"Creeps and idiots cannot conceal themselves for long on a trout stream" - John Gierach
Treble hooks, even ones with power bait festooned to them, are snagging tools and HAVE TO BE REPORTED. Take the phone number that's on the top of this page and stick it in your phone. The "game wardens" have been very responsive and I've heard that they've nabbed some creeps these past two weeks. If you see a violation do one thing: report it. That gets the police down there.
Do not confront the creeps or try to reason with them. Some "good guys" have the force of presence to make someone back down and leave but most don't so drop a dime on them. It's the best way. That means not just talking about it but doing it!!!
My Swift River Serendipity is always with me from November through March. This small (sizes 18 through 24) fly just seems to wake them up on the coldest of days. I eliminated the deer hair wing on the standard dressing and replaced it with white turkey flat to sink it quickly. There is no bead or weight of any kind built into the fly, just the optional tiny split shot. Some say that it represents an aquatic worm with the red color but I believe that's wishful thinking. It's as close as I get to an attractor pattern and in the Spring it's tied in olive and becomes a real insect!
A Winter Fly
A word on split shot - I seldom use weight but when I do it's not incorporated into the fly any longer but in the form of tiny shot anywhere between a foot to 20 inches above the fly. There are some reasons for this. First, weighted flies do not have the action of unweighted flies dancing below a split shot. Second, I lose more weighted flies than unweighted flies. If anything, I snag the shot but since the shot is tied onto a tag it easily slips off with a few tugs.
Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Ken
15 comments:
Ken I loved the blog "rating the rivers" that you did earlier. Can you do something similar with flies that were successful throughout the year? I'm a novice fly tyer and it will give me something to work toward this winter!
Mark,
Glad that you like the blog. I go through stages where I post about flies more than the fishing and vice viersa. With winter coming up there will be more tying posts so the answer is YES.
Ken
Ken,
Good post. It looks like the catch and freezer burn crowd is trying to get a jump on the January 1st date. That whole section should be C&R.
Phil H.
I bet a lot of this poaching goes on right under our noses! Spot on to report these poachers even if it means giving up some fishing time to find a cell signal. Every Sportsman should have the Env Police Number saved on their phone!
How about putting the split shot on a tag below your nymph?
Anonymous @ 3:21pm
You are right about this stuff going on under our noses.
You can place the shot on a tag below the fly too. I like it above the fly.
Ken
Hey Ken,
Solid day on the Swift R today with several brook trout (see pics below) landed & released. There were 7 cars in the pipe lot at 9 am so I worked the riffles further upstream being careful to stay off the gravel. Size 18 micro bugger was the go to fly for most of the day until a sporadic October Caddis hatch (see pic below) broke out around 2:00 above Rte 9, primarily in sunny protected pools around woody debris along the East bank about 1/2 way between the Rte 9 and the dam. Decent dry fly action for 15 minutes, landed one, lost a couple and then it was quickly over. Air temp rose from a morning low of 37 to a high of 55 by mid afternoon.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Gary Kolanda
Ken,
Caught a laker on the fly at Wachusett. Key was using intermediate line. Caught him on a white streamer of my own design sort of (based on Alaskabou steelhead flies). Tie in two white marabou feathers to make a tail on a #6 streamer hook. Just the tops, enough to make a solid tail. Then fold and palmer marabou towards the hook eye brushing towards tail with hand as you go. When you run out of marabou, throw in some strands of flashabou and repeat until you get to the hook eye. You may want a bead or cone because it is fairly buoyant. Really was a decent match for the dead smelt I saw on the beach. Basically a white leech. Not really a "guide fly" because it does take time to tie but I like the way it looks.
Just for giggles I fished it at the Swift the next day and caught a rainbow, lost one, missed a few short hits and had a big bow completely engulf it twice but could not hook him.
Would love to throw that in low light on the Millers or Deerfield in the fall on a crappy rainy day for big browns. Or in the fall when the small bait is in the salt around stripers and blues and albies
Kevin Burbick
Gary,
Happy Thanksgiving to you. You're making the most of this good weather which will run into next week at least. Make hay while the sun shines!!!
Kevin,
Sounds like a good all around fly. Tie a bunch on them!!
Ken
Hi Ken -- Great post! A few years ago I came out from above Rte 9 pretty late. There were two guys on the upstream side with 2 or 3 grocery bags filled and what looked like a net or a handline. They didn't see me come out and when I saw them I just stared at the bags as I walked by and one of the guys came barreling up the hill and broke of his charge at the top and "death stared" me as I walked by.
The reason I tell you this is it is good advice to not confront these poachers. I am fairly capable, but these two would have finished me off if they wanted to. They are aware they are breaking the law and if they can intimidate you into moving on, they will. This is not a scene we want on "our" rivers. It really ruined my day as you can believe. I may have even posted it here after it happened. Worse, I didn't have the ph # so couldn't get someone down there. I now have it in my phone as Ken suggested.
On that pleasant note, Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!
Andrew
Andrew,
You are right about not confronting them and right about having the Environmental Police # on your phone. I seems that we are having an uptake on this activity lately. Maybe it would be a good idea if Ma. TU chapters notified their membership to be on the alert.
Ken
Fished the pipe area today. There is a white rope tied around a tree next to a pile of brook trout eggs. Not sure of any legitimate reason for that to be left there.
C&R
Sam speaking, not Ken. I would cut that rope off and take it home. Something seems to be up with that signal.
Not the same, but someone did the same to my morel producing tree last year. I took the mushrooms home as well as the marker. Sorry, but that is the way I operate. EP is on my phone as well, I will use it as necessary.
Ken, bobo connected and released a 7 pounder above route 9. Released of course.
Best wishes and Happy Thanksgiving to you.
C&R and Sam,
????? ropes, morels and trout eggs???
Good news on the 7lb'er though!!!!
Ken
Maybe Sam can clarify about the mushrooms. My first impression of the rope was as a net anchor - something definitely not right and was not there on Sunday.
C&R
C & R, to clarify, maybe that rope is a marker of some kind to act as a reminder to whoever put it there, or someone else, that there is a pile of brook trout eggs in the vicinity. I am not sure of the legitimate reason for that though, but hopefully they will leave the redd alone.
As for the morel mushrooms, there is a particular tree I know of that has a good amount of big morels that grow around it each May. Last May I went to check it out and someone had put a cardboard arrow on the tree pointing down towards the ground, presumably as a marker for the mushrooms that grow there. There was a good batch of morels that day that I took home, along with that cardboard marker.
Sam
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