"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
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
13 comments:
The Gierach quote at the top says it for me. Above Rt 9 on the Swift the fishing was good but.....
GW
FYI it is called a drop shot or bounce rig out in Utah and California where it has been used for years...its my favorite way to rig nymphs
I found a net last week at the Swift, I want to get it back to the owner. Reply here if you lost it.
AC
BobT,
Got it! The name escaped me.
AC,
Send me an email to my email address and if someone responds I'll contact you.
Ken
Well finally a trip to the EB this morning, air temp 30 degrees, the water was warmer. Three hours on that water got 1 rainbow, fooled with a #10 slumpbuster and 2 short strikes because the flow was around 500 to 550 CFS, and the river was over the banks in some places. I wouldn't go past the parking lot in the family sedan but 50/50 4wd worked well. Also checked out the 2 other branches but didn't fish either. The MB had the most fishable flow and I may have to go back, although Dayville is closed for the season, so you would have to walk to get down there. The WB is moving faster than it was this past spring but is fishable in my opinion, I would bring your streamer box if your going to any of these branches, oh and no anglers anywhere, just a few deer hunters.
Gary,
I'd like to see the flow drop a bit before I go out there. I believe it was 2 years ago that I may have done a December trip. The flow was good!!
Ken
Are you sure it is a surgeons knot to the fly for a drop shot rig? I can't picture how that would be done in my head. Did you mean a palomar knot? That is typically how I tie it bass fishing.
Patrick,
Good eye!!! My mistake!! Frankly that may be impossible. Cinch knot most likely.
Ken
Ken,
You can come up with a few knots that would work, but based on your diagram, if you leave your tag end from the 9 foot leader long enough when you make a surgeons knot, couldn't you just attach the fly to that piece?
I haven't been able to get out for the last couple of weeks. Any particular feedback on how things are holding up on the upper swift with all this water. What techniques, flies are working best? Any LL salmon showing up below route 9?
Paul
Paul,
I don't really understand. That tag end is where the split shot goes.
The flow is over 400 cfs but I took a salmon, a brown and a bow today in that flow.
Ken
Ken,
I usually use a triple surgeon knot to attach tippet to leader. So, if I added a tippet to your 9 ft leader, there would then be a tag end from that leader to attach a fly. The bottom of the tippet I added would hold the weight.
Have you caught any salmon below route 9?
Paul
Paul,
I like tying the fly "inline" instead of on the tag which can become tangled.
Haven't caught any but I have seen a couple.
Ken
Ken,
Thanks for the advice on the drop shot rig. Not able to fish, but after work I rigged one up and look forward to fishing it, hopefully soon. I put on a #14 hare's ear for the anchor fly which had a big enough hook eye for me to tie the drop shot on to with a clinch knot. I like the way the nymph kind of sticks out from the tippet. How I would love to tie into one of those salmon!
Best, Sam
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