Good Bye To 2018 And Hello To 2019

A very nice read and guide to the Millers, thank you. Of course I have my favorite spots, many that coincide with yours. I am sure that I will re read your guide several times. The most important thing for me is, how to fish the spots, not necessarily where the spots are.- Reader comments about the Millers Guide 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE

First off, I'd like to thank the thousands of monthly readers who have been with this blog for over a dozen years. It seems that every time I hit the rivers I meet readers who say that they never skip a post. They also love the fact that myself and the comment writers will openly name rivers and locations and not act like it's a state secret. We all know the rivers so there are no secrets!! You have made this the most popular "owner operated" fly fishing site in New England

2018 was GREAT because:

The Flyfishers Guide to the Millers River just keeps rolling along. I believe that this year will set a record for copies sent to readers which is remarkable seeing that the Guide is 10 years old. Some have told me that it is just a fun thing to read and I appreciate it. Also remember that, unlike  other guides, this booklet is FREE. And it's an in depth look at this river and how to fish it and not a pedestrian listing of popular stocking points. Needless to say, it will remain available.

My Guiding Business is rolling along. Now, I've noticed fewer guides working the rivers this past year and that may be because this business is not for everyone. Frankly, I LOVE IT!!!! For ten years I've guided everyone from absolute beginners to seasoned world wide anglers and it is all very good and personally rewarding. Some may say that one doesn't need a guide or even a guide book. Just read the reader quote at the top of this post for the answer. Beware of the person(s) who say that they catch 40-50 trout an outing on a particular river.  That's ALWAYS a day or 3 after the stocking truck does it's thing. We all know that. 

NESN Exposure: This was very good because it highlighted the great fishing that we have here in Central/Western Ma (and my guide business) and in doing so we now have more friends of the rivers.  If you want to kill a river then don't support its passive use.  (high water releases for tubing and WW rafting are NOT a passive use!)

The "Newer" Rivers: I started out guiding on the Millers and then quickly branched out to the Swift and the EB. I tried to bring five new rivers on board for 2018 but the lack of available time killed that. So I further expanded my efforts on the Westfield West Branch, and the Middle Branch. These are the most beautiful intimate rivers who will find in Massachusetts and will make the EB seem crowded. If you want solitude then book a trip with me in 2019. Let's not forget the Ware River for great Quill Gordon and Hendrickson hatches in early May without the long drive to the Farmington.

Not an Equipment Blog If you absolutely need to know the skinny on the newest rods, reels, lines, waders and flies go someplace else. I don't endorse any company or their products with the exception of a  rod maker or the occasional fly shop. I endorse certain styles of fly rods and certain styles of fly fishing. I have a special kinship with fly fishers who fish the same rods for YEARS and don't ditch them for "this years new model". Flies must look like real insects and real bait fish and not pieces of costume jewelry!

It is not too early to book me for 2019.  I don't require a deposit so what's to lose!!!

P.S. The LL Salmon in the Swift will disappear by Summer just like 7 years ago and it will not be because they starved to death. The ones that find themselves down in Cady Lane will eat brook trout like the browns do but I believe that it's just not their environment!!

Happy New Year

Ken

Broken Rods Part 2 And A Simple Streamer

"Now if fishing larger waters I can definitely see the benefit of using a 9' or 10' rod (so graphite) to keep as much line off the water as possible, but for smaller or mid-size waters, or where I can wade further out, I think an 8'ish glass rod is fine. Now I do think that the best all-around nymphing rod is 10' 4 wt, but I generally grab the rod I want to use on a particular day and just make it work. " Comment found on the Fiberglass Flyrodders Forum. "and just make it work" is priceless!! He's my new hero!!! - Ken

As stated in a previous post there seems to be a rash of broken nymph rods within the last two years. Although most of the damage is caused by operator error one has to question the design of a rod that is longer than most and lighter than most. Are we reaching the end of reliable construction and design to reach the dubious longer/lighter goal? Maybe!

The fly rod industry has made quick use of the single foot guide (photo on the left) in nymph rod construction. There are a few advantages to single foot guides. First, a lot of the labor disappears because you are only wrapping one foot instead of two(advantage manufacturer). Second, and this is dubious, you have decreased weight by having only one foot and only half the thread and thread coating to add weight to the rod. Weight, by it's self, is a bogus argument. What should be of supreme importance is the balance of a rod, not the weight. My 4wt bamboo rods are heavier than  a 4wt graphite but they are effortless to cast and that's balance!!  My 10 year old Orvis Zero Gravity, (ok it's a shameless plug,) is a  9 foot 5wt that has perfect balance and wants to cast by itself!

Could it be that rod breakage may be the result of the lack of wall support that you get by wrapping only one guide foot instead of two?   Maybe!                                               two footed guide

Could it be that a snake guide has more clearance for the line to run though than for single foot guides? Again, maybe!

The quote at the top of the page is important.  You can make almost ANY rod work without a lot of hair splitting over length and weight. It certainly beats sending your rod back with a $50.00 check to get it fixed.  I just don't fish soft hackles but have spent decades catching lots of trout dead drifting weighted flies without breaking an "All Around" rod because I will not fall for the industry belief which is of creating a solution in search of a problem (that's called Marketing). Again, read the quote at the top of the page.  I'll make the rod work!!!

Instead of the goofy idea of carrying two rods with you when you hit the river carry a moderately fast 9 ft, 4 or 5wt rod and you will cover almost every situation that you encounter.

A Simple Streamer
I used this simple streamer in the Florida surf last March to catch pompano, Spanish Mackerel, blues and ladyfish.  It works for salmon and trout too.  The salmon and trout version is tied on a 4x long size 10 or 12 streamer hook with a black or pink floss body with 8 or 10 wraps of crystal flash left long to tie over the body. Then comes white craft fur for the wing and 2 strands of flash over the wing. Dirt simple and very effective! Keep the craft fur sparse. You can still see it as the trout/salmon smack it!!!

I hope that Christmas was good for you.  We only have 5 days left of that 2018 license to play with!!

Ken

Merry Christmas

 "Funny but nymph rods seem to have encountered an epidemic of breakage but the ultra long and ultra slim Tenkara rods seem to have avoided this. Maybe because you find very few weighted flies in the Tenkara world and weighted (bead heads in particular) flies are rod killers." Me

I guess that this December is one for the books. Unbelievable high water (and unbelievable LL Salmon) and REAL cold weather made this month one for the books. More unneeded rain today will blow up the Swift but that will not stop me from wringing out the last few hours on my fishing license. It's funny but my clients and I took more salmon when the flow was approaching 700 cfs then with this "calm" flow of 400+.Anyway, if you are curious about the "LL's" in the Swift just contact me and book a trip.

Thought I'd throw in a photo of the EB on a late afternoon in mid Summer.  It seems so far away. We fish through the Winter but we know what we really like.

Merry Christmas and Peace to all!

Ken

Why Rods Break And What To Do About It

"Remember, fairness is a human idea largely unknown in nature" - John Gierach


24 inch LL Salmon From The Swift

It was May of 2017 when the end came. The rod broke in mid section while casting a soft hackle on the Bliss Pool. I will say that it was a memorable occasion BECAUSE I was into my 14th year with that 8 foot, 4wt graphite rod and it was the only time a rod of mine broke while in the act of fishing! The rod was built by a club member and I won it in a raffle and its sweet moderate action made it my "go to" Swift River rod or whenever I knew that I would not be casting bead heads and such. ( I leave that task to the stouter rods). I put lots of mileage on my rods, easily more than the average angler, but I am careful with what I do. That's why I'm still fishing 10 year old rods (and catching fish!!)

Operator Error or Material/Design Flaw??

It's almost always operator error and I'm not taking about car doors, trunk lids or ceiling fans but the careless things we do while in waders. (I'll discuss design failure later) Here's a good list:

Candy Cane Rod -

You've seen this and you may be guilty of it too. You are bringing in a trout with your rod held at the high NOON position so that the tip is horribly stressed.  It will break then or 200 casts later and we will blame the rod company but it's really our fault. Now, years ago in the age of bamboo and fiberglass rods were always shorter so netting a trout was much easier. Now we have 10 and 11 foot rods which makes it harder to reach the fish with a net. The result is to Candy Cane the rod. Instead, hold the rod behind you as you extend your net atm so that the rod forms a sloping arc. That way you are fishing a "shorter" rod putting the fish closer to you.

Ultra long rods  can present problems for the short armed, vertically challenged among us.  One solution is to hire a gillie!!!

Death By Beadhead

Before beadheads came around we added weight by wrapping lead wire on the hook shank and then cushioned it with dubbing and wraps of material.  Then we began to see (well, I think so) an increase in breakage especially in the tip section. I knew a saltwater guide whose clients broke four quality loaner rods one season learning to cast clousers!!!  The beadhead fly can hit speeds of 200 mph on the cast! All it needs is to just touch the rod tip and you will have a broken rod either then or later when it finally fails. That's why that special rod of mine lasted so long - no beadheads!!!!

Seating Ferrules 

Make it a habit to check the seating of your ferrules during the day on a river.  A loose ferrule will weaken the wall strength of a graphite or glass rod.  AND DON'T TWIST THEM ON!!! Push together, push apart and that's it. Twisting will also weaken the wall strength and you may have a devil of a time taking the rod apart.

Don't Walk With The Rod Tip Behind You

Two fly fishers were walking along a river, one behind the other. The first one had his rod pointing behind him.  He suddenly stopped walking but the guy behind him didn't and rear ended him breaking the guys rod tip. The rod tip is the most fragile part of the rod and I want to know where it is all of the times. So, rod tips first!!!

Or Material Design Flaws And The Problem With Warranties 

As I said most rod failures are due to operator error but one has to take a long look at the design of many rods, especially the nymph variety. They are stretched out to 10 feet and over 11 feet in some models. They are incredibly light with sensitive tips and if what I see on internet searches is to be believed they have a fairly high failure rate. It appears that they just don't stand up to fly fishing.  Here is my suggestion: If you want a new rod then search the web for everything about it for breakage (those forums are loaded with info.) and if you see more than two complaints about breakage then find another rod company.

So what's wrong with warranties? Actually everything!  Let's say you buy a rod for $800 and it breaks in half on the first day out (this happens, check the web). You send the rod back with $50 and wait for the repair or replacement. In the meantime you are saying things like "$50, that's reasonable".  Did it ever dawn on you that part of that $800 price tag may have been made up by factoring in the cost of the warranty.  Maybe you are paying on it twice! Remember, the rod companies are NOT going to loose money on you!!!

I like an honest warranty that covers materials and workmanship only. The fly fishing industry sailed over the Falls when it offered  "no questions asked about the dumb ass way you mishandled the rod" kind of warranty. Maybe we would appreciate the craftsmanship more and take better care of rods if they were not so easily replaced!


Still catching salmon on the Swift. Contact me for a trip!!

Ken

Slim Streamers And The Swifts Salmon

"Want What You Have" - Timothy Miller

This wonderful salmon season just continues week after week and should run right into the Spring. Eggs and such worked very well when most of the salmon were on their redds but that activity is on the wane. Soft Hackles (partridge and orange again) and nymphs will come into action as has the streamer fly.

I have a love/hate relationship with streamers.  They were designed and  built to imitate bait fish such as rainbow smelt and small trout but the great, old New England patterns missed the mark on that.  Let me explain.  Smelt and small trout are slender fish whereas many tradition fly patterns are robust. The great Carrie Stevens recognized this and developed the Grey Ghost Streamer where the feathers that form the body are tied onto the sides of the hook and not tied on top of the hook which created the slender profile.  Sadly, that slim profile began to leave us when Carrie did. Our tiers went right back to the old method.

Luckily marabou solves the problem! When wet it is slender as a smelt and has that lifelike action that a  fixed wing or bucktail cannot achieve.  Most of my streamer patterns of the last 30 years are marabou patterns.

Now, you see that my samples are bead heads and that is because of the 600 cfs flow of the Swift. Back in the winter of 2011/2012 I didn't use weighted streamers even though the flow was over 500 cfs and still caught fish.  I carry both styles.

Hint - almost all of the salmon caught on this pattern were caught on the drift/swing!!!!!

When tying this fly use very little material. If you think that you've used enough you have probably used too much.

I should name this pattern.  How about The Route 9 Smelt?


Salmon Update

As mentioned earlier the salmon are leaving the redds  and many of the fish that you catch will not be in plain sight as a few weeks ago. Be very aware of the calmer areas along the shore. Even big salmon need to take a break from this high current.  And don't forget the trout. They are all over the place!! It's funny how a 16 inch rainbow becomes just another fish when you have 26 inch LL's on your mind.



Book A Trip - Yes, I'm still guiding.  Book for the remainder of this year or next year!!

The Eastside Grill in Northampton has always been a favorite of mine BECAUSE of their Cajun entrees.  Sunday evening I had their version of Jambalaya which was perfect for that cold day. It was as good as their Chicken Etouffee which has always been a personal favorite.   Long live Cajun Food!!!


Ken

Attacking Conventional Wisdom And A Swift Update

"Another common reaction to this rig is, “Why not just use a spinning rod?” That’s fair too. I’ve tried it, but it’s actually much less effective and a lot less fun. Retrieving by hand and using a long rod allows for more versatility and efficiency of presentation." Trout Bitten  (Mono rigs explained - (retrieving mono by hand is fun?? I saw a guy on the Farmie with a  limber 10 foot rod, a tiny spinning reel spooled with 3x fluorocarbon, tossing meal worms and catching one trout after another and he made it look dumb ass easy!!! That's how you fish mono) Ken

It seems that many pastimes that we seek pleasure in begin to develop "mindsets and truisms" that are hard to dislodge from our brains. Fly fishing for trout has had its share. "Don't bother to fly fish for trout until the leaves on an apple tree are the size of a mouses ear" was a nugget that was in print but thankfully died out 40 years ago. Another clinker is the notion that you need 7x or better 8x on the Swift. We put that theory to sleep back in July of 2015 Right here (make sure to read the comments on that 2015 post)

Fly Line First, Fly Rod Second

A client made an astute statement a month or so ago and that was that he would settle for a 2nd rate rod but never settle for anything less than a first rate line. It makes sense! It also means you have to keep that line in tip top shape with regular cleanings. That's something that I've really started to do.

Casting Lessons

The best fly fishing advice I can give is instead of shelling out $800 for a fly rod just get one for half that, put $200 in your pocket and spend the remaining $200 on casting lessons. Let's face it, I see a lot of expensive rods that are in the hands of people
who don't yet have the skills to use them to their full potential. Solution - invest in casting lessons with a qualified instructor
and I don't mean in the parking lot behind the tackle shop or going to a weekend long fly fishing school where you are in a class and not one-on-one. George Roberts here is a very good instructor and will help change your fly fishing life!

Fly Line And Rod Weights

" I own a 4wt but I'm thinking of going to a 3wt" is something I hear all of the time. The truth is that the 4wt that you own will cast that 3wt line just as far if you have good technique and the same is true for all line and rod weights.  I have a 3wt but constantly pair it with a 2wt line when faced with skinny water on the Swift. My 4 wt get loaded with a 5 wt line on the Millers if conditions are windy or I'm tossing larger flies. All of this works because line/rod weight is an arbitrary thing where a lot of elements come into play: How far is my cast going to be? How short is my cast going to be? What size fly am I casting?  Line weight is measured in grains over the 1st 30 feet of line and the manufactures range can vary by 10%.  One brand of fly line builds all of their lines on the top end of the scale for that weight for better distance! (that's only if you can cast). Of course none of this applies to euro nymphing but only to fly fishing.

Fluoro vs Nylon -

Fluoro has a higher specific gravity but its effect on sink rate is negligible.  Fluoro has better abrasion resistance  but who cares if you're not dragging clousers through rocks and sand while fly fishing the surf. My salt water leaders are usually 6 feet of straight 8-10lb nylon which I change every outing. M

uch cheaper that fluoro!


The Swift - 

It seemed like everyone caught at least one salmon yesterday. My client did it the old fashioned New England way by swinging small streamers instead of tossing eggs.  Many of the salmon have left the redds (or got swept off them) and will now chase streamers and soft hackles. Beware- the hits are vicious.

The temperature at 9am was only 23 degrees but rose to a balmy 34 by noon. We were totally comfortable out there dressed in fleece layers and hoodies. We had some ice in the guides early on but that passed quickly.  It was a good day!!

This action should last right through the Winter so contact me for a trip!!

Wild Fish

Almost all mortality of trout caught on flies or artificial lures is due to rupture of the respiratory filaments of the gills or puncture of the carotid artery in the roof of the mouth. Because of their greater penetration power barbless hooks are more prone to puncture the carotid artery. Large treble hooks often cause the least mortality because, unless the trout is quite large, the hooks cannot be engulfed into the mouth.” Wild Trout Symposium 
           
                                                                               

Massachusetts flyfishers are truly fortunate to have a gem like the Swift River. First, it's a tailwater. Second, it has a large native brook trout population. Third, it has a population of outsized brown trout and fourth, Quabbin sent us a gift in the form of LL Salmon via the spillway. Add the hatchery bows and one could say that we have it all!!!

Now, some may say that the brook trout numbers were down this year. I don't buy it. Sure, I was like everyone else spending the Summer down in Cady Lane looking for Salvelinus Fontinalis and like everyone else I was concerned but by November 1st there were hundreds of them! They just found a different place to hang out this past Summer. "But I don't see them on the redds like other years" is the lament and that may be because of the high water conditions. I found a bunch of them yesterday below Rt 9 and they were spawning. (I didn't fish for them).

The brookies have fed the expanding brown trout population to the point where 5 to 10lb browns are fairly commonplace. During the summer of 2017 the DFW sampled the river from Rt 9 to the Gauge and they were amazed at the number of BIG browns in that stretch.

In my not-so-humble-opinion we probably have the best self sustaining trout fishery in central/southern New England.

The Salmon

The salmon are at the very tail end of their spawning. Where just two weeks ago it seemed that all available spawning habitat had salmon now they have mostly moved on. I'd really like to know the survival numbers for these fish. They came over the spillway in 2011 and were gone in a year. In any event we should have good winter fishing. Small smelt streamers, soft hackles and venerable hares ear will work.

Be Careful

As I write the flow on the Swift is 587 cfs!! The only time that I can verify anything over 500 in this century was for the Fall of 2011 and early July of 2009. (that's right and I wrote in this blog about it on July 31, 2009) Needless to say you must watch your step out there! The one place that remains the same is the good old Bubbler!!!!

The Quote At The Top

What the author of that statement failed to mention is the real danger with jig hooks which are becoming all the rage lately. They almost always hook the trout in the roof of the mouth. Just nick that artery and that trout is a goner!!

Ken