A Short Swift Trip, Pinheads, DHE Emergers And Booking A Trip.

4/20/18 - It appears that the Swift got stocked yesterday - Ken
4/21/18 - Lost streamer wallet on Ware or Swift (see comments)

Ray Bondorew (RaysFly) said...
Ken--Good to see a word or two about the Hornberg. I've fished the Hornberg for years and it's one of my old favorite and reliable patterns. In northern New England it's a prominent and well known pattern tied in a wide range of sizes and variations. In southern New England it's not that popular. I've always fished it dry on the drift with the retrieve bringing it just below the surface. Never thought to weight it and fish it deeper in the water column sizes. Have to tie and try a few weighted ones. Thanks for the tip!
Ray Bondorew Author of "Stripers and Streamers"

                                                         A Short Swift Trip

Patriots day gave us 2 inches of driving cold rain which blew out most of our major trout streams - except the Swift! I've heard during March that there were trout in the upper reaches, something that can't be said below Rt. 9 but good news from the Y Pool and the Bubbler Arm.   Time to check it out.

I love the Bubbler because it is QUIET. It's hard to get packed in there and I can say that the 20+ years I have been fishing it I usually fished it alone or didn't have an angler within 100 feet of me.  It's also the land of sight fishing and by that I don't mean just seeing fish but LOOKING for fish.  That's what i did!


I got there at 8:00 am, three anglers were in the Y Pool but the Bubbler was empty.  Taking a S-L-O-W walk I didn't see a fish until half way and then they were there - all rainbows and some seemed to be actively feeding.

On went a size 18 Zebra Midge which produced NOTHING in a 100 foot sweep of a section.
Next was a size 22 pinhead and that ended the drought. I took two good bows just drifting that fly past stationary trout that made aggressive moves towards that fly! The fish were in the 13 to 15 inch range.

I worked my way down to the Y were I found regular Gary and another braving a nasty wind over the dam. Gary had caught a brookie but that was it. I dropped my Pinhead into the fray and in a half hour had two strong hits but missed both. I was freezing and after two hours I packed it in. So did everyone else!

Pinheads work on the Swift, the Farmie and any other tailwater/spring creek that you come across. The best sizes for me are in the 20 to 24 range and although I've tied them down to size 28 they just don't seem to do the trick in the very small sizes. 20 to 24 puts them into the size range of most of our black fly larvae.

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DHE Emergers

Author Bob Wyatt nailed it when he realized that it is the emerger that most trout are after and not the adult dun.  He also nailed it with his DHE Emerger, a fly that trout just have to eat.

This imitation mimics the pre-adult stage of ANY mayfly that you will encounter. A few wisps of pheasant tail for the tail, floss, thread or dubbing for the body, buggy dubbing for the thorax and then deer hair for the wing stub. (substitute CDC for smaller sizes) One can skip the pheasant tail fibers but I think that it helps the back end of this fly sink which is what you want.

It has all of the feeding triggers that trout fall for and is a perfect Hendrickson imitation.

Don't worry, REAL Spring will be here soon and despite the lousy weather people are booking trips into June and July already.  Don't get left outside!!!






Ken