A Sunday, A Tuesday, Over 400 And Double Taper Lines

John D. Voelker once said, “Fly Fishing is a magic way to recapture the rapture of solitude without the pangs of loneliness.” Any fly angler knows what he was referring to. Fly fishing allows for men (and women) to find peace in a chaotic world where we are often in sensory overload with the constant sounds and sights of bustling cities. Flylords Mag

Where's The Pipe?                                                                   

There were already 8 cars parked at the Rt 9 lot at 6:45 on Sunday morning which was too much for me. I do get tired of fishing the same place for too long and even the draw of salmon wasn't enough to get me back there. "Let's try the Pipe." First, I was the only one there which was good. Second, the 370 flow on Sunday morning put the Pipe UNDERWATER. This will happen about every three years or so but it has never killed the fishing. You just fish DEEP.

Wading was difficult to say the least. No, I didn't cross over and stand on the shore but got out in the current but only about 10 feet out. I used a size 12 partridge and orange and roll cast into that seam and managed 5 bows in that crazy flow. The fly was about four inches above the slip shot sinker which did the trick. A scud did nothing. (sometimes I play with the idea of fishing one fly pattern all year long and that would be a P&O SH)

My good deed for the day was informing two lure tossers that the trout that they just caught had to be released which it was. They actually thanked me for enlightening them!!!

Tuesday Morning Two things would keep the crowds down and the first was the weather (snow/rain mix) and the fact that it was a Tuesday! Again, I was the only one above RT 9 which is a real rarity these days and now I had to deal with a 409 flow!!!  So, on go a brace of #12 P/O and a good rainbow slams it. (they fight harder than the salmon). Next was a 16 inch brown and then after a hour came the salmon.

There are redds all over the place from just below the power lines right up to the Y Pool.  Don't walk on them for the next three months!!!

Double Taper Lines
My favorite style of fly fishing on the Swift is during the skinny water of Summer and Fall (not this Fall) which requires small, unweighted flies, long leaders and a gentle cast whether you are fishing on the surface or below.  These are the conditions that send euro nymphers off to other waters and that's where the venerable double taper design comes into play. The Double Taper is built for stealth fishing unlike a weight forward and it  especially shines when one roll casts which is a real asset on the Swift.

Another fly line design is the Wulff Triangle Taper which actually outshines the DT in real skinny water conditions. It is a roll casting machine! I rig up either a DT 3F or a Wulff 2wt to either a bamboo or graphite rod between 7 feet and 8.5 feet and toss tiny flies all day. These lines never see the Millers or the EB where a 4 or 5wt weight forward is the logical choice but they see the Swift and the West and Middle branches of the Westfield. which are perfect for them.

Book Me

You have a few hours left on that 2018 license. Yes, I'm still guiding and if you want to get into some salmon just contact me!!

Ken

Thanksgiving Ramblings, Another Winter Fly And Split Shot Strategies

Note - net found recently on the Swift. Email me to recover the net. KEN
"I don't know about you, but I can get tired of fishing in a crowd, even when the fishing itself is real good.....I can even be sociable and have made some friends along trout rivers, but to me a large part of fly fishing is the quiet and solitude" - John Gierach, Fly Fishing Small Streams

This four day Thanksgiving event has been the longest that I have been out of my waders since last February but I needed to relax a bit plus this unbelievable early season cold spell cinched it for me. Wifey and I made a mad dash to Manhattan on Wednesday morning (no traffic to speak of), had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat (apologies to Arlo Guthrie for stealing his line) at my daughter-in-law's place and then shot over to the Village that evening for chuckles at the Comedy Cellar! A different Turkey Day for sure but we loved it!!

Swift Serendipity

Yes, you can fish this fly all year long but it really shines when there's snow on the ground. It is an unabashed knock off of the Serendipity. That's accomplished by ted and rusty brown for the body AND ditching the hair wing for white turkey flat.  Some may say that it imitates a reddish aquatic worm but I think that's a stretch.

It has been with me and on this blog for over 10 years and will stay with me.  There is no weight built into this fly, no lead and no garish bead but it gets deep with split shot about 4 to 6 inches from the fly.

SPLIT SHOT RIG

Split Shot is becoming my go to weight method. It has many advantages over the weighted fly. First, a fly with split shot hovers just above the stream bottom and is pushed around by the currents, suggesting LIFE more accurately than with a weighted fly. Second, You don't loose too many of these flies on snags or pick up weeds as with bead heads as any regular on the Swift knows.  Third, when you it's time to fish an unweighted fly you just pop off the shot!!

I used to pinch on the shot about 4-5 inches above the fly but I would still get the occasional hang up and that was almost always because the shot got wedged in a crevice or between to objects.

That was solved with the rig on the right >>>
Tie on the fly with a surgeons knot with a 5 inch tag. Pinch on a shot about a 1/2 inch from the  end of the tag but not hard. You want it a bit  loose so if the shot gets snagged in a crevice a tug will make the shot slide off and all that you have to do is attach another instead of tying on another fly. I think it's called a slip shot rig in some circles.

The Salmon - What To expect

Back in 2011, when the salmon last made it into the Swift, we saw very little spawning activity and that may have been due to the 400 - 500 cfs flow back then.  They are spawning now so avoid the redds.  It will be interesting to see how successful they are. What about after the spawn? Years ago we caught them on small smelt imitations drifted near the surface. We caught them on size 26 dries,  soft hackles, hares ear nymphs and on tiny midge larvae.  In short, we caught them on EVERYTHING and that activity lasted right through the Winter and into the Spring.

Don't forget the Rainbows!!!

Ken

A Winter Fly, LL Salmon And Happy Thanksgiving

"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong" - John Gierach

I like scuds especially on the Swift.  In fact, it may be the only place where I fish them. All of that weed cover especially far below Route 9 must be the home of millions of these creatures.  Even in a weedless section like the Bubbler Arm the trout know what they are and attack them.

It seems that I usually fish them only in the Winter and why that is I cannot say except they seem to work better in the Winter.

There are all kinds of methods used in the creation of this fly but this works for me:

Hook - scud style size 12 - 16
Body - fuzzy  Australian Possum ( slight olive cast)
Carapace - thin plastic strip
Rib - ultra thin copper wire

I add no weight to the body with a bead but fish this with a micro shot about 8 inches above the fly letting it bounce along the bottom. It works well!

Schedule A Salmon Trip
You heard it here first as far as the salmon are concerned!!!  Other "sources" have not even mentioned this fishery which is too bad for their readers.
I've caught LL Salmon on every trip since they came over the spillway and today I took two more brute salmon and two high flying bows in two hours. The Swift is loaded with salmon and eager bows and so far conditions have been great even with the high water. The snow didn't bother us and temperatures in the 40's felt fine.  Just contact me for a 3 or 6 hour trip especially on weekdays when the hordes have thinned out!!!
20 plus inch salmon from the Swift

I thank everyone who has read and contributed to this blog over the past month.  Your input counts and I value it.

On that note I wish all of you and your families a peaceful and joyous Thanksgiving.  The best to you!

Ken

Rating The Rivers 2018, Snow And Salmon

LL Salmon On An Egg

What a screwy year.  Two years of summer drought followed by one of the wettest summers on record. It didn't stop me and others from getting our waders wet and doing what we like to do.  I was able to guide and fish most of my favorite rivers until late September when the constant rain blew out the freestones and left us with the Swift. (not a bad option!!!)

Which brings up a point.  This blog reports on approximately 5 river systems and their conditions and recent fishing success.  I know whats happening because I was there. I've also been the recipient of some great fishing reports by readers. They are not afraid to share reports on rivers AND of locations on rivers.  This is something that you don't find much in the land of flyfishing blogs which may list many rivers but never report on them. In fact, this blog may be the only constant river report in Massachusetts. I know that it gets more page views by far than any other owner operated fly fishing blog in New England.

Now For The Rivers

5.  The West and Middle branches of the Westfield River (22 trips, guiding and solo)

I'm lumping these two beautiful rivers together because they are close enough that a six hour trip will give you plenty of time to fish both.  The topography of West Branch (WB) reminds me of a miniature
Deerfield without the float tube theme park scene.  The Middle Branch is a tenkara playground and where it flows into Littleville Reservoir you may run into great dry fly fishing.  Rainbows love the place.

4. The Ware River (26 trips, guiding and solo)

A very good Spring considering the ice jams of last January and what it did to the river.  It's still my top spot to be in May for Quill Gordons and Hendricksons and it held up right through June.  I was hoping for a banner Autumn but the flows killed that.  BTW, the Ware river has a high percentage of dry fly caught trout in my experience.  It's a dry fly river!

3. THE EB (East Branch of the Westfield river) 28 trips, guiding and solo)

The EB had a good Spring and a steady Summer and I was praying for enough rain to insure a Fall stocking.  I prayed too hard but we still caught trout in heavy flows.  Because of the conditions we had to WORK for our fish which is always more satisfying than catching 50 stockers in two hours. BTW, I've always seen big stoneflies in this river but not like this past August and September.


2. The Millers River  (54 trips, guiding and solo)

Last years top river looked like it was going for a repeat and then Mother Nature destroyed it. The Millers hasn't been at 400 cfs since early September and has been over 3000 twice. Last years Autumn dry fly action was unbelievable. This year = Nothing. It would have been #1 but.......

1. The Swift -  (62 trips and counting)

Ok, it's a tailwater and probably a bit unfair but what river offers trout habitat all summer every year? What river has a population of MONSTER BROWNS that are probably stream born and not swimming along with eye tags? What river has a stream born population of brook trout in outrageous numbers (this years numbers appear to be down but they are still higher than any stream in Southern New England. I've seen hundreds of brook trout in the past two weeks) and let's not forget our extra bonus of LL SALMON this Autumn.  That's why this river has been written up in national fly fishing magazines and has become a destination for fly fishers from all over the country.  That's why it's NUMBER 1!!!!

I wouldn't mind seeing a Trout Stamp purchased to fish this river and with the proceeds going into protecting this resource!

We got about 10 inches of wet snow last night.  That will not stop us.

I found this trash up at the Y Pool Tuesday morning. The dope was dumb enough to have dropped it on the shore and now we are on to him.  Keep an eye out for this bullshit especially with the brookies, salmon and browns in the middle of spawning.
Put the Environmental Police number in your phone.  (it's on the front page of this blog).


Ken

It's A Salmon Year

"Fishing in rainy conditions may make fishermen seem crazy to the great mass of unimaginative people, but then few fishermen care what they think." - John Gierach

It POURED yesterday and the Swift broke the 200 cfs barrier (245 as I write) and hasn't stopped which was probably the reason that I spent three hours without seeing a soul.  It was worth it!! The two bows were nice and the stray brookie or 3 looked great but I know what I was there for: LL Salmon!!!

As stated in a previous post I'm staying away from the redds as best I can and have had fun swinging soft hackles as if they were an Atlantic Salmon fly AND IT WORKS.   I managed two on the swing.

The fish in the net was about 24 inches long and managed to stick its head through a small tear in the net up to its pectorals. It's a big tear now. Note to Self: Get a new net!

Where are they?  They are everywhere!  Its a small stream so you should be able to find them.  Just  walk on weeds or sand and not on gravel.

This perfect  condition comes once a decade.  Don't miss it.

Ken

The Salmon Are Back And A Mystery Fly

"Flyfishing is solitary, contemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations.  It's not even clear if catching fish is actually the point." - John Gierach

You knew it was going to happen on the Swift as soon as the overflow started. Surface swimming LL Salmon would follow the current over the spillway and end up in the Y Pool just as in the Autumn of 2011.  I first saw evidence this past Wednesday as huge fish (bigger than the usual trout) began to bat around the Y. I got this photo from reader Hunter of this fish that the angler thought was a large brown.  It isn't!  Sunday my client and I cast for about an hour for some HUGE fish that were cruising the surface with HUGE dorsal fins that reminded me of sharks.

Back in 2011 we caught these fish on everything from tiny smelt streamers to hares ear nymphs right down to a size 30 larvae patterns.  One particular streamer pattern was the Goldie.  Contact Dan Trella for details.

The Swift flow is 192 cfs as I write on 11/12 at 5:45 am and with Tuesdays rain it will continue to go up.  The Bubbler Arm will be a sanctuary for trout hunters because that flow will not be effected by the spillway.  The PIPE is half submerged and may go underwater for the first time in about 4 years.  It appears that the usual brookie spawning spots are effected by this extreme flow.  I know of two spots that have not been effected (that means lots of spawning trout) but I will not fish them this year under these conditions.

Brookies And Blue Wings

 The incredible BWO hatch down in Cady Lane continues unaffected by the rising water. Yesterday around 1pm the water was littered with thousands of size 26ish mayflies which didn't give a damn about rising water or the cold wind/temperatures. Now, this area is fairly empty of it's larger brookies that have headed off upstream to the dance leaving the sub 6 inch fish to provide some entertainment.  THERE ARE THOUSANDS of these fish in that area which bodes well for the future. The question is: where were they last Summer???

Name That Fly


I got this email from reader David L. this weekend:

Hi Ken, 

What is this cone head streamer thing? I pulled it out of a tree while rescuing my own fly on trophy stretch of upper Connecticut. I have since caught several huge fish on it. Good down deep in big water conditions. Can't figure out how to buy more.

Any help appreciated. Couldn't figure out how to post the picture in your blog to get reader help. 

Lets solve this mystery!!!

Next Post: River Wrap Up!

Ken

A Sad Sight And "Natural" Flies

"If I fished only to capture fish my fishing trips would have ended long ago" - Zane Grey

In the Fall of 2017 I was primed to fish this one section of the Swift and that second were the large gravel flats found below the Duck Pond. For the past few years this section had been the the TOP brookie spawning area on the river, period. Hundreds of brook trout built redds and many,many rainbows and browns patrolled the area for the stray eggs.

In late September of 2017 scouted the place out and was dismayed/shocked at the weed growth that had taken over the flats. Needless to say, brookie spawning in that spot was abysmal! I was hoping that 2017 was a freak year. It was not!

The above photo was taken on Wednesday. All of the prime gravel beds are under a sea of green and instead of hundreds of BT I saw 3!
There were a few "open" areas but the increased flow probably makes them unsuitable. Two years ago you saw very little weed growth.

The weeds seem to start at the Duck Pond and head downstream. Above the pond there is very little growth.

Natural Flies

I wish that I had coined the label "Junk Flies". You know, the garish, glitzy, bead headed monstrosities or those squirmy wormy creatures in day glow radioactive colors. When I fish I want the trout think that my fly is the real think and not something to strike out of fear. I get more satisfaction out of catching a trout on a nymph like the one in the photo then catching six on a san juan whatever.

The Weekend

The Millers - 3010 cfs

The EB - 1150 cfs

The Swift - 144 cfs but still very fishable. It is really the only game in town so to speak. If the expected rain on Friday is lighter than the forecast the EB may be fishable by early next week which is not too late for this river. I've had good late November days on the EB. The Millers?? See you next May!!!

Ken

Over The Top And The "Dark Season"

Over the last decade or so, as the growth in the number of fly fishermen has plateaued, it’s become harder and harder for the large wholesale fly companies to grow or even maintain their sales. As a way of combating this, the introduction of new fly patterns is something they’ve come to rely on. The same is true for many fly shops and independent fly tiers. At all levels of distribution, new flies represent both monetary incentive and reward. How well they catch fish isn’t nearly as important as how well they sell. - Hatch Magazine

                                                                                                 

Well, it had to happen with the two months of steady rain that we have had. The Quabbin finally crested the overflow arm and began to flow into the Swift. The  photo to the left was taken at 9:30 am on Saturday November 3 and although it's not a lot of water it can be enough to change the strategy for this river. Fridays' heavy rain blew the river from 55 cfs to 100 overnight. Much of that increase was due to the RAIN hitting below the dam and not from the overflow but the overflow may keep everything higher than it's been for a few months. The river leveled off  but it may not drop to that "sweet spot" of 55 cfs for a while.  Wherever it lands I hope that the BWO action doesn't stop early.  It's been the best in years.

The Bubbler Arm will be the least affected but this rain. There is no increase in the release so it should be fine.

What to expect - the overflow may last for months meaning that there may be some LL Salmon taking the plunge as in 2011. There was a lot more water back then so we will see. It also means if that if the overflow continues through the Winter and Spring we could have some SUPER dry fly action on that arm on warm March and early April days. We always have. My concern is if we have too much water downstream it may hinder the brookie spawning. Again we will see.

The Dark Season

I'm a traditionalist which makes me lean towards freestones and the best time to fish freestones is on a Spring or Summer evening. Insects are hatching and trout are rising and I am in heaven.  Sadly, those days are gone until late March where we will have longer days without balmy temperatures for a while.  Until then the tailwaters will have to do.

The Quote At The Top

I found that quote to be fairly accurate but a bit limited in scope.  If the number of flyfishers have "plateaued" then it would effect all parts of our game and not just flies.  There are many more types of rods now than "back in the day" and I believe that it is an attempt to squeeze every $$$ out of us by creating  a solution in search of a problem. We now seem to need a rod for every situation instead of a rod for all occasions. The industry is turning many of us into gear heads.  I still fish 10 and 20 year old rods and never felt undergunned or handicapped.

Ken

Big Brookies

Hi Ken - 

Was out on the swift for a bit Monday and had some luck with your partridge and orange size 16. There were 4 cars where we usually meet so I tried up at the Y pool and got one bow at the log just before the pool and then another in the pool. Never would have had the knowledge or the confidence to do this without your helpful teaching - much appreciated and many thanks !  - Client Comment

The Swift brookies seem larger this year with two in the 12 inch plus range plus other large brookies being spotted. The run hasn't reached Rt 9 yet (I have spies there) but it will. Remember, STAY OFF THE GRAVEL!!!!!!!

The brookie in the net was taken with a size 26 BWO snowshoe emerger. There has been a large steady hatch of this insect over the last few weeks with duns running down to size 30 (they say). I think that they are larger than that and I've been using 26 and 28 size flies and catching fish. Size 24 in that pattern took an 18 inch brown and hooked a larger one that threw the hook for my client. Dry fly fishing in October??  Don't miss it.

Some don't like fishing over these tiny flies but it is really a blast and a challenge. You should try it!!!

The "Other" Rivers



Just as soon as things were getting good the rains will come again. The EB is at 399 as of 7am 11/1 and will go up by tomorrow evening and then rise some more on Saturday. The Ware is at 288 and that will increase. The Millers? Forgetaboutit!!! The EB and Ware should be fishable by next Tuesday!  The Swift, as usual, knows how to behave with a nice skinny flow of 50 cfs.

The BWO Emerger

The magic is in the wing material because it will float the front of the fly while the back end sinks. I will use snowshoe hair OR very fine wing post material.  Olive thread and light olive dubbing for the thorax right down to size 28 and then no thorax on smaller sizes.  They are easy to tie but a bitch to tie to the leader in low light!


Happy November

Ken