A Simple Pheasant Tail, Our Rivers, And Book A Trip

"Elmer's most favored flies are uncomplicated and impressionistic: a few turns of thread or dubbing can often go a long way"
From Swift River, Ma. The Lost Valley's Tailwater by Christophe Perez in Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine, January/February 2014

Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia fame believed so much in this pattern that he went on a quest to catch as many fish species as he could with that pattern by just varying the size. Frank Sawyer, it's creator, made it utterly simple to tie with just pheasant tail fibers and copper ribbing. It's always been my opinion that the simplest flies are the best and if they are made with natural materials all the better.

Pheasant Tail Nymph

Hook - I like a wet fly hook from size 14 through 20 for most of these flies.

Tail and Body - I like olive dyed pheasant tail fibers and not just two or three of them but upwards to a half dozen of them. The key here is to tie in the tips on the long side which gives the fly, when wet, a long tapered profile just like the natural.

Thorax - a few turns of peacock

Rib - ultra fine copper wire wound over the pheasant tail and over the peacock thorax

No hackle required.  Sawyer didn't use it so I won't either

Yes, you can put a bead on it for very high water or drop shot it!!

Our Rivers

As I write the flows are:

Millers River - 675 cfs
Swift River - 479 cfs
Ware River - 214 cfs
EB -             296 cfs
WB of the Westfield - 156 cfs

This is all good news except I don't trust that EB figure because they still may be holding water back.  Be careful if you venture out because it's still cold out. Find a safe spot and fish slow and deep. If you find a day in the forties hit the Y Pool for that winter caddis hatch. Salmon are beginning to hit the surface.

Book A trip

Don't wait!!!!!!!!

Note - I will be out of the country for a few days starting Sunday. I'll probably not hit my emails and texts until I'm "Under The Flag" again (or maybe I will). In any event I'll answer them in the order received.

Ken

STILL Taking Salmon And Booking Your Trip

"I don't get competitive fly fishing. There's always someone who wants to take a wonderful pastime that we dream about and spend hours pursuing and then turn it into a contest with teams no less. I guess competitive sex is next! " Anonymous

Big Fish Small Flies

The SALMON are still in the Swift, they are still hitting and the trout are beginning to get in the act.  Now, there are a few things to know:

1, The Swift flow is at 526 cfs as I write.  Three weeks ago it was over 700 cfs and conditions were somewhere between uncomfortable and dangerous. As the flow level drops it will be safer and, most importantly, we will have more places to wade. There are fish everywhere but many times they can't be reached. (a month ago I saw this guy on the edge of the Y Pool up to his elbows and wader drawstrings.  Crazy!!!

2. The "REDD" season is long gone and trout and salmon will begin to really key on insects. Winter insects will hatch around mid day onward because that's when the temperatures are best (winter caddis).  It will not be that necessary to be there are first light picking ice from your guides. Sleep in, eat breakfast, get there at 11:00am  and fish until late afternoon.

Even Bigger Fish

Check out the photo on the right that a reader sent in. It's a Swift River brown somewhere in the range of 8lbs or so. I have a collection of photos like this from this river and I've seen some like this caught. (my biggest was only about 5lb but I'm working on it).

There are other rivers that would beg (if rivers could beg) for trout and salmon like these. And this isn't the result of many years of effort to create a super fish but just a "let's let Mother Nature do it" solution.  And let's not forget the brookies!!!



Book Your Spring Trip

It's not too early to do this and many of you have so far.  I guide on, east to west, the Ware, the Swift, the Millers, the Mill and all three branches of the Westfield. Plenty of water and plenty of trout AND you will not be placed shoulder to shoulder like sardines by this guide!!!!  If you like crowds take up golf!!!

Ken

Secret Spots And Native Trout And Another Soft Hackle

"Trout are among those creatures who are a hell of a lot prettier than they need to be.  They can get you wondering about the hidden workings of reality" - John Gierach

It happens every year at this time. I'm sure it has something to do with the lengthening days, the new birdsong during the early hours of dawn and the new fresh flows as our streams shed their winter covers and give us a glimpse of Spring. And I'm not talking about the marquee rivers that will be packed with anglers as soon as the stocking trucks roll. I'm talking about streams that are not stocked and may not even have a name, a name that can be remembered at least. This is where the real trout live.

I caught many trout as a kid and all of them were wild, native brookies until Bennett Brook yielded a hatchery trout and ruined it. I'll name that stream now but not the others. The Rule of Thumb: if the stream is stocked tell the world. If it's not stocked it's a State Secret.

One of the things that has changed over the decades is that it seems that fewer people fish these tiny waters.  They were never crowded for sure but these streams have lost the glamour of years past. You certainly don't see them gracing the covers of fly fishing magazines which seem hellbent on selling us more equipment and pointing us in the direction of some hot, new fly fishing destination with giant fish. Our pastime as lost its innocence.

One sad note is that the DFW still is determined to throw stocked trout over wild fish. Any brook with stream bred trout should be left alone. As I said, few people fish them anyway so you're not going to hurt anyone's feelings if stocking ceased.

I'll take a short trip or two this Spring and visit some old haunts as I do every other year or so. I'll rig up my old fiberglass rod for this bushwacking adventure. Or I'll spy a new place that's not on the stocking list that just has to have trout in it and check it out.  One cannot forget their roots!!!

The Rusty Olive

My soft hackles are now tied in the minimalist  school of tying - They are now Spiders tied in that mid 19th century style of thread and sparse hackle. No tail, no thorax, just thread and a feather.  I love them but I also like dressing them up a bit.  Here's my RUSTY OLIVE: size 12 hook, fine copper rib over olive floss or thread, rust colored rabbit for the thorax and two turns of partridge.  Can't wait to try it!!!

Think Spring!

Ken

Why I Like Freestones

"Tailwaters are what Thomas McGuane called "the great theme parks of American fly fishing," with their more or less stable water temperatures and artificially inflated populations of insects and fish. They are irresistible for all kinds of reasons, but all of those trout breed the peculiarly postmodern sense that anything short of a 20 fish day is a bust, so when things are slow there's the temptation to lie about numbers or to vaguely allow that you are "getting your share" - John Gierach

Let's face it, We fish tailwaters because, unless they are flooded out as in the last few months, they will provide a stable, cool environment throughout the day for the trout, insects and YOU. You don't really have to wait for the Evening Rise to get some action especially during the height of Summer. Sounds perfect, right? For many people it is BUT for some not so much. Here's why.

1. If you want crowds then fish tailwaters. You can still fish in solitude but solitude is becoming harder to find on these rivers.

2. The "Magic Time" on a freestone is in the evening when a river comes to life. I've had 20+ trout evenings on rivers like the Millers and the EB AND had the place to myself. Occasionally I'll meet another angler as the sun is setting but that's ok because he is a kindred spirit. Ditto for early mornings! In early September of 2017 I worked a stretch of the EB which was flowing at a low 65 cfs and with the exception of friends Gary and Harvey NOBODY was fishing it. I took 18 that morning with a size 18 BWO . The concentration of trout rivaled that of a tailwater but by 11am they had disappeared for the day but were back in the evening. I would not have traded in that day for any day on any tailwater.

3. There is still a sense of satisfaction in having a good day on a freestone. After all, it's a natural environment. It will not have the crazy amount of trout that a tailwater has which means that if I'm catching fish I must be doing something right.

4. I know some anglers who now fish only tailwaters and that's too bad. If they suddenly had to move to a place where there were no tailwaters but just freestones would they continue to fish??

We fish to catch fish but but as John Gierach says "Fly-fishing is a 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".

I love Freestones!

Yesterday  was like fishing in an arctic hurricane.  If there was no wind and about 10 degrees warmer things would have been fine.

Ken

Winter Fly Fishing And The Case For A Heavier Rod And A Swift Update

"I also think of the spring, that season when the earth begins to forgive itself, in the words of Allan Gurganus. It will be here soon." - Monte Burke

It's early February and the days are getting longer but winter still rules the stage and we will have to put up with it even during this transitional month.  Monday and Tuesday had temperatures in the low 60's BUT Sunday gave us "ice in the guides".  There will be more of that for sure and we will hear reports of another rod or 3 snapping under a load of ice.  There may be a solution.

Maybe we've gone too far on the lightweight thing, especially in winter. A 10ft 3wt can be a pleasure on a balmy day in May but a pain when ice coats the rod, guides and line.  You may want something that is sturdier and with more backbone. Try a heavier rod.  You fish a long 3wt? Try moving up to a 5wt or even a 6. Think about it. Most of our fly offerings during the winter tend to be BIGGER and HEAVIER and will be cast much easier with a heavier outfit. And what happens when size 22 winter caddis begin to emerge? Lengthen your leader out to 6x or 7x. I guided a young beginner a few years ago who used a 6wt to deliver a size 30 dry and subdue a good brown.  Decades ago a 4wt was considered ultralight and a 6wt was a standard dry fly rod and we still caught fish with tiny flies.  And don't think your going to throw your shoulder out with a 6wt!!!

Another thing to consider would be a FIBERGLASS rod of 5 or 6 wt. Fiberglass, being heavier, can take a beating in the winter. In fact, back in the day when fiberglass ruled the market the only rods that broke were because of car doors and trunk hoods. Casting??? I can't think of any.

So....If you love sending your smashed graphite rod back to the factory for repair or replacement then ignore all of the above.

Swift Update Again

The salmon are still there and have settled down to hitting size 18 to 24 nymphs (beadheaded pheasant tails and such) fished deep under an indicator. These fish don't appear to be chasing streamers and want offerings bouncing off the snouts.  The rainbows are an "on again, off again" thing most likely due to the otters who have made their appearance. Some days it's double digit catches and other days ZERO.


Ken

Super Bowl Salmon, Flies For Sale And Book Me

Maybe your stature as a fly fisher isn't determined by how big a trout you catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed - John Gierach

Finally, the temperature got above freezing this morning which meant one thing: My client Nick and I would be fairly comfortable for our late morning trip to the Y Pool and its salmon. Nick had taken some bows earlier in the year below Rt 9 but that was before the salmon made their appearance. Here's the story.

The water temperature in the Bubbler Arm was a low 38 degrees and for the first time in months that ditch was devoid of fish EXCEPT for the large salmon that Alex took just below the footbridge.

Bows were hitting if you could find where they were podded up. Bill R. said the otters were back and they spent last week tearing up the Y Pool.

Client Nick took his first salmon, a brute of about 4 lbs that took a size 18 pheasant tail. It seemed that all the salmon were taken on small (18 to 24) flies. Don't leave home without them!!!

Here's the key for February - If you can fish when the temperature will be in the high 30's or above THEN DO IT! Salmon were occasionally rising mid day when the temperature was the highest. Contact me and I'll put you onto fish.

Flies For Sale

Orders are coming in and it will get busier as Spring Fever sets in. Place your order now.

Ken