In 2003 we brought back the brown trout stocking to the Millers River after a two year hiatus. They (DFW) said to me, " the browns are going to be stocked ONLY in the CR sections, period!" Now that has been the case since then up to last year. But a strange thing is being reported. There are reports of browns stocked ABOVE the Bears Den CR all the way into Winchendon and below the lower CR down into Erving. If this is a fact then the very restrictive policy of browns only in the two CR sections has been thrown to the wayside and that's a great thing. The Millers is a BROWN TROUT RIVER. There has been some natural drift of stocked fish (and some wild fish) above and below the CR's but not enough. If this is a change in policy and not a typo then it's browns everywhere and summer long trout fishing everywhere. It's what we always wanted anyway.
New England rivers are trending to the low side right now but not the Millers which is still riding high but dropping. We had a drop last week but that's only because the dam controllers held back the flow and then let it go. Up went the flow and it's still coming down. It should be fine (sub 500 cfs) by Saturday.
Explore the Ware! Go above the Church Street bridge into Gilbertville and check out some of this rough and tumble pocket water.
The EB and the MB are flowing nicely now. I haven't been to the EB yet (early May starts it) but the flows are good and fish will be there. I'll be there next week.
You know about the Swift. More on that next week.
Also as I stated in an earlier post my readers have stepped up with some great river reports covering the State. YOU CAN"T FIND THAT ANYWHERE ELSE!!!!
Now for my first product endorsement. Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with the latest rod, reel, line,tackle bag and fly fishing technique that you can't be successful without.
First, I buy waders from the company that has a lifetime guarantee but I have waders from other companies hanging in the cellar that I retired because of nagging little leaks that could not be fixed. Patches, glues, UV repair, I tried them all. Sometimes they would work if I found the leak (no small feat) but usually there wasn't enough of the stuff to really make a difference. I kept the waders hoping I'd find the difference. I DID!
There is a commercial on TV showing this guy with a rowboat that has a screen door for a bottom. He sprays the screen with this stuff and then launches the boat with him in it. Ok, I'll take the bait.
The stuff is called FLEX SEAL and you can buy it over the counter at CVS of all places. I bought it, sprayed the neoprene bootie of one pair of waders and THE LEAK DISAPPEARED!!! Then came the leaky stocking foot and seam of a favorite pair of wading pants. PROBLEM SOLVED!! Another pair of waders got the treatment. PERFECT!!
Second, I have witnessed no problems with this product eating away the wader material. The stuff dries hard but flexible. I put two coats of the stuff on but probably could of got along with one coat.
I now have three perfectly serviceable waders more than I had. It's a win! Note: I had to pay list price for the stuff and am not awaiting shipment of a pallet of Flex Seal at no charge.
Keep the river reports coming!!!
Ken
12 comments:
Ken, great product review. I too have an old pair of waders the have a weeping left foot. I kept them as a backup because of damp foot & no sign of where it was leaking from. I think I'll try your suggestion.
Thx.......Phil
Went to the deerfield today, to a section I don't usually fish. Today it was absolutely on. Caught too many Browns to count and a lone rainbow, this ratio pleases me very much. All Browns looked like buttered toast. One of two risers I saw today took a 16 Adams. Grouse and flash did all the dirty work today, and has been my undisputed fly of the year so far
Lenny
Lenny,
There seems to be more browns everywhere this year and thats a good thing.
I didn't see that monster brown that you were after. Maybe he moved on!
Ken
I fished the EB this past weekend and it was great to be down there. Water was a little high and fast, but fishable. No takes, hopefully it will get a good stocking this week and dip below 200CFS.
Flex seal for wader repair... i'll have to give that a try. I have a pesky leak in my right foot that a whole tube of seal about 85% fixed. Hopefully a shot of flex seal will finish it off, good tip.
Also have a couple of pairs of waders which I couldn't let go of did you spray over the areas of concern only or did you cover the entire waders like in giving two coats to the bad spots you knew and a total coat so it doesn't peal back like the shoe goo we all try to use in the past. Glad to get back to new England the to list is coming down just have tried a few local rivers. And fished them alone because they were stocked weeks ago so their is some good about the list the F G is putting out Thanks again for the tip and the continual greatness of this blog
I spent yesterday fishing the Squannacook. What a stunning day it was. A hatch started at around 1:30. I hiked some out of the way sections and saw very little sign of trout. Later in the day they woke up and I caught three - nothing big. The bad news is that the fish were all caught close to bridges.
Catching recent stockies is not the biggest thrill. I totally agree with Ken that we need brown trout broadly distributed. I want to catch real river fish.
Peter
PS. I also saw a moose in Groton, of all places. It's not all about the fish.
Josh S and Peter,
Thank you for the updates!!!!!
Tincup,
Glad you're back in town and give the waders one light coat, let dry and then another. It works!!
Ken
Ken -- Since everyone is giving reports, I had a pretty sick day on Housy (in MA) today. Too day of and fished for over 6 hours straight wading a beat that I like through the C&R. I saw only one other FF the whole day. I caught about 5-6 super feisty browns, 2, 16+ butter balls. On top of that, 2 wild, 7 inch little beauties. Tough wading for sure, but these fish bend the rod and break 5X. I took every fish on a true Hendrickson nymph, hatch just getting going.
Anonymous - I was on the Squannakook last weekend and witnessed a blizzard Quill Gordon hatch, might be what you had, but only took fishing below with a flashback BH PT. They bugs were huge. Also couldn't keep those creek chubs/suckers off my fly??
Falsecast,
"I saw only one other FF the whole day". Maybe they're all down on the Farmy?
Ken
I second your comment on the Flex seal. I used it last year and it fixed a large hole I had in the bootie. Well worth the price of a can.
Been fishing the Swift the past few weeks and have to say that the brookies are all over the river. Seems a lot more of them than rainbows or browns. Got a few with a distinct kype and dark coloring. Very nice fish.
Gonna buy some of that whacky flex seal. I considered it already but figured its stupid. Glad someone tried it an shared! Thanks Ken from the cooler.
Post a Comment