- "Do you need a 50-fish day dredging the depths with three jig-head nymphs drifting under an indicator? Or will half a dozen trout rising to dry flies prove equally fulfilling? - John Shewey, Editor In Chief of Fly Fishing Magazine, September/October 2016 edition
I'm adding two new rivers to my list of rivers that I guide on. First is the North River on the Shelbourne/Colrain line. This is a beautiful stream flowing out of Vermont and into the Deerfield River. It is small,cold and clean with native brook trout plus enough stockers to keep it interesting. It is a series of riffles, runs and pools that will lend itself to all techniques. I'm thinking May and June evenings near it's confluence with the Deerfield Mill River Williamsburg
The Mill river has been my April to June playground because: It's a cold stream and holds its trout well through the above months AND still has trout in August although a drought will make it too bony to fish well. (If the flow is up we will catch trout). It is seldom fished and has some deep runs and holes that keep their trout. It is a great stream to dry fly fish (think a size 14 Adams, picking the riffles and pools with a short line) and working a nymph suspended in mid current can be deadly!
The North River Shelbourne/Colrain
These are small watersheds and a 3 hour excursion should do it. You'll also know where to go when you do a solo trip. So make a note for early Spring and we will get on these great little rivers!
End of Year Trips
Hey, you still have some unused hours on that 2017 license. Lets go to the Swift where we can ply some of the lesser known and fished sections. I did well there just this week. If the temperatures are 30 or above you will be very comfortable in water that is warmer. We can even start later in the morning on a colder day when it's more pleasant. It's all up to you!!!
Ken
15 comments:
Ken, this is great news! I've heard good things about both those rivers and it's awesome that you will be covering them. I've heard the North River especially has a good population of wild fish (brookies and I think browns and bows too).
I will take a dozen on bead heads before the hatch and then another dozen on top during the hatch. Thankyou
Ashutosh,
I think I'll run into you there. It's your kind of river!!
Ken
Anonymous 3:24 pm
Ok! Is that it?
Ken,
I get confused with the "Mill" rivers out your way. The Amherst-Hadley Mill River is one river. I thought it was two. I see yours from rt 9 and it looks good. I'll contact you next spring.
P.W.
the North is about 5 minutes from my sister's house. its a fun river...I have found a couple nice fish that I think migrated up from the Deerfield, few and far between but that's why they call it fishing.
BobT,
I'm thinking of that 1/2 mile stretch above the Deerfield. I'm also thinking of the confluence of those two rivers. Also up by the covered bridge. All nice looking water!
Ken
exactly the river opens up a bit down there lots of good holding water. access is dicey except at the bridge(very steep leaf filled banks not felt sole friendly) or jump a fair amount upstream. my sis literally lives about 5 minutes from that spot so its usually a quickie 1-2 hour session for me but its definitely worthwhile....you could hit that and a few brooks and streams-that run down towards the EB...then hit the EB. "the variety pack" guide trip
There is a ton of under-fished water out there- especially central and western MA.
we all fall into the trap of going to the same reliable spots. if an angler takes one out of every 4 fishing days and uses it to explore new water they can double or triple the number of "reliable" spots their repertoire in a season and become a better angler in the process. I am as guilty as anyone but I've moved around a lot so I have had to find new water if I wanted to stay close by to my current home...don't be fooled if a river isn't on the C&R list either. I have taken may fine fish out of the Farmington, Housatonic and Deerfield well outside of the C&R areas with regularity If a river has good water quality its worth exploring because I promise you not all the fish get caught. Two of my biggest trout caught in the Northeast were caught in the Quinnapoxet months after the stocking trucks had visited. They were caught in classic holding water about as far as you could walk from a stocking point.
BobT,
Exactly, you nailed it!!!! I used to fish the Quinnie years ago. It's been 12 years since I went to the Housy too. I should find the time.
Ken
The Quaboag River gets my interest and here is why. Like a lot of rivers it gets stocked, but it warms up plenty as I can personally attest to as I fished it in June when it settled down after the good spring rain we got this year. As warm as it was, there was something rising against the opposite bank that looked like a trout rise.
Going back two years, I fished it in December and caught a silvery brown that looked too small to be a stocked trout, a brook trout that looked as native as can be and a rainbow that got off before I netted it.
I guess my point is, as warm as that stream gets, some trout seem to have a way of surviving. Maybe they find a spring seep within the stream or some feeder brook that meets their needs.
Sam,
Dan Trela has told me that the Quaboag has great Hendrickson hatches in April and May.
Ken
Awesome to see how things are looking for you in 2018 Ken. Is the Mill the one behind Look Park? Always wanted to fish that stream...
Reading the above comments has me wondering... Do you ever fish the little stream that rolls down the road from Shutesbury, then parallels along the road, then ultimately crosses Pelham Hill rd just before it gets into Amherst? I cant think of the name... years ago in January-February I fished it and caught some nice browns... But I'm talking 25 years ago... Always wonder if it's still a good bit of water.
Will,
The Miller River flows behind Look Park.
The little stream that flows out of Shutesbury along the "Shutesbury S's is Roaring Brook according to the maps but flows into the Mill River in Amherst, not the Mill River in Northampton.
No I have not fished it.
Ken
Ken have you ever fished the Housy in Pittsfield? The Lee and Glendale sections always fished well too. I stopped going all the way to Cornwall when I decided to try the MA sections. The Pittsfield section wasnt stocked for many years and we always seemed to find them. The Hoosic is another under appreciated river and some of its tribs are fun.
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