"Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after."
~ Henry David Thoreau
I had to laugh a month or so ago new someone wrote a primer on this river without knowing anything about this river short of the Millers River Guide that I sent him. Even then the info was sparse, next to nothing. If he fished it it was a brief scanning of the river and any intelligence wasn't gained from the "Guide". If he actually fished the Millers he would of mentioned the great Pool and Runs that are making this river worthwhile. Bridge Street is one of them.
I ALWAYS take new comers to the Bridge Street Pool. It's below the C&R sections which will turn many off but for no reason. This Pool has it all. My second largest brown (browns are not stocked here) was caught here. It is the BEST place on this river to really learn to fly fish. Imagine a large pool with big riffles at the head, slowing down to some depth and the a large deep pool at the end. It is perfect for textbook fly instruction.! This Pool has equaled any of the upstream C&R sections when it comes to the trout to the net.
And then there is the river below. We have 5 miles of NOBODY fishing but there are fish there. Contact me if you want to go exploring. There are trout there and smallies that will top two pounds easily. Let me know if you want to find them.
Now a word From Charlie Shaden From The Evening Sun Fly Shop:
We are still a few weeks away from our onset of the Hendrickson hatch on the Squannaccook. When it does happen it can be a very rewarding time to be on the river.In the afternoon around 12:30 - 1:30pm is when the first appearance takes place and in the evening their emergence is usually around 1hr. before dark.The Quill Gordan will be the first mayfly to show itself within the next 2 weeks. We need several warm days to begin the parade of mayflies.
Regards,
Charlie Shadan
Charlie is right on with this. I can remember an early afternoon just above the Arch Bridge in West Townsend (when it had water before the dam broke in the mid 70's) when the river exploded with hendricksons and the dry fly fishing was something that left a young flyfisher dreaming of hendricksons. Still dreaming about them!!! Hint - work Townsend Harbor in the afternoon/evening in May!!
Ok, 6 inches of snow AND 30 degrees for a high. After 70 degrees on 4/1 it is a bummer. Don't worry. Things will get better quickly. I remember a TU camping weekend at the EB of the Westfield on the 3rd weekend of May, 2002. A beautiful Friday night to be awoken by 3 inches of wet snow. It got better. Our streams have fish, insects will be hatching and we will MISS that gigantic trout that will fill our dreams through the next winter!
Ken
7 comments:
Thanks for the pep talk, Ken, regarding the fishing weather. I have to go to NYC area for work tomorrow and was thinking about hitting the Farmington on the way back. I think it is still supposed to be cold, but I might do it at least for a little while.
Regards, Sam
Ken,
I bet the blog you reference is the same one that recently stated there were no wild brown trout in a local river that I fish, and has recently also advocated jig hooks?
I can say for sure that the former comment about the wild brown trout comment is false. That river holds many parr marked specimens, and some of the larger variety if you know where to fish for them.
I think you are right on the latter matter of jig hooks as well.
Enjoy the blog here. Thanks.
Ken, that pool maybe .25 miles down hill, err, down stream of the bridge street pool is amazing. The ledgy depth on the north side, then near "plunge" feel at the head given the drop rate over the span from the bridge street pool to that water... WOW. Not easy to reach but worth it :)
It's funny, I have no idea what other blog you are talking about, but now I'm curious about it.
I have to say, when I got your millers guide years ago, I thought I knew the river. And in areas, maybe I did... But wow that thing was a wealth. You should still charge folks for it :)!
"It is remarkable that many men will go with eagerness to Walden Pond in the winter to fish for pickerel and yet not seem to care for the landscape. Of course it cannot be merely for the pickerel they may catch; there is some adventure in it; but any love of nature which they may feel is certainly very slight and indefinite. They call it going a-fishing, and so indeed it is, though perchance, their natures know better. Now I go a-fishing and a-hunting every day, but omit the fish and the game, which are the least important part. I have learned to do without them. They were indispensable only as long as I was a boy. I am encouraged when I see a dozen villagers drawn to Walden Pond to spend a day in fishing through the ice, and suspect that I have more fellows than I knew, but I am disappointed and surprised to find that they lay so much stress on the fish which they catch or fail to catch, and on nothing else, as if there were nothing else to be caught." -Thoreau
Love the blog! I find myself refreshing this page a couple times a day just get a little fly fishing knowledge in. I'm very interested in trying to fish the millers this summer as it sounds like a nice trout stream with less angling pressure than the Farmington. I know you've mentioned that you'd be willing to email anyone your Millers River guide and id love to get my hands on it
Dave,
Thanks for the Thoreau words!!!
Ken
Anonymous,
Hmm....Which blog are you referring to? I've spent close to 10 years pointing out inaccuracies and sometimes outright foolishness on some sites. Sometimes what passes for an authors' view of trout behavior will make your head spin. That's why I back up many blog entries with cited scientific work. Just because you have a website doesn't mean that you SHOULD ignore science or the opinions of recognized experts. A prime example of this was my "5X" post last July that laid to rest the conventional wisdom(from another blog) that said you HAD to fish 7X or 8X for all flies on the Swift. I sited evidence refuting that nugget and had some very good fly fishermen back me up on that. Read that blog post. As Lefty Kreh once said: "there's more bullshit in flyfishing than in a Texas cattle yard". I'm just pointing some of it out.
Ken
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