How can anyone say that they would prefer to catch trout via nymphing instead of on a dry fly? I don't know but they are out there, a generation of fish counters who like the lofty numbers that a stocking truck can create. I've heard that the Millers has been not like it was last year when buckets of bows were tossed in and everyone was an expert. Now the story has changed. It's slim pickings with the browns they say. Granted, it takes time and patience to catch that fish and a little skill that goes beyond "nymphing". A little timing and knowing the pattern of trout and insect behavior helps too.
I rigged up my 3wt at 1:45pm and fastened on a slightly weighted possum nymph and began to work it as I've always done over the decades - quartering upstream and letting it sink as it as it approached me which is the same way Theodore Gordon fished a wet fly in those Catskill waters over a 100 years ago. There were no indicators or sighters of any kind. Just a look for any hesitation in the drift of the line. I also kept an eye out for any surface activity which was sure to start.
I picked up 6 browns before the surface activity became too real to ignore. A hatch of Olives started (as expected) so on went a snowshoe BWO emerger in a #20 and then the fun really started. After the second brown a blue heron got into the act and twice tried to grab my brown as I was netting it!!! Then I watched him as he watched me. If I cast upstream he looked upstream and if the cast was quartering downstream he followed that too! He watched me cast upstream which resulted in a hookup which he then went after.
They are smarter than we think!!
I ended up with 8 browns taken on the surface and 6 below in two hours of fishing. THE MILLERS IS ALIVE WITH TROUT!!
BTW, A surface hooked trout fights harder than a bottom hooked trout. The nymph caught browns fought ok but nowhere near the the intensity of a trout near the surface who feels the hook. Just an observation.
Going forward this season I would suggest a perfect Millers trip to be from 1pm to 4pm. We will catch the evening rise!!!
Ken
10 comments:
Congrats on the great action, Ken. That is a lot of trout in two hours of fishing. That blue heron must be hungry by the sounds of it.
Sam
Sam,
I knew you would get a kick out of that! I was starting to feel bad for the bird.
Ken
Hi Ken, I went up to the Swift for the modest flow reduction today and did ok fishing solely with a Little Brook Trout streamer, rangeley tied on a long hook. I fish it with the same quartering cast you describe. Along with the stocker Bows, I caught 2 beautiful Brook Trout that were 12+ inches. One male with a pronounced kype, maybe 13 inches and female of 12. Both were in beautiful colors and fought stronger then the Bows which were a bit easy. It's all about the Brookies for the next month or so. The spawn has definitely begun.
The next rain will have me back trying the Miller's again. I prefer a bit of challenge. Have a good one!
Andrew
I did get a kick out of reading that, Ken. Too bad you didn't catch a dace to throw its way. Maybe it was a youngster that hasn't figured out how to fish for a living yet.
Not long ago I caught a pretty good sized dace and tossed into a side channel of the Swift, a very shallow area. While I continued to fish I saw a commotion to my left and it appeared to be a good sized trout chasing the dace I threw in to that zone as close to the bank as could be.
Always something interesting and that is all one can ask for.
Regards, Sam
Profound my friend, technique,skill,knowledge,yes but patience is the key as it makes a better angler. Oh put me down for fishing on top, nothing like it.
Gary,
You are the man, the admiral of the Westfield System. We think alike, that rise to a dry says it all and we have another month of this to quench our thirst for dry fly action.
Keep writing!!!
Ken
I had a beautiful day on the Millers yesterday. With clear skies and no wind, the leaves and pine needles were no where to be found! I hadn't fished the kempfield area all year and since there were no cars in Wendell lot, I thought I'd give it a try. First worked above the K pool all the way up to the RR bridge. Wanted the warmth of the sun as it was a pretty cool morning. I had One brown on black/mint wooly bugger. Had some rising fish by mid day in pool right below RR bridge. Had fun with BWO emerger, but nothing to the net. I also worked the section below this RR pool really hard both moving upstream first "dredging" deep by dead drifting a WB with a tailing pheasant tail - all under an indicator. No luck and it just looks so fishy. Then back downstream swinging a WB and that worked. I then headed down to Kpool and had a beautiful brown on a barbless ptail nymph hanging off a Chernobyl ant, but lost it on the way in.
Finally, at 4pm I moved upstream to your "special perch" and had a great end to the day with 2 nice browns in quick order on chernobly/dropper setup. Both were "recent" stream additions and bigger one took the ant and the smaller one settled for the nymph.
Slower action for me vs you, but I still enjoyed every minute of it!
Paul
Hi Ken,
Thanks again for a great outing. Things got really good after I headed to Kempfield. The soft hackle you gave me was the ticket. I landed my first brown at about 11:45 and then netted 6 more before I left at 1:45. All of those were on that same soft hackle. I never switched off of it. Fantastic stuff! Here's a couple of pics. I'll keep an eye out for you on the river when I get out there again. Also, I'll reach out to you to show me the EB sometime in the future. I'd like to get out to that river too.
thanks!
Tyler
The browns were feeding just below the surface at the Trestle pool this morning. Landed one on a PT snowshoe hare emerger, and the other on a P&O soft hackle. Went down to the Kempfield pool and they were in the same pattern but they wouldn't take the emerger. Had one brown follow on the first cast, hit and get off on the second cast, and then finally hooked and landed on the third cast with a Picket Pin. Buttery brown fish.
Peter
Paul, Tyler and Peter,
Thank you very much for sharing your great experiences on the Millers. You are providing a service to other anglers.
Keep casting!!!
Ken
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