The EB, The Swift, Blood Worms

"His tackle was Spartan, basic, what I considered then to be barely adequate: rod, reel, line a few spools of mono, and, worst of all, a single fly box containing a handful of patterns. He was not, and is not today, your typical uptown fly fisherman. The fact that he regularly caught more and bigger trout than I did was my first hint that I might be overlooking something basic" -John Gierach describing the legendary angler Ed Engle

First off, frequent commentator Gary C. heard through the grapevine that the MA/RI Council of TU will NOT be holding their annual weekend-before-Memorial Day camping,fishing bash at Indian Hollow on the EB. Secondly, if this is true will it effect the stocking of this river? Now, backcast a half a dozen or so years ago when TU failed to reserve Indian Hollow (that's the story) and ended up at Trout Brook near the Quinapoxet River. We contacted the DFW back then with the same stocking question and were reassured that the stocking would not change. It didn't. Now we may have the same situation and may I suggest that the stocking be done over mid April through May instead of a massive du of trout about 3 days before the the customary TU event. That change would result in a more natural fishing experience other than someone claiming that they can catch 50 freshly stocked trout in a day!   So, if anyone knows of the TU plans just contact me.


Blood Worms

Why are the Pipe and the Tree Pool of the Swift so loaded with trout? The answer is the State trout hatchery. The outflow of the hatchery changes the chemistry of the river. In the Swift, above the Pipe, under normal conditions, you will occasionally see a rising trout but below the pipe into the Tree Pool you may see dozens sipping the surface. That is because the trout are after midges be they Chironomidae, Simuliidae or a host of others and these morsels are being flushed into the river by the millions. They ,the midges,love the environment created by the waste product of thousands of trout and one of the critters that get flushed into the Swift would probably be the blood worm. BTW, blood worms create havoc at waste water treatment plants!

I like this fly because I can whip up a dozen in no time and I don't have to attach gills and such to make it work. Just a scud hook from size 18 through 24, red thread, twisted red thread for a rib, and maybe a white set of gills. Cover it with Sally Hansen and you are all set. Fish it off of a weighted nymph or by itself with some split shot if needed.

The Swift is dropping and as I write it's at 549 cfs which is the lowest flow in the last three weeks. I don't know if you've noticed but we have had little rain and no real snow in the last month and a half. The water table is high so we are not in trouble on that front. All I want is a normal Summer with normal rainfall (whatever that is!)

Ken