It poured all night but I resisted the temptation to check the river gauges until the usual wake up time of 4:30. Guess what - things don't look too bad out there. My little Mill River here in Northampton is in flood stage but the EB (15 miles away as the crow flies)is in the high 800's. It may go up some more this morning but the rain has ended and that means the flow will go down. You'll be fishing the EB this weekend.
The Swift dropped BEFORE the storm and is now at my favorite flow. The Squannacook and Quinapoxet Rivers both got a shot in the arm and now have flows that are near seasonal averages for these streams. I'm hoping for a trip to the Squannie before Thanksgiving.
The Millers - still going up as of this morning so it needs watching. I don't want those two browns on Tuesday evening to be my last surface action for the season on this river. Hopefully the flow will stay south of 500 cfs.
Saturday night we do it. We turn back the clocks on another glorious Spring/Summer/early Fall season and enter the "Dark Season". The EB and the Millers will freeze over leaving only the Swift to ply our craft. And the best time of Summer, our wonderful, sublime evenings will be a memory. No more late afternoon trips to the river for the evening rise and then fishing till dark in shirt sleeves. WINTER SUCKS!!! Now maybe we will have a January thaw and we know that the sap begins to run in February. Then before you know it we turn the clocks AHEAD in March and start thinking of Hendricksons!!
14 comments:
Speaking of those two browns on the Millers, can you settle my curiosity of what you caught them with? They snubbed my offerings earlier in the day leaving me scratching my head. Trying to figure out if it was my product or my approach that turned them off. Many thanks for your updates and encouragements.
Harvard,
I caught them on, during the last hour of daylight, on a #16 olive comparadun (20 years of this). I saw some rising trout and got two of them. Sparse surface activity.
Ken
Hi Ken - Glad to see you are looking for other river reports and talking about the Squannakook. I went to the Quinnepoxet today and took a 2 Brook Trout and nice looking 13 inch Brown on a purple San Juan. It was a little snakey, but nicely colored leaving me to believe it might have been a holdover.
I'll add to my report that fished for just a couple of hours on the Squannacook and took 4 or 5 Browns in the 8-10 inch range. This time of the year, and especially after a rain, I like tossing San Juan in the pockets and riffles.
I'd be curious if anyone has seen any Salmon in the Stillwater? I was up there last night, but fished way upstream on the Quinnie.
Mill River in Noho, eh? Does it see a lot of fishing pressure? I've been there about 3 times in my life, and each time managed 1 or 2 rainbows, most recently just a few weeks ago. Any idea if it has been stocked this fall, or if those might have been holdover fish?
Anony,
I live on the banks of the Mill River in Noho and you can catch trout in it all summer long. The DFW did a sampling around Williamsburg in Sept. 2014 and found some trout. There's a guy on my street who has fished it all his life and catches holdovers before new fish are stocked. I've done well with dries. It's only stocked in the Spring.
Ken
My brother and I are going to get to fish together for the first time in about 5 years...it will likely be middle next week. Options are: Deerfield, Millers, Westfield, Farmington- so we will have a warm week, short days, and leaves....probably lots of leaves where would you guys try out of those four.
1. EB of the Westfield
2. The Farmington
I pick the EB because it's a home river but the Farmington would work well too. The worst of the leaf season was last week. Very few leaves on the water right now. t's the maples and the pine needles that are the problem. The oaks still have there leaves but they all don't drop at once like the other two.
Ken
FalseCast I was actually at the Stillwater and Quinnie yesterday morning. The Stillwater was packed with anglers I didn't see any salmon but ran into a few people who had see some the day before.
Thank you. I can fish in most conditions relating to water temp and level but this time of year bugs the crap out of me with leaves. I will let you know how it goes.
Thanks Mike C - I am going to give it a shot late pm tomorrow. I thought there might not have been enough rain for a big run, but didn't think it would be jammed. Too bad. I am just itching to take out my 6 wt and cast some big Cardinale streamers at the mouth of the basin. 90% of the time nothing, but a few times in the past I've gotten into pods of Salmon that don't hesitate to bite and run and it's a trip. It's usually a period like this of extended low water and they really stage up and then go, but it can be a slaughter in that skinny water as I am sure you know. It should be managed better in my opinion.
That place gets gross Falsecast. I really only go there at the very end of the season because I can't stand the crowds and snaggers. It's a fun place to fish, but not when there are guys slinging weighted trebles on their surfcasters next to you. I may try it very early next week, before they're on the water. They are in the river now.
Falsecast. I hope you had some luck. I am still a bit of a newbie to fishing the stillwater for salmon. I have landed 2 fish in 5 years. I usually go for the nice stroll in the woods. It is still amazing to me seeing all those big fish in such skinny water. I have never tried fishing the basin area too seriously. I made a few cast just to get the fly wet on Friday perhaps I should have given it more effort.
Went to the Stillwater today. Caught 2 5" smolt and it was amazing how strong they were. Saw a large 2' plus salmon that I fished to for a few minutes before my line got snagged on the bank and spooked him pretty good. Saw a couple more that I tried for but the water is way too low and the flows are pretty low. Too much time for those smart fish to see the fly. On top of that they see you better than you see them. It was a good day met some cool dudes.
Lenny
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