It's been too long!! It felt like I hardly fished the EB last summer because of the drought and this is a shame because I live a mere 15 minutes from the place. It was a remake of the summer of 2010 when the place just shut down by early July. Now, you can fish some holdover holes and some did but there comes a point when you have to give the trout a break. The rain came in October and it was well received but it didn't take the gloom off of the year.
There are great memories about the EB and I'm not talking about the 50 fish days which are common and the courtesy of a very recent stocking. What I'm talking about are June mornings when the air is full of damsel flies and the large yellow stones are beginning to appear and a Millers Bivisible with a Partridge and Olive dropper worked over the riffles will get it done. Or the sublime July and August evenings when I change over from a stimulator to a #16 cahill because that steady drumbeat of rising trout has begun. And the BEST dry fly fishing that I've EVER had was on the EB on a cloudy October day when the air was thick with BWO's. It is a special river and if we get just NORMAL rainfall this Summer it will be back in form again. It always does.
A note about the EB - The moniker "EB" first appeared in print in 2009 on this blog because I got tired of pounding out "East Branch of the Westfield" all of the time. It has spread to other websites and has entered the lexicon for fly fishing in Central New England. I did a presentation in New York this past January and was asked questions about the EB!!! Good news spreads fast!
Evening Trips - My three hour evening trips have become more popular every year. From beginners who need some basic skills to highly skilled fly fishers who are looking for a good introduction to a certain river this three hour session gets it done. I like to start these in April when we have enough light and the winter chill is a memory. The Swift, EB, MB, Millers and the Ware Rivers are all offered. Book me!!!
One of the statistics that this blog generates is something that I am proud of and THANKFUL for and that is the Reader Comments. Blog hosting platforms cannot tell the difference between reader and blog author comments so some blogs will appear to be more popular than they are. You readers carry the weight when it comes to commenting on this site. The 10 previous blog posts generated 121 comments (!!!) of which only 32 were mine (occasionally I'm asked a question and I'll answer it). That means 89 comments (73.5%) were from YOU and that is a VERY high, much higher than most other blogs. This blog has generated double digit comment totals per post for years which indicates a high readership as opposed to flip through visits. And, I might add, the quality of the comments is first rate!!
This blog, which started as a fragile experiment over 10 years ago, will continue to be generous with news, insight and ORIGINAL COPY on the 5 rivers that I cover. Count on it!!!
Ken
10 comments:
Ken,
First, this is the best blog going. Thank you.
Second, I too can hardly wait to fish the EB. First fished it three years ago on your suggestion and it's been great. Let's hope that we don't have another drought year.
Greg
The EB! It's been so long since I've been due to the drought. We should fish the MB together again this spring, or even the EB. That was an enjoyable day. Maybe I'll run into you soon.
Lenny
Mullen, Terry
11:11 AM (2 hours ago)
to me
Ken,
Thank you for, as you put it, your “humble endeavor” in putting this guide together – it is awesome. I have spent the winter pouring over it, looking at maps of the area and researching the tactics you suggest employing. My wife and I took a ride up to the Millers from our home in East Brookfield a couple of weeks ago, but the snow was too deep to get to the river. We did meet the couple who live on the river at the end of Bears Den road – nice folks. I plan to concentrate my fishing in the Bear’s Den section; so much water to cover - 6 miles of C&R – nice.
I can relate to your experiences & continual learning on the river. I grew up fishing on a similar sized freestone stream in northwestern PA and spent 25+ years fishing only 5-6 miles of it. I never felt I mastered it.
Anyway – thank you again for the guide.
Terry
Lenny,
Absolutely!!!! Those MB trout were not that easy!
Terry,
Thank You!!!
Ken
Ken,
No they were not! Tough but fun fishing none the less! Hopefully more browns than rainbows are thrown in. One can dream!
Lenny
You mentioned that the rains hit the EB last October but did they do a fall stocking?
T.S.
Had to chime in regarding the EB and it is definitely my favorite river to fish. Last year was a real doozie, and I feel the same in that I feel like I barely fished it.
However, with the EB being low it pushed me to check out the Farmington and I ended up spending the majority of my summer fishing it and devolved a love for it. Had the EB been fishable I would have never ventured down to the Farmington. Funny how things work out.
Anyhow, all my daydreaming about fly fishing takes place on the EB. I can't wait to get back out there. I'm sure Les's pool still has some survivors that made it through last year and this winter. I think i'll hold off until that late May stocking and keep an eye on the flows.
T.S.
Yes they did. A small stocking of browns.
Josh S.
As you remember the Farmie had its own low water condition last summer/fall which was unusual for that river.
I just want a NORMAL summer as far as rain goes. Then the EB and the Millers will be fine!!!
Ken
Ken, just getting back to the blog as the daylight extends past 5:30 and the winter cobwebs are clearing, pulled out some material a couple of weekends ago and started tying to fill gaps in the spring boxes, any chance you can share your pattern for the Miller's River Bivisible, don't think I have that one...Thanks, Todd
Todd,
Go to my home page and type bivisible into the search box in the upper left corner. Look for the post dated 1/12/09 and that has the recipe.
Ken
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