I will officially declare a drought condition for central New England. The map above may be familiar to some of you and it can be found by clicking on the flow link to any river on my website. When the page comes up just go to the upper right corner to "location" and choose "Massachusetts". The map will come up with color coding for the flow rates. For a week we are seeing a lot of RED which means a low flow historically. Massachusetts is becoming a red state (couldn't resist) but the cool weather has at least kept the water temperatures down and that is a good thing. We need rain! As I've always said the best trout summer is a damp,cloudy summer. Bad for the beach and tomato gardens but good for trout. Hopefully this will all end shortly. We don't need another 2010!!! BTW, the DFW will continue to stock through this dry spell which will create a temporary condition where most of the trout will be found in certain stocking areas. This ends as soon as we get rain. Any notion that this condition exists as a season long rule is nonsense.
So, I'm rummaging through the local department store (aka Walmart) when something catches my eye. Could this be the long lost wing material that was rumored to exist, the great Ivory Billed Woodpecker of fly tying material?? For $1.75 a spool I couldn't resist. It works!! The material is some kind of veiling that is veined and has some sparkle. The beauty here is that it is a very loose weave that will not create wind resistance which creates spinning which created twisted leaders. I will post a photo of the product within 24 hours so you know what to look for. One $1.75 spool = 1000 sets of wings or something like that.
The Swift - We pretty much had the rt 9 to Cady Lane stretch to ourselves last Friday. I counted three other fly fishers and one lure guy. We caught fish but the "swimming between my boots" density was not there. Late Tuesday was a first - no cars at the Y Pool lot and NOBODY down below!! Actually it was kind of nice! I'm sure the State will stock by early May and life as we know it will return. In the meantime fish the Millers because it is HOT!!!!!
I need to get to the EB!!
NEWS RELEASE!!! The Millers will get their brown trout stocking on Friday May 6 for both the Upper and lower CR sections. 8:30am at Holtshire/Orcutt and 1:30 pm at Pete & Henry's in South Royalston. This IMPORTANT stocking has been going on since the Spring of 2003 and it is important. They need some volunteers. I did it for years and it is fun. If TU is conducting the stocking and if it is a float stocking PLEASE make sure that the trout are evenly distributed throughout the river and not in favorite pools as in the past which has been admitted to me.
Ken
15 comments:
Awesome looking wing material and you can't beat that price.
I fished the EB Monday after turkey hunting and it was still high/fast for my liking. No hits in my usual spots, I was tired so I headed out. Needs that good stocking which hasn't been done yet, likely due to the water conditions is what i'm thinking.
I have no complaints with the swift this year, i've had a great time every outing. Hot spots and soft hackles have been my go to's. I'm not seeing as many (less density) but I feel like i'm catching more than past years.
I got at least 10 trout Saturday at the swift below bondsville. Then fished the eb Sunday from the gorge to about a mile down, saw no fish and the 4 guys I talked to caught nothing as well. I must have done something wrong! Sure was a pretty place though.
To my comment earlier, the fly that's been working excellent on the swift is the Swift Serindipity. Great pattern and super easy to tie! I got that confused with the hotspot, which has worked for me in the past but I haven't been fishing it much lately.
Josh S and Ryan,
Good reports. The Swift has fish but they're not not going to be easy until we get another truck load of stockers.
Ken
I need to get to the EB too! Last summer a HUGE lemon yellow mayfly, either a golden or yellow drake was hovering at eye level about 10 feet in front of me and a bird which also had some lemon yellow coloring to the breast spotted it from all the way across the other side of the river, came and snatched it in mid air right in front of me. Worth the 2 1/2 hour drive just for that. By the way I was up there two weeks ago on Patriots day, didn't see a fish.
According to their website, the State says they stocked "tigers" this past Tuesday in Palmer and Ware.
Ryan Crow - what did you catch, 'bows or brookies? I hit the water below the 1st dam and then by the industrial park for a few hours that Thursday. Didn't do a thing from the Depot Rd access, did see a few rises from something small; and caught 2 brookies that were rising to caddis up from the 1st Street access in the industrial park. I hiked downstream from Dublin Steel and saw more suckers (fish - not fishermen) than I have seen before. No signs of any other fish.
Reason for the short visit was that I went over to the Quaboag that afternoon and fished from the gage site to about 1/2 mile upstream. Didn't do a thing and didn't see anything until I was leaving when a fish jumped too far away to cast to. A big pool at the gage station site but nothing special looking from what I saw on the hike upstream. There were caddis coming off occasionally but obviously not enough to attract attention from any resident fish.
Al
I went out to the Millers yesterday for the first time. What a gorgeous river! I ended up landing 2 nice brook trout, and about 20 fallfish/chubs. I was using a beadhead pheasant tail with a bit of green glass/emerger drifted through the runs with an indicator. Thanks Ken for all of your information. Len
Last weekend I hit mainly brookies, 2-3 rainbows and one sucker. I'm not sure whether or not any stockers have made it down there yet. I went again for a short time after work friday with a friend and only got 3 brookies, I always do worse when there's a witness lol. Give it another shot some time, its not as packed with fish as upstream but they are there and you never have to fight the crowds. We just really need a heavy rain to move the fish around right now.
Ken, next Friday(May 6) the Millers River TU will be assisting with trout stocking on the Millers. 8:30 am at Holtshire/Orcutt and 1:30pm at Pete and Henrys. Extra hands make it easier and perhaps more important(?), faster getting the critters into the river. Mr Mallet and MRFA was stocking at the waste treatment plant today. Caught/released two browns at the plant yesterday using the Tenkara rod from the shore and a stubborn small mouth where the Tully and Millers meet on FF tackle. Gosh, I thought I hooked a log!
So Ken, What is the mystery wing material?
I know this is a trout forum but for those in the northeastern part of the state the shad run in the Merrimack is heating up all the way to Lawrence with a lot of big hen fish over 5 lbs this weeks rain will bring more and more . Have seen some big sturgens jumping and a few alantic salmon mixed in There is a few areas in north andover which u can fly fish for them
tincup,
Good to hear from you and thanks for the SHAD REPORT. The Connecticut River is alive with them too!! Shad are great and this forum recognizes that.
Ken
Ken, I would like some more info on the mystery wing material. Thanks
Anonymous,
Email me for the wing material instead of the comment forum.
Ken
I fished the Palmer today very slow due to the rain. Caught one nice Brookie.
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