First, I have two FRIDAYS open that I'd like to fill. The dates are August 7 and 14. Take your pick of half day or full day trips. First come, first served. Email only. If you are already on the calendar you CANNOT reschedule to the above dates. NOTE: 8/14 has been booked.
Second, Read one of my readers comments about fishing the EB in the very early morning. Read my comments about doing the Swift during the day and then swinging by the EB or the Millers to catch the evening rise. Read my comments about exploring the Swift instead of doing the same old same old. Why not?
Going to Boston tonight to catch Steely Dan and Elvis Costello, hang around beantown tomorrow and then hit the streams Sunday.
Go Fish!
Ken
5 comments:
Exploring the swift has been the best thing I could've ever done for myself. Almost everytime I've checked out a new section I've been pleasantly surprised with some good fish for the spots I've went to not to mention catching 6" brookies is good batting practice for timing. I like to catch a bow or two at the pipe if they're coopersting then start leaving the crowds behind, it has yet to disappoint
Lenny
Ken,
Everyone has their own ideas on what makes their fly fishing experience special. Some like conversation with others, knowing other people are around to communicate. Others enjoy privacy, solitude, hiking terrain & remoteness.
As a tailwater, the Swift offers the best of what MA has to offer. There is no denying this. The Deerfield tailwater, if regulated for fly fishing and not rafting would be by far the pre-eminent blue ribbon trout river in MA, hands down. The fishing on the Deerfield at selected flows can be absolutely spectacular.
My question is this...how did a major blue ribbon trout river become a rafting sanctuary? Where was TU, TU membership and the local fishing community during all of this?
Anonymous,
I don't know who you are or what side you are on But I'll give my views.
Fly fishing for trout, if you are aware of the over hundred years of written history of this sport, has ALWAYS been a quiet, contemplative endeavor. It is not a competitive sport and it's not a navy seal excursion to capture a river. It is what it is: an angler vs a trout.
15+ years ago I used to fish the Deerfield. It was then that (my opinion) that TU quit and allowed the rafting companies (fishing and joy riding) to demand their flows. I and one other TU member were overridden by the controlling TU group. Two of us faced the rafting companies and the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) but got NO support from our esteemed national organization! TU did the same thing on the Millers in 1998 and 2002. I salvaged it. I don't belong to that organization any longer.
Picture this: It's a late afternoon on the Deerfield and a hatch is starting. You are knee deep and within casting range of many good trout. Then the river starts rising quickly even when your friend says that the "flow site" says it will not. Kayaks and inner tubes start flying down stream and some jerk asks you if you've seen his flip-flop! A true carnival where the wading fly fisher is not welcome.
I've got other places to cast for trout. I don't need an amusement park to get it done!!
Ken
Hey Ken,
Spent Friday evening (around 4pm until dark) in the Erving area of the Millers with very minimal success. Didn't have a water thermometer but the water was too warm it seemed. Handful of sun fish, bass and chub fish. My friend Zach was able to hook into two trout with a midge dropper off a foam hopper. Was the water abnormally warm or does the Millers get that hot mid-summer? I figured the shaded areas would stay cool enough to get the fish rising in the evening. Flows were mid-100s at the time.
Thanks, Chris
Chris,
Welcome to the Summer on the Millers!
I've done well on July/August evenings on this river over the past decades especially working the rising browns at dusk. It is a situation where being at the right place at the right time is important. A clear blue day will mean browns rising later. A cloudy day and the action starts sooner. Don't pay too much attention to the water temperature. I've caught (quickly) and released browns at 70 degrees and they swam away quickly. 70 degrees is only 5 degrees above their optimum feeding temperature. They will survive because they have adapted to their environment since they were stocked three months ago.
August is a transition month. We will loose an hour of sunlight by 8/20 since 6/20. Evenings by the river will be cooler. Fishing will improve week by week.
Ken
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