A guy with a salmon egg would have appreciated it more than I.

A Kempfield Story or Two - Back cast to a Sunday afternoon in late September of 2006. The water level was invitingly low as I made my way to the Kempfield Pool. I was able to wade out to almost the middle where I spied the dorsal fins and tails of nymphing browns. I was soon joined by another fly fisher. The pool is large enough to accommodate more than one so neither of us felt crowded. For the next two hours we took over a dozen fish all on emerger patterns. The sun was warm, the fish were willing and the poor guy who came in at the Power station side, hemmed in by deep water and a lack of back casting room, had to watch our whole episode. Lesson – fish the Kempfield from the north side!!!!

Now back cast to 1992. It’s a misty, foggy Saturday evening in mid July. I’m fishing the Kempfield at the “Glide” section mentioned above. There is very little action. All this changes as dark descends on the river valley. The glide comes alive with slashing, rising browns. The mist begins to turn to a light steady rain but the surface action will not stop. Every brown is caught on a size 14 olive comparadun on an upstream drift until one fish breaks me off. Damn it! No, I didn’t have a flashlight so this exciting but sublime evening is over. On the way home I decided to stop at the late and dearly lamented Highland Café for a brew or three and to vow to buy a pocket light the next day. At the pool table stands Jerry Doiron, the genius who invented the Regal Vise. He looks up from studying his next shot and says “how many?” I hold up all fingers from one hand and three from the other. “Then what the hell are you doing here?” he said as he continued to survey the table. “Don’t ask” is all I could say.

This was one of the summer evenings that define a fly fishers life. This is what we do - right?? I think so! Email me for a Millers River Fly Fishers Guide. IT"S FREE!!!!

Ken