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!!!!!
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
12 comments:
Almost went 0 for April,the last few days saved me. But the 1st week of June, 18 trout (bows,tigers,brookies, brown still workin on it) caught on the MB,WB, and EB. Again thanks Mass wildlife. Oh those fish are back in the rivers for you to catch.
Gary,
That's why they call you the Wizard of the Westfield!!!
The EB has done well but the WB slacked off for me in Mid May and the MB in early May. I'll have to give it another chance.
Ken
Ken,
I hit Cady lane, tree pool and pipe areas on Friday for the first time in many months. No surprise that the water is still high, but it is now possible to wade it in many of those spots. The large tree that had been across the river at Cady lane has been cleared out the that area looks clean ( maybe too clean) as a whistle with scoured banks etc. I only saw one fish in that general area and connected momentarily with one other while swinging a black WB. Absolutely zero surface action.
I moved up stream and fished the pipe area with one other fly fisher and as expected, there were a number of good bows and brookies to be caught on both nymphs and emergers. The "pellet hatch" around 1pm resulted in a 30 minute feeding frenzy. There was increasing surface activity as the afternoon wore on and I was able to connect with some dries, but it was not consistent activity. There were PLENTY of small brookies to play with and, not surpringly, no signs of "intruders" from way upstream at the Y pool. The tree pool was quiet for me with only one short hook-up. I had the entire place to myself from about 1:30 - 5:00. It was a beautiful afternoon and things will only get better as water drops.
Paul
Paul,
Thank you!!! As the Beatles once said "It's getting better all the time!!!
Ken
Ken
Tried the Swift this AM as I had been watching flows and level though this AM and thought would a good day to give it a try. All good except when I got to my normal starting point first access off river road the lot was full so to speak. 6 to 8 Kayaks getting ready to put in with associated pickups filling the place. Just an FYI as I seen more of this type activity this year.JW
Hit the Squannacook last night from 5-9. Fished up in Bertozzi section but not in the usual places(thanks to Charlie). From 5-6:30 all fish were caught swinging soft hackles, all were vicious hits too, landed a few nice rainbows. The magical time was from 7-9, there were ridiculous amounts of caddis and big mayflies(couldn’t tell what they were) coming all over the place. Worked my way up to a nice pool and on went a size 16 cdc tan mayfly. Landed 7 nice browns, largest was around 16 inches. Had one on that put the 4wt to work and snapped me off. I will be back to get my revenge on him. Thinking of hitting back there next weekend!
Jim W.
Rhis is the problem that we get as the weather warms. We (fly fishers) pay to fish this place through licences and fees and our money goes into public access but do you think the kayak crowd pays anything = NOTHING!!!
Phil,
That could be a evening you will remember for a long time especially during the dead of winter!! Glad you did it!!!!!!!
Ken
Hit the EB and main branch of the westfield yesterday. 2 brookies, 2 bows and a beauty of a brown. The flows on the westfield have dropped like a rock. The rain this weekend should help things out. Still very minimal surface action. Only one fish this year on a dry.
Ken,
I hit the Swift for an afternoon/evening session yesterday. I was able to wade, carefully, just about all the way up from Rte 9 to the bench. There was a modest sulfur hatch underway and I was able to catch a couple of bows in that section on drys. Walked upstream to the second diverter and was able to get in there again and wade up stream relatively comfortably. Not a lot of fish to see, but did manage a nice brown on a dry sulfur pattern. It really is a blast to watch them come up from the depths to nail a surface fly !
I ended up in the Y pool which was quite slow. A couple of guys were catching salmon on nymphs. I had one fish on briefly on the surface and then a bow to the net on a WB for last cast of day. I did not see many fish being caught. The water temp in Spillway arm is warming up - probably 58-60.
Also, as an aside, I think the Swift River "Stripper/Spanker" appears to be back. I saw someone who looked and acted just like the guy from last year who several of us had "run-ins" with. Same MO - 25-30 yr old guy, shows up with no fishing gear, hangs around a lone fisherman, catches your attention from a distance and then moves to a spot right near you, loiters and then puts on a "performance". Thankfully, I was busy fighting a fish and he vanished after that. I called the Belchertown PD. Crazy stuff.
Paul
Pat,
The flow went up last night to over 300 which, I find it hard to say, we needed. That river has been fishing well this Spring.
Paul,
Glad that you called the BPD. I'm dedicating this season to catching that freak!!
Aside from that, you had a good day yesterday and that water is coming down slowly. I took a temperature reading down by the gauge Sunday afternoon and recorded 60 degrees. Not too bad seeing that only about 20% of the water entering the Y Pool is coming from the bubbler.
I hope the flow comes down so we don't miss most of the sulphur hatch!
Ken
Best June ever. On the WB at 7:30 AM, first 2 fish fooled with a #12 black bugger, the next 5 fooled with a #10 pats rubber legs including 2 of those monster bows. Left this part of the river at 8:55 and moved down river to a spot that I am going to name the the Y pool of the Westfield River. Now in the Y pool I fooled my first brown of the season with that same pats rubberlegs, the cycle is complete. Left the river at 11:00 AM who needs a whole day to catch a bunch of fish. Best June ever.
Gary,
Another great comment by the Wizard of the Westfield!!! Did you have a private stocking??? You know that river system!!
Ken
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