"Strike while the iron is hot" the old saying goes and Sunday morning meant a two hour fishing window and it was going to be spent on the Millers. In over thirty years of fishing the Millers this year and it's high water made this place unfishable well into June. Fish it now before something else happens!!
The flies of choice were the Yellow and Partridge Soft hackle in a size 12. This particular fly is tied with a brand of floss called UNI-FLOSS (Uni Products Inc) that they call Brite Yellow. The neat thing is that it's only yellow when it's dry. When wet it turns into a pale orange that almost has a glow to it. When it dries out it's back to yellow. I bought mine at the Deerfield fly Shop. BTW, the bobbin pictured is the grand old S&M bobbin which famous tier and author A.K. Best calls the best ever. It is!!
Things looked too crowded (there were 2 people there) at Bridge Street so off to Orcutt that had only one other angler fishing the run below the brook. So I walked over the bridge, slid down the embankment, walked under the bridge and found myself directly across from the angler. That trick gave us plenty of room.
Start off easy with a mini peacock bugger and that took a 16 inch bow who fought like a bow thrashing the surface from hook set to netting. Things got slow so I switched over to the above mentioned soft hackle and after a dozen casts I noticed TWO trout rising quickly in the seam line by the opposite bank. The lower one was out of range with too many weird currents in place but the upper one had a three foot window to present the fly before it got dragged downstream. The second cast did the trick and in fact the trout chased it out of the window to get at it. Another surface smashing bow for the effort.
Ended up going below the Holtshire bridge where I took a brown which was the fish I was after.
So, 2 hours and three Summer trout from the Millers where there is plenty of water which is so much different than last Summer.
Your Comments make this blog rock! Every post of mine is greeted with over 10 comments and the vast majority of them are from YOU!!. It's like a blog within a blog with the knowledge and insight that you bring. Keep it coming!!!
Jack Rovers - Does that cork look familiar?? Thank You!
Ken
9 comments:
Hi Ken,
I spent the better portion of the day on the Millers on Sunday but didn't see you, I must've been one of the anglers you saw before heading off to a different pool. You are right, the water conditions are just right now for good fly fishing. All in all I caught a lot of fish but too many of them were chub and a few bass. However, I did manage to land three browns. Any tips on avoiding the chub?
Ken,
Thank you for a great blog! I was on the Millers Sunday at Bridge Street between 6:30 and 8:30 AM and caught two 10 inch rainbows and a couple of bass. One bow was so fat that I could not get my hand around the belly of the fish. I checked out Wendell at 9 and counted nearly a dozen cars in the lot next to the tracks. I passed. I finished off at Orcutt from 9:30 until 11 AM. Both upstream and downstream of the bridge was not producing. The flies I used were soft hackles with tungsten beads to get the flies down. I was with one other person at both locations which pleasantly surprised me for a Sunday.
Keep up the great work!
Bruce T. from Merrimack Valley
I enjoyed fishing the Millers at Wendell on Saturday morning. Didn't see anybody else from 8am til 10:30am. It was fun to fish it because there were plenty of trout but they were spread out and were river-wise. A good challenge to someone who is learning to euronymph. I caught over a dozen trout, 5 smallmouths, and 5 fall fish. Although it was cloudy, there wasn't much bug activity. Small nymphs like hares ear, prince, and pheasant tails were all working.
Hey Ken,
Its good to see the Millers is fishing well. I haven't hit it yet since like you said, its been unfishable for all this time. How were the temperatures there?
Ashu
Ashu,
The temperatures are in the mid to high 60's but as long as the flow is good we will have fishing and strong fish just like Sunday.
WrongDay,
Good work!
Bruce T,
I must have just missed you at Orcutt
NH,
I was on the water at 6:45 and off by 9.
Ken, That's funny! I was reading down your blog and noticed a Hess cork. I hope you enjoyed it!! I just got back from 5 days fishing the East Outlet and Indian Pond in Maine. Things are alittle behind up there as far as hatches. But, plenty of fish. Tight lines!
Jack,
I hoped that you would notice! I guided a couple last week and the wife noticed the Hess cork(I use the corks to transport flies from my bench to the boxes in my car). She said " was that the Cab?" I said yes and it was great. Again, thank you and I'm glad you did well at the East Outlet!
Ken
Hi Ken,
At 600-700 in Erving - does that make for fishable conditions on the Millers?
Thanks,
Joe.
Joe,
As I write (9:45pm on Thursday) the flow is at 600 cfs and we hooked and landed browns and bows! Find a place where the current works in your favor and go do it!! Bridge Street, the Kempfield Section and Orcutt are fishable.
Ken
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