"Never leave fish to find fish" Moses 1200 BC
I totally lost count of the number of brookies that rose to my dry fly. These fish seem bigger than last year and really put a bend in the bamboo.
Baby Browns
The Swift above Route 9 and the Ware River are LOADED with 6 to 8 inch browns. Some may hate the stocking of trout this small but for the Ware this deserves attention. Last year the Ware received bows, brookies and browns in the Spring and after a long dry Summer received only bows for a Fall stocking. But 50% of our (me and clients) catch last Fall were browns!!!! It will be worth the effort to fish this river through the Summer to see how these browns survive and grow!!!!!
The Millers, Ware And Westfield System
The Millers is full of fish and those in the know will be fishing this river in the early morning or in the evening as we roll into Summer. It still amazes me that there are those that think that this river should play by tailwater rules. To paraphrase old Bill Clintons campaign slogan, "It's a freestone, stupid! It doesn't magically turn into a bass river on July 1st as one "expert" said. (that expert also said the EB doesn't fish well in the Summer, duh!)
Speaking of the EB (that's the moniker I hung on the East Branch of the Westfield 10 years ago) most fly fishers know only one branch and most draw a blank when they hear the WB or the MB brought up. The "overviews" you find on the web are only about the EB and the only one worth reading is the one by Christophe Perez in Eastern Flyfishing Magazine a few years back. I don't ignore the WB or the MB and you shouldn't either. They are not the "destination" that the EB is but they should be.
Ken
P.S. Keep asking for the Fly Fishers Guide To The Millers River. I've introduced thousands to this river through the Guide and it's still FREE!
11 comments:
Ken,
I really enjoy your blog, thank you for the great write ups! I moved to MA in December and I’ve been getting my feet wet learning all the water we have available. I’ve been fishing the East Branch of the Swift my past few outings with moderate success. I’m looking forward to checking out the Millers, I think I’m going to try the Bearsden area first. Again, thank you for the great information from you and the community of commenters.
Hi Ken
Fished the Millers early yesterday in the am as the sun was rising.Went to my favorite spot where you walk, walk and walk even more for the solitude.I have never seen a person here that is why I go to this beautiful glide.Caught a good number of fish and what I believe to be a monster holdover.
Matthew,
Suggestion - Try the lower Millers first!
Anonymous 9:35
Beautiful!!!! I have some out of the way spots that are hardly ever fished but are almost in plain view!!! I love the Millers!!
Ken
Hi, Ken and Ken's Distinguished Readers,
It looks like the Millers keeps coming down--and they've stocked it again! As I recall, you find it ideally fishable around 300-350. Am I remembering that correctly? Please correct me if wrong! I hope to hit it on Thursday....
A quick report on the Nissitissit. I fished it last Thursday and landed 10 in about four hours, all brookies, and missed a bunch. They were clearly stocked fish. Indeed, they all looked like the same fish: about 12", good fighters. (These are the fish Charlie Shadan refers to as the "village idiots"!) They were most interested in streamers, but out of curiosity I tried a few other things: caught a couple on a partridge and orange and one on a Chernobyl Ant that was about 1/4 the size of the fish that attacked it. I'll take surface action any way I can get it! I was surprised not to get any rainbows, since I know they stocked those, too, and I was fishing the two spots where I've tended to catch rainbows: the bridge at Shattuck Oil and the big pool in the WMA. The river is fishing beautifully right now--I'd say the levels are perfect. I know it's not the Millers, but if you live in the Boston area as I do and don't have the entire day to spare, it's a 45-minute drive, as opposed to an hour and 45 minutes. If anyone heads out there, be sure to stop by Charlie's Evening Sun Fly Shop in Pepperell. He usually opens at 4pm during the week, after guiding. I think he knows the location of every fish in that river!
Cheers,
David
Ken,
I want to first say thank you for a wonderful blog. I came across it while looking for information on area fly fishing. I grew up in the South Village of Royalston and spent many a summer days on or about the Millers River. The river wasn't nearly as clean as it is now but I have always been drawn to it. Whether it be simply walking along it or white water kayaking the upper or lower sections during high water.
In my youth I would fish the Millers River, Priest Brook, Lawrence Brook and the Tully River. Always with an open face reel/rod and the oh so popular Mepps lure. I would often see older gentlemen fly fishing and would look at them in awe. I eventually asked my father to teach me how to fly fish. He responded by taking me to the local fish & gun club where we would practice on their wide open pond. I in turn would take this knowledge and go to one of the above mentioned streams and attempt to fly fish. Attempt being the key word. As you might be able to guess, I became very frustrated when I spent more time in the trees than I did in the water. I eventually gave up on trying to master the art. My loss.
So here we are present day and I have come back to the wonderful sport of fly fishing. I'm not sure what happened between then and now, but I get it. I can honestly say that I have found no other sport quite like it and as rewarding. My wife has accused me of making her a fly fishing widow.
Now to the meat of the matter. I would greatly appreciate a copy of The Fly Fishers Guide to the Millers River. I am sure there are many tidbits of information that I will find useful. Thank you in advance.
Todd
On the EB at 7:30 this morning past the 6.6 mile marker. Rainbows like fast water it is in there blood to get in fast rip and feed. I found that rip and fooled 3 strong bows that each put up great fights. 2 with a #14 pats rubberleg and 1 with a #12 black and red spider. I saw only 1 angler headed up river to his rip. Now I take you back to last year when the C&R section of the EB was not stocked in the fall because of low water conditions. Last week it was stocked with similar conditions, confusing?
Ken, it would be soooo cool if more browns were to hold over in some of these freestones. Based on the swifts recent upswing in browns (holdovers) and brookies, as well as the occasional par looking brown's on the millers... It sure makes me think we could be about to hit a "golden age" for fly fishing this area.
Matthew Chipman - Rare is the EB Swift fisherman I meet... I grew up on that river, it's a blast to fish. The BD section of the Millers is awesome, especially mid June. Warm evenings as the sun falls... That, is a great stretch of water.
Will,
That would be nice.
Gary,
A good morning. It was insane on the MB. Tons of baby browns on a tenkara rod.
Todd,
Excellent write up. I can tell you love the place.
David,
You remember correctly but I like it lower (150 cfs in the Fall for the BWO fishing)
Fished dries only out here in central mass. I wouldn't call it an insane hatch or anything like that but enough dark caddis to make a few fish take notice. Don't leave the river before 8pm. It was happy hour from 8 to 9 tonight. Slow until then. Dark caddis and even large rusty spinners worked tonight.
mattk,
I saw those large dark caddis on the Millers Tuesday evening. Lots at Orcutt but none at Kempfield. Fish were hitting a black spider.
Ken
Fished the Thousand Acre Run on the Millers yesterday late morning. Longer drive meant I didn't get there until 9 am, and the river was quite warm for this time of year--right around 70 at mid day. Pretty slow fishing--caught a smaller rainbow and a smaller brown, and a larger (13 inch) rainbow at the big pool under the railroad trestle. Not many nymphs under the rocks at this time of year, and tried a lot of flies that received little attention. Stone flies and buggers seemed to have the best action, but even that was a little sparse.
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