No fly has been exalted and then vilified as much as the poor wet fly. The reason is simple: we like to dress flies that at least make an attempt at imitating the natural insect and not a cartoonish caricature of one. That's why your basic soft hackle is now held in high esteem and your Royal Coachman or Parmanchene Belle is considered to be skill test (quill slips are a bitch) of tying at best and a pointless exercise at worst, the final product best suited for the fly wallet as opposed to the end of a tippet.
Wet flies DO imitate natural insects if the right materials are used - soft, flowing NATURAL material and not the artificial day
glo chintz used in many modern attractor flies. Feathers like partridge, hen, starling and furs like rabbit, mink, possum, beaver
and simple colored thread make up my sample of wet fly material.
The above fly is a rather "busy" soft hackle and it works well over riffles during caddis time.
Hook - standard wet or dry sizes 12 through 16
Body - peacock, two strands
Rear Hackle - very soft hen hackle from the bend to the thorax of the fly
Front Hackle - Olive colored hen hackle (or any thing you want but make sure that it's darker than the rear hackle)
Yes, it can look like a mess but when it's wet and "swimming" in the current it is, as the old English writers would say, a "killing fly!!!
The State Of The Season
The first decade of fly fishing for me involved enduring the ritual of "Opening Day", a miserable time of high, cold water, rain, snow, icy guides and unbelievable crowds. I now have to remind myself that times are better now and that the old opening day was always on the third Saturday in April and we are not even there yet and we are catching some fish.
It has been a cold April so far and that has set things back a bit. I can remember Quill Gordons popping up on this date in the past. Not this year!!! It will be anyone's guess as to when the Swift will drop to its historical flow. My guess?? Late May!!!
The Millers will be full of racing canoes this weekend so stay clear of it.
The Ware River is rounding back into shape as the cfs has dropped below 300!!!
Better yet, fish a smaller stream that doesn't get much attention such as the Mill River in Williamsburg and Haydenville. The River Rd. section always produces!!
Book A Trip
The strangest thing is happening. Mid week trips have always booked slower than Friday trips. Not this year!! Tuesday and Wednesdays have been flying off the self but I have Friday openings. Contact me to grab one!!!
Ken
22 comments:
Very nice wet fly! I can see its effectiveness during Caddis Hatches.
Anonymous 7:58,
Thank You!
Ken
Trout feeding and water temp-55 is ideal, 45 start to feed, 40 some feed, 39 seldom feed. Lower than 39 you have to put your offering right on its nose and wake the fish up. Water temps will go up and the fish will bite.
Thank you!!!
Gary, I can't wait for the rivers to warm up a bit!!
Hey Ken, I’m a young guy who has fishing for his entire life. This year I decided to take up fly fishing and I have quickly become hooked on it. I live about 20 min from the route 9 bridge on the swift so I have been spending the majority of my time there the last few weekends. I haven’t had much luck so I was wondering if there were any pieces of advice you could give me going forward. Thanks!
anybody been fishing the ware river and have they had any luck? thinking of trying by the airport
I can't wait for the rivers to warm up as well, Ken. Small midges flying around along with a very few of the good sized caddis today. Taking a break I watched one caddis sitting on the surface for a good 60 feet as it floated downstream. I was watching if a trout would hit it. No interest from the trout whatsoever. With trout spread around and flow still high, I think fishing will be plenty good in a few weeks.
Sam
In honor of your blog and your sharing tips and good spots to use them, I thought I should put in that last summer using your techniques and consistently tying on size 14 and 16 royal coachmen, I caught fish in the Swift every time I went (about 15 trips total), including a couple of double digit days. Almost always, the fish hit at the end of the drift. Maybe the fish thought they were in the Ausable. As you have said, sometimes, even when it doesn't make much sense, it might be worth a try. And of course, this summer, I might get skunked every time.
Best,
Charles
Gary- totally on board with your temp observations...we used to track it pretty carefully out west and if it was below 38 you had to midge nymph the slowwww pools and basically feed it right to their mouth. 2 degrees made a noticable difference. A buddy and I tracked it almost every outing, often taking a couple temps in a day, for a couple years from Halloween until spring runoff ended-our findings matched your notes above and it was a well known saying out there that "above 38 and the fishing is great" A warm spike in February would often put the fish on the feed but it would vanish as fast as it started if a new cold snap moved in.
Charles,
Good work!!
Devin,
First, don't limit yourself to the Swift. The are other good streams that are less technical.
Second, don't be afraid to ask someone how they are catching trout. Most good anglers will gladly share knowledge.
Third, don't always go small on the Swift. Read the comment above by Charles. I know another guy who takes trout on the Swift with March Browns around a size 14.
Fourth, READ THIS BLOG especially the Comment Section. This Comment Section is the best out there!!!
Ken
Ken I will add one for your tips to Devin (Hire Ken for a day trip) it will save est 5 years of making mistakes. I have fished for over 55 years and still hire guides for species and certain places I haven't fished. Telling the guide your not interested on catching fish but learning techniques which would help him her in the future. That way you can go over many techniques. 95% of fish and game is caught/harvested by 5% of anglers and hunters. Also was a charter captain for 8 years. And had many great trout fishers want to fine tune on salt water fly fishing. Also if you cant up the cash for a trip/guide. Just watch a angler, and watch everything . And good luck
tincup,
Coming from you I will take your comment as a true compliment. Thank you!!!
Ken
Hi, Ken; hi, everyone,
Happy spring! It's been a long winter. I haven't been able to get out at all, and the fall was mostly a washout. So I'm really champing at the bit! I've got a free day this coming Thursday and plan to be out in the EB area. Maybe the warm weather will bring the water temps up a bit. I'm hoping to crowdsource some intel.
Anyone been on the Gorge recently? Is it fishable? The gauge graph looks...weird. I was also thinking of bringing my bike to get further down the river. Is the ice cleared up on the road.
I'd be grateful for any info. And, of course, after my trip I will file a report in the comments here!
P.S.: Devin: Ditto to everything Ken and tincup said. I'm also relatively new to fly fishing, so I can relate! Taking a trip with Ken will save you years of trial and error. Even just a half day, if you can swing it. I would add: consider focusing on a single river for a while, getting to know it, where the fish hang out. It takes one variable out of the equation, and I, for one, get a lot of pleasure from learning about a river. I don't know where you live, but if it's convenient, consider focusing on the Millers--ask Ken to email you his amazing guide to that river. It will save you another few years! Good luck, and hope to see you out on the water!
Cheers,
Dave
Devin - You are picking one of the tougher rivers to learn fly fishing on. 30 years ago, while in college at UMass Amherst, I discovered the Swift. I too trout fished my whole life and got hooked on fly fishing the tiny streams in Wmass, ripped streamers in ponds and fished for fresh stockers in various rivers. I loved it and am not being critical at all. I learned about the Swift one fall from some guy asking if I “fish the Swift”. I think it took me 10 trips or more to catch a fish and I found it frustrating. I would expect many frustrating days for you too. That said, I suggest you stick with it. What you’ll realize is that you will learn how to present flies to either freshly stocked trout (read: dumb) and have a 40 fish day on one pod without moving more then 20 feet. Personally, I grew to not like those days. The fish then become very challenging and it will force you to understand bugs, presentation , gear etc. You’ll also get to see the clear difference between stockers, holdovers and wild fish. You will become a much better angler and the skills you learn will pay off on any tailwater in the country/world.
Good luck with your angling. If you do it right, you’ll notice that your behavior will become that of a drug addict. You’ll think about it a lot and always feel better when you get your fix :). Haha — good luck.
This blog should be of great use to you too. If you bump into one of the people on here, or me, they will be glad to help I am sure. I don’t suggest just asking anyone. Another great suggestion, and while I know Ken, I don’t work for him, but you should consider booking him one day and picking his brain. His days spent on the water is invaluable and you’ll move up the learning curve fast.
Andrew
Dave P..
I'd wait until May to fish that place.
Thank you Falsecast(Andrew)
Ken
Thanks, Ken. I will be in the area anyway, so I'd like to wet a line somewhere. You mentioned the Mill, which I might try. Where else? Ware? Other branches of the Westfield?
Dave P.,
Anyone you want!!
Ken
and how is the fishing in the west branch swift river above 202 in shutesbury and is there parking areas? thanx
bigmster,
There is parking in the area.
Ken
Hi Ken,
Fished the Manhan and N. Manhan today - flow is quite nice compared to most other rivers. Had one on but lost it before I could see it, on a red mini-bugger with small red collar. Met 4 other fishermen (3 of which were spin casters). Two of them swore they lied about stocking the Manhan since they had no action (I bit my lip to try and not smile). Slow action for me, but river is flowing very nice. I took an exploratory ride to the Mill River - never been there before. You are so right - nice stream! Went by the Brass Works but wasn't sure where I could park/fish; so went downstream and discovered a beautiful deep hole (must have been 8-10 feet if not deeper!) across from Davis Auto and that long white 1 story building (CDS manufacturing or distribution?). In any even what a beautiful deep run. Couldn't dedicate the time to really ply the water- but think I will get back there and explore the Mill River more - thanks for your notes on that river! That last spot I was in - 5 teenagers came down by the water in swim suits, and 2 of the teen boys jumped in.... and seemingly jumped out just as fast (water was @ 49 degrees). Youth and bravado. Good thing they avoided hypothermia shock. Thanks again for your insights - always spot on. Jim M
Jim M.
When fishing the Mill River you were on River Rd. in Haydenville/Northampton. The place that you fished across from the "long white one story building is a favorite place of mine. I've caught trout into late July there and the DFW electroshocked trout in the Mill River in September a few years back. I live on the Mill and have seen trout in September too.
Ken
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