Ok, you know who you are. You probably have a copy of the Millers Fly Fishing Guide but you keep going to the same old spots: Rezendes, Orcutt Brook (especially Orcutt!) The Kempfield Section and that pretty much wraps it up. One of the BEST sections gets little or no attention and that is Erving Center which is on Arch Street and marks the end of the lower C&R section on the Millers.
I always make it a point to introduce new people to this section because it is just a great spot that has a few personality quirks of it's own. First, it's one of the narrowest sections on the Millers with a large hill guarding it's southern bank. It funnels the water into a fairly narrow space that makes for dangerous wading when most of the upper river is easily fished. 300 cfs is perfect everywhere else on the Millers but here it is a problem. This section fishes best at 250cfs and below which makes it a perfect early morning or evening location during the heat of Summer. BTW, the hill on the southern bank and a large tree canopy will shade much of this river through the dog days! Secondly, it's the best LATE SEASON spot on this river with catches right into December as long as the water is low enough.
This section has been my Mop Fly proving grounds this past season!!!!!
My best fishing has been from the bridge spanning the river DOWNSTREAM. This whole section can be reached by carefully wading/fishing downstream or just take the dirt road on the south bank down for a half mile or so. For those who need to know: the DFW stocks the entire length of this section.
So when Orcutt gets a bit sun stroked by the end of June head downstream and into the shade of Erving Center. It's a good decision!!
Don't worry about the snow. It will be gone in no time!!
Ken
13 comments:
While not an urban spot by any means there are other urban areas on the Millers and many other rivers in New England that don't get fished all that hard that fish really well. I have spent time in DT Orange as an example-its kind of gross but the fish didn't mind. I first fished this area by mistake before the internet and good maps were the norm...I've always had good luck but you are very correct about getting in the water there...tricky. I can think of a fair number of places around like Pittsfield and North Adams that produce interesting if not good urban fishing.
BobT,
You are right. The Millers in downtown Orange may not scenic but it fishes well. It is tricky wading especially when they start playing with the flows at the dam. The Ware River in Gilbertville is another example. Awesome fly fishing in an old industrial setting.
Ken
When I lived in Denver I'd throw a line in the South Platte that flows right through downtown. You might get a carp or a rainbow...also the coolest place I have fished like that is the lower lower Big Thompson through Loveland...in a city park between half a dozen baseball fields. I was a perfect looking spot if you blocked out the baseball fields, the paved bike path that you had to cast from and gawkers who probably thought I was silly to be fishing here. I'd never seem even a kid fishing anywhere nearby and I had been taking my son to play baseball games to those fields for several years. The last game he played there I thought to myself I have to bring my rod and make a cast or two in between games I scouted out a spot that HAS to have a fish, even a junk fish but something had to be near that bush just overhanging the deep pool; at the risk of looking silly amid 6-7 of my son's team mates, a pregnant lady with another one in a stroller and several joggers -2nd cast a 16" wild brown trout on a dry! It was one of the most satisfying fish I think I have ever caught...not sure why but I guess it was just a spot that hundreds of people went by on a daily basis and let it be ...a little like Boston Harbor in the 90's
Great story, Bob T! I bet we all pass over spots that hold trout, but don't fish them for one reason or another. First spot that comes to mind near me is in downtown Three Rivers (Palmer) where the Quaboag comes into the Swift / Ware Rivers. I have driven through that area countless times and have never seen anyone fishing there. That will be on my target list this season!
Sam
You should do it Sam!! You wont regret it. Don't make a big deal of it just a few favorite flys and have at it. I have some spots on my list this year...drive by spots that should be fished at least for a few minutes.
Don't forget the Ware Riverin Barre and Ware or the Mill River in Williamsburg/Northampton. Lots of water begging to be fished.
Ken
I floated through that area once, on inner tubes (yes, I may be the only human in history who willingly floated through a long section of the Millers to the CT. I may have shortened my life span - ha ha ha)... but have not fished it. Makes sense that it would be good, Ill have to try it. Have to admit, when I get that far out, I tend to fish the flats, bridge or a ways down stream from the steep drop away from the bridge where there is a great pool with a ledgy rock on the north side. AWESOME spot there. Thanks for the idea Ken!
Bob - your story is awesome. Love the reminder to consider "obvious" yet rarely fished water...
Will
Bob T, I am definitely going to do it. Passed by the area today on my way to my area of the Swift I fish and the run looks very good.
I got to my area and was amazed at the amount of stoneflies out...thousands of them on the water, piled up on snow banks, and eventually on my waders. Despite all the insect activity, not many trout going for them, but there were a few including a big broad backed brown working between brush piles. The way he was swirling around and porposing like a dolphin, I don't think he was picking them off one at a time, but rather by the bunch.
I worked that trout for two hours and finally connected, but just as quickly it was off. It still kept rising, but not for my fly, as if to mock me trying to hook him again. Got skunked, but a darned interesting day just watching that trout feed.
Sam,
Thomas Ames mention the same thing about trout not rising to early stones unless there's another hatch going on. Guess the water is still too cold to ket the trout to look "up".
Ken
How come people are successful in the winter time when I always hear people stressing that trout are only active when the water is around 70 degrees?
Alan
Alan,
Who told you that nonsense??????? Tailwater (Swift River) trout are more active in winter than freestone river (Millers) trout because the water is a bit warmer, like the low 40's. 70 degree temperatures will begin to shut trout down. The best water temperature for trout is in the 55 to 65 degree range.
The careful what you read out there. As Lefty Kreh said "there's more bull shit in fly fishing than in a Texas cattle lot"
Ken
The water is still plenty cold all right, Ken. The stoneflies were everywhere, but only a few trout were taking advantage of the feast. The one I was after surely was.
Sam
I agree with Ken on 70 degrees with a caveat, the Firehole River...runs in the 70's but the fish in that river have adapted I would say. They are everywhere especially browns and rainbows; they eat bugs and are strong albeit smaller overall than other fish you'd find in the park or surrounding waters. Like most fisheries out there, the Firehole is not stocked so they must have made some adaptations to survive there. The river is loaded with fish. Generally speaking winter fishing can be good anywhere but wont be as fast and furious as a June caddis hatch. 48 degrees seems to be the temp when both fish and bugs get a little more active based on my notes on 10 or so winters fishing in the rockies and anecdotal guide opinions. Some spots in New England are just too difficult to access in the winter so I do not have data supporting that here but trout are trout, they don't know politics, they don't understand borders they are similar in most places but there are exceptions like the Firehole. You can still get fish below 48 but to do so you really will be best served to find slower pools - they hunker down at the bottom most of the time but will move up in the water column to feed actively at times especially after a bump in temperature of say 5-10 degrees or more depending on how cold it has been. Fish in the Swift may be conditioned oppositely to the Firehole, they may very well be used to colder average temperatures-I never kept temperature data back when I fished it a lot. The fish there are stocked for the most part so they really don't have the advantage of genetic adaptation like the Firehole or have it to a lesser extent. Generally speaking, I have found that if its been consistently cold for several days then we get a bump in ambient temperature for 2 or 3 days the fishing can really turn on during the second and subsequent days. In winter if fish don't seem active then tiny midge nymphs size 22-26 fished slowly will often lead to a fish or two anywhere but you'll work for them. I heard something on a show last night that stuck with me..."the only trap an animal can't escape is patience"...applied to fly fishing go slow and keep fishing I guess.
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