June Wrap Up - A Good Month!! Book Me In July

 

Summer weather here now means the best fishing will shift more & more to early and late in the day. - Upcountry Fly Shop 6/24/19




Well, this may have been the greatest June ever and the Swift was never really a factor. The Millers, Ware and the EB kept us busy and now the Swift, at 189 cfs as of this morning, is fishable below route 9 and we are catching fish!! Count on the DFW to give us our July stocking soon which will hold us through the Summer. Please call the DFW hotline to report poachers.

The Millers, Ware And EB
All of these rivers are running higher than their average flow for this time of year and that bodes well for July. Just remember one thing and that's the quote from Upcountry Fly Shop at the top of this post. So being on the Millers, Ware and even the EB between 11am and 4pm is NOT what you want to do. Fish from 6am to 10am, then tie flies or take a nap and start fishing from 5pm til dark or beyond.  All of that should give you success in July.

Bug Life On The Swift

Is it just me or am I seeing far fewer insects on this river this Spring? The verdict = there are far fewer insects this Spring. The famous Sulphur hatch just isn't what we've seen in the past.

I'd appreciate your observations on this.  The Millers still seems as buggy as ever so let's concentrate on the Swift.

Nymphers get Religion

Another reason June was good was because I converted two "nymphers" over to swinging wet flies, namely soft hackles, and catching fish!!!! They loved the slashing strike of a trout in the top third of the water column instead of that dull "thud" of a hit on a heavily weighted fly.  Remember, the best fly fishing is weightless fly fishing!!!  I fish soft hackles through a hatch casting to bulging trout that are picking emergers out of the surface film. It's not Dry Fly fishing but "Damp Fly Fishing"!!!

Book Me In July

Fishing the Evening Rise on a Summer evening is the epitome of the Northeast fly fishing experience. No blazing midday sun to deal with but just sunsets, hatching insects and rising trout. 5pm to 8pm works fine

Want to try mornings??  Let's give it a shot. We can start at 6 and fish til 9 if you like.

BOOK ME

Ken

The Millers In The Evening, The Swift NOW And Poaching

"Many go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." - Henry David Thoreau

I think that the stars were lined up for this trip - lots of caddis and rising trout and although I fished for only two hours (6-8pm) I took four bows and a big brown on my caddis emerger. I resisted the urge to tie on a dry due to the distance required to cast to these porpoising trout and the inevitable drag and decided that a "damp" fly (AKA emerger) was the best bet. It was!!! Readers of this blog will know that the sign of a rising trout is the sign of a trout taking an emerger and NOT an adult fly. I also lost three that just threw the hook.

I've been fishing this river for over four decades and it still delivers surprises. I can leave a place alone for 10 years and then rediscover it again. I can fish a month on a hundred yard section of the Millers and never want to leave as one discovers the "river within a river". I guess I can say that about all the rivers that I fish.

It's going to be a GOOD summer on the Millers!

Fish The Swift

Over a month ago I said I wouldn't fish this river until it went BELOW 200 CFS. Well, it dropped 42 cfs overnight to get down to 182!!! It's still historically high but fishable. The photo, on the left (taken yesterday) is of the Swift just below the spillway. This flow is a third of what it was just 2 months ago. That means that this high water era is coming to an end.  Above route 9 it is very wade friendly. Just watch your step at the Pipe and you will be fine.  Pick your safe spots at Cady Lane.

July 1st stocking and poaching

Remember, the regulations change on the Swift below Route 9  through Cady Lane on July 1st and that means that our C&R summer stocking will happen soon and I bet the damn poaching will ramp up.  Put the Environmental Police number in your phone and use it when you need it. If you see someone with a spinning rod above Route 9 call the EP!!!!! A stringer with trout below Rt 9 after June 30? Make a call!!!  Here's the number again - 800-632-8075.  Put it in your phone!!!

You know, I think we could use a little rain.  Not a lot, just a little!!

Ken

Dry Flies On The EB And Bait Slingers Above Route 9

"I'd rather sit on a dock on lake Michigan and drown worms than EVER, EVER fish a wet fly" - A purist character from Trout Madness by Robert Travers



Netting a nice bow before falling in

Things can't really get better I guess since all rivers are firing on all cylinders this past week.  The EB was full of fish that were "looking up" and we took advantage of that tossing stimulators and large (#12) Comparaduns and catching trout.

One spot that has produced well this Spring has been the 2 Mile Run. It's directly next to the 2 mile marker on the cart road. And so has the Bliss Pool, Chronicle and Slant Rock to name a few. Frankly, there are trout all over that river!

Let's hear it for the Ware BECAUSE this river has been producing for over the last month. Soft hackle emergers have ruled the day and I've guided gents that have claimed there best day EVER on a Massachusetts stream.  A word to the wise: early morning works great but the last hour of sunlight works better.  This is a perfect "Evening Rise" stream.  Don't be afraid of the shadows because the browns are not!!!!!

The Millers: I think it's funny that one self proclaimed "know-it-all" said that you don't need a guide on this river.  If that's true why do so many fly fishers ask me where to go and if they already know the locations why do they ask me how to fish it??? (Why did that know-it-all ask me for a copy of My Flyfishers Guide To The Millers River).  It's simple: It's a BIG river where many fish the same old popular spots and at the wrong time of day. I fish the seldom fished sections at the right time of day and hammer them!!!
Book me for a shot at this!!!  Remember, it's an evening stream from late June til September!!

Bait Boys about Route 9

Ok, this is what I've been hearing. There have been a number of spinning rod bait and lure tossers above Route 9. They have been seen lugging stringers of trout out and when they are approached in a civil manner about the Rules they say that they have a valid license and no one is going to stop them!!!  I've heard that calls to the DFW hotline go unanswered.

This is brazen bullshit by scofflaws who don't give a damn about our regulations.  We have to turn them in.  The Environmental Police number is 800-632-8075.  Call them and if you know the vehicle they are using take a cellphone photo of the plate number.  We need to make some examples of them.  I called the Environmental Police about some naked guy running around above route 9 last year and they got right back to me and went after him.

If you fish there and enjoy it then report abuse!!!!

Ken

A Rainy EB Day

"There are three stages to fly fishing. First is to catch as many fish as possible. Second is to catch the largest fish possible and third is to catch the most difficult fish to catch" Edward Ringwood Hewitt

Note - a reader lost a cherry and ash net that he had just made. He lost it on the Millers.  If found just notify me - Ken

You knew that it was going to happen - another rainy day although our river of destination, the East Branch of the Westfield, was flowing low at 153 a 6am and it would take a lot of rain to make it unfishable. I was hoping for some dry fly action but rain can put a damper on that thought and it did as the drizzle turned into a light rain. What to do?? Keep fishing!


It was a day filled with the occasional rise, the light "tap" of a trout and the changing of flies to see what worked. My Kens Caddis Emerger brought a hit or two but nothing in the net. It wasn't until we threw on a BWO Wet that we got our first trout, a good rainbow.

It seemed to me after a few hours that the river was beginning to get a bit cloudy and the current just a bit stronger so we opted for a large Pat's Rubber Legs (thank you Gary) and we landed an outsized brookie that actually jumped out of the net before the camera was ready. It was a beautiful fish!!!


The BWO Wet to the right is made with a body of olive floss, Uni-Flex 1X olive to be exact, and a wet fly hackle from my prized wet fly cape that I found in the  bargain barrel at a fly shop.  Always check these sources out!!!  BTW, it's a size 16.

You have to love this time of year because the WORLD is in bloom and the Rhododendron will take center stage as it should!  You will find them everywhere.

The Rivers

I mentioned that the EB was at 153 on Sunday and it rose with the rain to 524 on Monday and as I write on Tuesday morning it's a very fishable 272.  Keep that in mind. It goes up and down quickly.

The Swift is dropping (272) and I want to fish below Route 9, especially Cady Lane.  What I really want is 60 cfs!!!!!!!

The Millers?  It went up again (607) but it's fishable if you know your spots.  Watch the USGS gauge for this river.

Book Me

We are leaving the Spring season and heading into early Summer which means that the best hours for fly fishing will be in the early morning and in the evening unless you only fish tailwaters. This condition is perfect for the three hour trip( 8: 00am  or earlier to 11:00am and 5pm to 8pm).

Happy Summer (Friday 6/21)

Ken

Fly Rod Thoughts And The Rivers This Weekend

"Fly fishing isn't really about catching fish.  Fly casting is a great part of it, and in a sense a rod is like a baseball bat. If you hit the ball just right, you really nail it. It feels good.  You've found the sweet spot in the bat. A fly rod should deliver that kind of joy: the joy of casting" - Tom Dorsey, founder of Thomas & Thomas Rod Company

I've guided hundreds and hundreds of clients over the last few years and  very few of them had the tool that we call the nymphing rod in their arsenal, very few. Now, did they use the techniques that we now label as nymphing? Yes, when the circumstances called for it.  Were they hampered by using the wrong equipment? No, not really.  I will make this statement: the average well designed graphite fly rod of around 9 feet for a 4 or 5 weight line that is moderate to medium fast will be able to do everything that you want it to do, including all forms of nymphing, and will only be restricted by your ability to use the rod correctly.

As Tom Dorsey said, this sport is about fly casting and your garden variety nymph rod is not a good casting machine.  A stiff butt and mid section married to a soft tip section gives an awkward, hinged feel when you need to make a long cast instead of just "flipping and mending". I have a 10ft, 4wt nymph rod given to me as a gift.  If all that I wanted to do was nymph I'm ok but longer casts to rising trout felt like shooting a bow with an arrow of the wrong spine.  There was less control over the placement of the fly as my casts got longer.

My other graphite rods of between 8 to 9 ft can do EVERYTHING that my 10 ft nymph rod can do PLUS make long accurate casts with a dry fly.  Am I hampered by a shorter rod?? I can bounce nymphs on the Swift, the EB, the Millers and the Ware and I can position myself to cover all of the water correctly (sometimes nymphing) with a generalist rod of 8 to 9 feet.  Am I hampered by not having the softer tip section  for strike detection? ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  There's something wrong if you can't detect a strike while nymphing with a generalist graphite rod.  John Gierach, the great writer, once said you could nymph fish with a broom handle and another sage said that it's not the arrow but the archer. Get the point??

It seems that the industry that supports this sport has been working overtime to create new markets. For 30 years the only advancements in fly rods was the introduction of some new generation of graphite. Then came things like switch rods and spey rods and now specialist rods that you can buy because we are becoming like golfers. A fly rod for every situation. Soon we will have rod caddies!!!!  Many of these advances are not NEED driven but are MARKET driven.  We are convinced that we need the new thing and we go and buy it.  Many times we have bought a solution in search of a problem!!

I read recently that instead of shelling out $700 for a new fly rod the angler should buy one for $250 and spend the rest of the money on casting lessons.  Good advice I think!!

The Rivers This Weekend

Yes, that's the PIPE on the Swift. Legend had it that it was washed down to the Connecticut River during the Winter BUT it has reemerged. The flow is at 303 cfs as I write (6am on 6/13) and fish are being caught there and in the Tree Pool so go fish!!! The flow on the Swift will continue to fall even with the expected rain late in the weekend. Try to time your Y Pool visits to when the OVERFLOW ARM has just a trickle of water coming over. That arm will be loaded with trout. P.S. read the comment by Joe C. regarding the Y Pool - KEN


The Millers and the Ware - It feels great to FINALLY dump the streamers and buggers and swing my soft hackles in these calmer currents. The Millers is at 463 and the Ware is at 98.  Hit the Ware about 6:00 pm and stay through dusk = good action!!!  BTW, my old friend, the Light Cahill, seems to be hatching in abundance this season. This is a good mid afternoon to dusk fly!!!

The EB - Soft Hackles again are getting it done. The water temperature on this river at 10 am was 58 degrees = perfect!!  I spied an old bed of Iris while on the EB. Probably the remnants of an old 19th century garden and something good to see on this early Summer Morning. - Ken

 

Maybe The Best June Ever And A Lost Cellphone

"After a childhood spent lowering worms out of sight into dark water, I've become a sucker for the visual stuff, which is the only real reason I prefer dry flies to nymphs.  I'll never get over the sight of a trout coming off the bottom in three feet of clear water to eat, or at least look at my fly" - John Geirach

The title of this post really puts me out on a limb but I truly believe it and I'm sure that this June will be better than last year which ran out of water. I regularly guide and fish on five streams: The Millers,Ware,Swift, EB and WB with fewer visits to the Mill River (Williamsburg) and the MB. Of the top five four of them have flows that are OVER their decades long averages for this date. The Millers is roaring again but will come down this weekend and the Swift has been s l o w l y dropping at an average of about 15 cfs per day. Barring downpours the lower Swift should be "dryflyable" by the first day of Summer. For some reason the WB of the Westfield is a bit on the dry side. I guess that little watershed missed some of the downpours!

Transition Time

Although the flows are at mid May levels the sun is higher in the sky and the days are getting warmer. One can still go out and fish from 11 am to 3pm and catch fish, like in May, but the real action is early morning and in the evening especially if you like dry flies. I still have openings for 3 hour and 6 hour trips in June. BOOK ME!!!!!

Please Correct And Resubmit

While searching the web (AKA goofing off) the other day I came across the site of a fly fishing retail outfit that listed the important southern New England rivers and had links to each river's USGS site. One river, the EB, seemed way off on the flow which was way too low. The reason for that is that they linked to the wrong river. They linked to the WB which is usually half the flow of the EB. Just because it's on the web doesn't mean it's right!!!!!

The March Brown

One of the insects that is anticipated by knowledgeable fly fishers is the March Brown (named after a similar insect of British origin that hatches in March). The American March Brown leaves it's silty environment in May through early July and appears to be most active in the evening. The Millers is full of them while the EB has scattered populations of them.

This is a big dry fly and a large (#12 - #14) Adams seems to have the correct mottled tone to its appearance although my Olive/Brown Comparadun gets the trick done too!

The Week Coming Up

This past week was supposed to be a great Millers week but the old river shot up 250cfs on June 3 and kept going up. It's on the way down as I write and hopefully it will behave. It's at 696 as I write, dropping 80 cfs in the last 24 hours.

Lost Cell Phone Found

A reader found a cell phone on the Ware River by the Upper Church Street Bridge.  If it's yours contact me VIA EMAIL.

Ken

The Swift And It's Brookies

"Contrary to what some people think, guides and outfitters don't get to fish that much. instead, they're busy doing the countless, mundane, mostly invisible things that allow their clients to fish" - John Gierach

A Swift Brown

First, it was the salmon that went over the falls and into the Swift last October and that was a good thing. But Mother Nature has left the faucet running well into Spring and now into early Summer and the catch at the Y Pool now includes smallmouth bass, pickerel (yes, it's true, I've seen the photos) and (this is the real killer) YELLOW PERCH!

Now, I don't think that the rainbows need to worry since they are big enough to fend for themselves. Same for the browns for now. It's the brook trout that I worry about because whenever smallies and yellow perch enter brook trout country the brook trout lose. One only has to go back to the early 20th century to when some "do-gooder" decided that it would be a nice thing to fish for smallmouth in Maine's brook trout waters. In go the bass and the trout decline! (The same can be said about the early push to expand LL Salmon and smelt into most of Maines coldwater lakes, lakes that were populated by massive brook trout and their special prey, the blueback trout. The smelt overwhelmed the bluebacks and the salmon out competed the brook trout and the rest is history.

There is something valuable at stake here and that is a balance that we see in the Swift. Brook trout have thrived up and down from Cady Lane. There may not be a denser brook trout population in New England. They, in turn, provided a food source for the apex predator - the brown trout. Brookies over 20 inches and browns over 8lbs means something is going right!!!! Yellow perch and smallmouth don't belong. The question is what can we do about it?


                                                                                                           A Swift Brookie

Please use the comment section or just email me direct concerning catches of anything other than trout in the Swift for the rest of the year. We need to keep track of this.

Book Me On A Freestone In June!!!!

Ken

The Millers Revisited (Again) And Book Me

"The best fishermen that I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them" -John Gierach

It had been a while since I last fished this spot. Actually it had been years since I worked this water. This is a spot on the Millers that sees very little fishing action and not because the fishing is poor. Actually it's great but it is a bit out of the way which then begs the question "Ken, I thought you liked spots off the beaten track" and I do but some just fall through the cracks and become forgotten. I will not forget this spot again!

My client and I arrived and got ready to explore the long glassy flat that seemed to stretch forever. The fly of choice was a Kens Caddis Emerger in one of four body colors that I tie it in. (a think it was grey). We caught some big fish with trout slashing at the swinging emerger. It's my experience that the rise to a swinging emerger is the most violent and exciting hit you can have on a trout stream.

Forward cast 24 hours. I just finished a guiding session on the Ware and then made a beeline to the Millers. Same spot, same fly and a 9 foot 5 weight because I can make longer casts with a 5 weight than with a 3 or 4 weight. The result - 9 fish (7 bows, 2 browns) in three hours.

It was one of the most satisfying short trips I've had in a while. Oh yeah, I saw no other people fishing.

The Rivers

As I write the flows are:
Millers - 419
Ware    - 119
Swift    - 410
EB       - 286
WB      - 123

Everything is in GREAT shape except for the Swift which still has to come down and more importantly has to stop overflowing. We are in June and that Quabbin surface water is NOT what we want in the Swift.

Fish A Freestone/Book A trip

The freestones are in the best shape for the first week in June that I can remember but some just can't pry themselves away from the Swift or the Farmington.  There's lots of GOOD flyfishing  on natural rivers in central Massachusetts that goes unnoticed.  I've been dry fly fishing the Millers on Summer evenings for over 35 years and caught a lot of trout while the "experts" said it was a bass river after June first.  Book a trip trip and find out!!!!

Ken