I haven't been to the Y Pool since April and my longest stretch at the Pipe was for a half an hour because there was only one other fly fisher there until the place filled up and that's when I left. Cady Lane has been lonely although I never feel lonely down there. Fewer visible fish mean fewer visible fishermen and that's a fact of life. Catching fish is important and catching difficult fish is VERY important but catching fish in a beautiful place is what I enjoy. Cady Lane can do that, the Gauge Run is another place and the flats from Rt 9 to the Duck Pond is another. I've written about these places for years but the Y and the Pipe are the magnets and that's where people will end up and I think that will never change. Let's not forget Bondsville either!!!!!
What Flies Are Working? Well, soft hackles always do but I've I've been doing well with a size 18 PT hybrid with a olive colored plastic seed bead at the head. The bead adds virtually no weight but just gives it a certain look and with a peacock collar the bows, from 16 to 20 inches, like it too!
Roaring Rivers
As I write BOTH the Millers and the EB are at 1040 cfs. Most freestones from the Pioneer Valley westward are flowing very high but freestones in EAST of there are running above average flows but are totally fishable. The Swift and the Farmie, being tailwaters, are under control and will see the usual hordes this weekend. Get there very early or better yet, stay late.
A Helpful Hint
I must have been a picky eater as a kid because I can remember my mother saying "Eat your dinner, don't play with your dinner". One can say pretty much the same for flyfishing: "Play your fish, don't play with your fish"! Avoid the conventional wisdom that requires one to play the trout with the rod held low and from side to side. A hooked trout wants to go DOWN where it can wrap your leader around anything that's in the way. The trout does NOT want to go UP. Make it go UP. Make it thrash on the surface which will exhaust it in no time and this is done by keeping the rod UP and using the bending and flex of the rod to work against the fish. We forget what Lee Wulff said years ago and that was that the rod is an important element in your drag system. You should use it!!!
Ken
12 comments:
Ken,
A good post! You say it all.
GW
Ken,
I fished Cady Lane from 7:30 until 12:00 and had the place to myself. Fish were gulping the sulphurs (?) that were emerging. Fooled some brookies and one nice rainbow on the olive DHE.
Pete
Fished the Farmington this morning and was surprised at the lack of fisherman. Water was a little high but the mop fly (with marabou collar) and Partridge and Green SH did the trick.
BTW, I prefer to keep the fish from thrashing and rolling on the surface when fishing dropper flies. Keeps tangles to a minimum!
Anonymous,
Maybe that's why I don't use droppers often.
Peter,
I think you get it!!!
Ken
Bondsville section which I mostly fish has gotten up to 68 degrees. With low flow to boot. One big rainbow connected with and long distance released after a spectacular jump which got it loose. I was all for it. I will lay off of Bondsville for a while until the water cools off come this fall. Upstream to where the water is colder is where I will fish next opportunity.
Sam,
68 degrees!!! That's the highest I've heard of for Bondsville but it's the morning temperature I recorded on the Deerfield earlier this month. It has not hurt the fishing from the stories that I've heard.
Ken
OK, so off to the EB this morning (gorge side) this normally means 2 to 3 miles of walking whether the gates are closed or open. Well air temp 52 along the river, 60 in the river at 6:30 am, I fooled 8 trout over the next 3 to 4 hours with a #10 pats rubber legs in good conditions (a little stained and moving at 300 to 350 CFS) a great morning, especially for the fact that there were NO other anglers. Only saw people when I was leaving. Now the 1st 7 trout were bows, one 17,18 inches, no. 8 was a 12 t0 14 inch brown as he was coming to the net I noticed no fly visible just tippet goin into his mouth. Damn, surgery, last time this happened to me it didnt turn out good, swallowed fly so I cut the tippet about 3" long took my clamps and grabbed the fly pushed then pulled but he started jumping around when calm again I reclamped and it came right out, went to middle of the river held him in the current for awhile and off he went, that really did make my morning.
Gary,
A great morning!!!
Ken
Used the link on your page to report two guys on the swift, right below the route 9 bridge. First time I've done that but it was justified, the link on the page just made it way too easy for me not to call.
They came down the bank with a walmart bag full of fish and snuck in between me and another fly fisherman. I watched them catch a tiny brookie and throw him in the bag and then they caught a big rainbow and drug him up on the bank, and loaded him into the bag. I yelled to them and they claimed they knew they couldn't keep the fish, then promptly loaded up their stuff and headed down river. Two guys below me asked "you guys see anything up there", "nope" they replied. Scum bags. EPO's never showed up. They were very identifiable with bright orange spinning rods and I told them where they were parked.
Josh,
You did the right thing by calling the EPO's. I called on Friday. The more calls the more action. They better not be ignoring us!!!!!
Ken
Guess what we need to do is make a followup call to the EPO number the next day and ask what happened to our calls. If we keep getting stonewalled then move higher up the food chain till they get a message that we care! Got to make it dam uncomfortable to blow us off! If we don't make the effort then no one else will.
I know that they are very understaffed, but logically it would seem that the poaching might be more centered where the fish are, and that's where a routine presence is needed. Badly!
BTW, fished the Farmington last night and my luck ran out! Fishermen coming out of the woodwork! Did manage to find solitude but took some driving and looking.
Fished the Swift above and below rt 9 today. Swung PTs (#18, 20) and soft hackle PTs (#16) brought bows, browns and brookies to net. My primary comment, however, was about the browns. I caught two. One a nice 10+"er, but the other was barely 6". Did they stock browns that small or could it have been born in the river? Probably wishful thinking.
Chuck
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