First off, we are set for some major rain by mid week. By major rain I mean in the 2 to 3 inch range which is REALLY needed in places like the EB to bust up those pods of trout, to get the salmon running in places like the Stillwater and the WB of the Swift, to get some good flow in places like the Squannacook and the Quinnapoxet and to LOWER the flow in the Swift!! And we will have to keep an eye on the Millers. Fish that river in the next two days before the rain if you can.
Second, about a week or so ago I mentioned filling the vacuum and plans for reporting on the Squannacook in the future. That resulted in a rush of emails and comments about a LOT of rivers. Could it be that there are a group of die hard flyfishers who ply the freestones and don't retreat to the safety of the Swift? I've met them on the EB and the Millers but it appears that each river has it's dedicated core of fly fishers. I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!! I don't want any state secrets, no GPS landing spots, just an "after the fact" summary of your hours on that river. The readers of this blog will appreciate it.
Third, we all love thin wire for ribbing and the thinner the better. Years ago someone gave me a small transformer with it's two sizes of wire. One size, the bigger of the two, was of no use BUT the other was exactly what I needed. I don't know the gauge but it's about the thickness of 8/0 tying thread. THAT'S PERFECT. If I need a thicker piece I just fold it over and it works fine. How much wire do I have? Well, I was given that transformer in 1992! I use it all of the time and I haven't used half of it yet. Now I'm sure that you may have some toasted electronic devices hanging around. Before you send it to the recycling center you should pop the hood and recycle it yourself.
Ken
16 comments:
Hello Ken,
I fished the Quinnapoxet the thursday before Columbus day and waded the section between the river street bridges. I counted no fewer than seven beaver dams that have really limited flows and fish travel. Some are pretty substantial and you can see them on Google maps. Pretty thin in there with few pools deep enough to hold fish. However exiting at the western River st bridge I ran into a herd of about 50 stockers 10-14 inchers who must have just been tossed in that morning. They had no where to go except upstream from there as the tail of the pool is cut off by yet another beaver dam, however at the time they were just tearing around the run looking for the end of the tank I guess. We will need a spring flood to blow out those dams and open up that section of river again.
Local river reports? The Nisitissit in Pepperell was not great yesterday. I only brought one fish to hand - a 6" pickerel. And a pinky-sized dace, but that one might not count.
I did hook into the one and only trout on the stream (that I saw, anyway). A decent rainbow, 12-14" I'd say. Brought him to within centimeters of my finger tips --- only to give him a little too much slack on his last run and he got off. Should have brought my net!
I fished above the newly removed dam. There is a lot of silt and sediment getting pushed around. The riverscape is very "new" and looks like it's changing daily.
Also - great blog. I'm new to fly fishing and I've learned a lot about fishing in Mass. here. Thanks.
Harvard,
You may not want to believe it but beavers are good for trout in the long run. Deeper water behind dams means more protection from predators, more winter refuge for young and old trout, more thermal relief during the summer( we are talking about the bottom of ponds, not where we put our thermometers) and higher water tables which are good for all aquatic creatures and so on. Trout (wild trout) travel through beaver dams up and down the stream and have so for thousands of years before we screwed things up by removing beavers. As one biologist from Maine told me a few years ago during a beaver rant on this blog:"If beavers were bad for brook trout then Maine would not have any brook trout." Your stocked trout may not "get it" in time. They are not stream born trout.
Anony - That stream above the dam will take a while (years) to mend. Decades of sediment has to go somewhere.
Ken
Thanks for the suggestion of getting out on the Miller's River before the rain. Caught a nice 15-16" brown about a 1/2 mile above the dam in Athol on a beadhead nymph. Pretty day, pretty fish.
The Farmington has been pretty terrific the last few weeks, especially if you enjoy fishing small BWOs for large fish. Both the browns and brookies have been on the feed. I like your comment about the transformer wire. I take most of my electronics apart now to salvage wire and other bits. Not sure why, but MacGyver-ing flies just makes them more fun to catch fish with.
Michael from Winchester
I agree. The Farmington has been excellent. Best shot for some big browns right now. Bwo's, sj worms and big streamers are working well as they are putting on the feedbag.
Tried the Millers last Friday. Fished the 1000 acre stretch with 2 others. Never raised a fish from early morning until early afternoon. Big disappointment. Last time I was there I did well. Threw everything in our flyboxes. Again in the Bears Den in the afternoon until dark same thing. Finally saw one big rise out of reach. Never had this happen before. The air and water were both 48 degrees.
John D.
Haven't had a lot of good reports from the Bears Den this Summer/Fall.
Fish the lower CR in Wendell. I did well in a short time tonight.
Ken
Anony,
"Bwo's, SJ worms and big streamers" Hmm... Guess that it means they are hitting everything!
Ken
I went to a good spot on a local stream tonight after work with a #14 parachute adams and scud dropper. A very nice brook trout kept nosing it, flashing its orange spawning underbelly, but would not take. It got too dark to make a change, but there will be other chances before the snow flies.
P. Adams,
Played the game with some Millers browns tonight. Probably the last evening this season since we turn the clocks back Sunday.
Ken
Good thing fish don't wear watches…fished the Kempfield section from big rock above the bend to the end of the pool this am until about 2. Had two fish rise off and on and take an unknown bug at the head of the pool. Surface activity was far and few between midday and wasn't able to entice them to take any dries or emergers. Little sun hit the pool in the am turning me into a popsicle, but it must have warmed up a bit in the afternoon in anticipation of your arrival tonight. I had company of another fly fisher who looked like he was having similar luck.
Swift's flow has fallen again, probably in anticipation of the coming rain. Batten down the hatches. Wave size forecasted for Lake Ontario is 7 to 11 feet and 30 knot gales!
The Swift is down again BEFORE the storm
I tried fishing the Quinnie last Friday. The water was very low as expected. I found some deeper areas but the water was still so drifting was an issue. I spent most of my time fishing a small (#12) wooley bugger up and across and stripping it slowly back towards me. Is this a good technique in these situations? Is there something better I should be doing? I am thinking of trying again tomorrow since the rain should have given things a jump start.
Mike C,
Higher flows will work better. Your technique was ok for those conditions but increased flows will really help. Maybe a small nymph under a bushy dry fly would work too.
Ken
I hit the quinnie today. The water levels were much nicer than last week. I drifted some nymphs around primarily with a downstream approach. Unfortunately no one was interested in a nymph today. So quite a few other fisherman on the river. A few were catching some brookies not a lot just a few here and there. Spoke with a nice gentlemen from NH.
I expect on the quinnie that the fish density is somewhat low. I think I tend to dwell in one spot too long. It certainly seems like I need to get out and practice more.
Mike
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