"Damn the forecast, I'll just chance it!" That was the start of my 1 hour trip to the EB. The weather wizards said a "good chance of thunderstorms for western Massachusetts" which I like to think of as a good chance of "nothing" happening. So the trip was on.
I was looking for ants because the weather was perfect for them: warm, humid and early September. I saw only one of those winged critters all day so it certainly wasn't what was driving the trout to the surface! Trout were at the head of the pools slashing away at something on the surface. From where they held in the stream I figured some sort of mayfly which certainly hadn't gone beyond the emerging insect stage. Time to experiment!
First, I used a partridge and orange SH thinking that it would be perfect during this early stage of the hatch. Nothing doing!! I then tied on a BWO parachute emerger and struck a good brown on the second or third cast and then took a bow right after that. It began to look like an epic session until I heard that distant drum roll of a turbulent atmosphere. I kept casting and catching trout while hoping that the storm would disappear. No such luck. I retreated to the safety of the car. In all, I fished from 3pm to 4pm and took 2 browns and 4 bows.
The Swift dropped like a rock yesterday and is now back to a civilized 50 cfs. It will be interesting to see if the high water of the past week moved any of the fish around like the last high water event.
The Millers and the EB - keep an eye on the flows! The EB is in the 300's and the Millers is in the 200's. These are good conditions but the forecasted T'Storms can blow them out quickly especially the EB. BTW, the Millers is fishing well.
My guiding calendar is starting to fill up. Don't get left out!!!!
Ken
4 comments:
Ken, that is a great outing for an hour's worth of fishing. I'm glad you figured out what they would take and connected with 6 nice ones. I think one of the great things about fly fishing is the satisfaction of cracking the code on what fly will work, especially when you see trout rising to something we're not sure what it is.
Being you got chased out by the storm when the trout were hitting makes me think about the time in my youth when we lived in Ohio. Dad would take us crappie fishing, and this one time nothing much was doing until the storm rolled in. All of a sudden we were catching fish after fish. The rain chased Mom and us boys back to the car, but Dad stayed out there fishing continuing to bring them in, lightning getting closer by the minute. A pretty close bolt finally chased ol' Dad off too and he was soaked to the skin by then. We had one hell of a fish fry that night plus froze some to boot for another one at some point. Dad and I still talk about that time once in a while.
Regards, Sam
Sam,
I once had a large tree get blown down and block the road down on the EB. I needed the Chesterfield DPW to get me out. So, any sign bad weather and I'm out of there!!
Ken
Always a good idea, Ken. My Dad was taking his chances fishing in that storm, and Mom really gave him the business about it later.
Sam
Ken,
Good to see that the EB is still producing trout months after the last stocking. It will only get better as Fall approaches.
Jim H.
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