A shocking event on the Swift!
In each location a barrier net was placed in the river to keep the trout from moving above the the shocking area. Trout actually were herded upstream ahead of the DWF crew. The photo doesn't show it but that spot, next to the "Hemlocks" had well over a hundred fish below the net.
Needless to say there are plenty of trout in this river. One thing to watch for is if any "marked" trout move out of the area that they were stocked in. Hopefully the DFW will publish their data!
A 21lb brown was sampled down in Cady Lane.(so much for the Farmington!)
How's The Fishing And Book Me
All of this action will last through the Summer into the Fall. Book me in August!!!!!
The other rivers? Some places will get 3 inches of rain tonight. Just what is needed!!
Ken
19 comments:
Ken,
Holy cow, a 21# brown! That fish isn't surviving eating midges! The stocked rainbows must be right up its alley as it cruises to feed at night. Hopefully it will snack on smallmouth bass and perch too that came over the dam.
Fishing Bondsville two evenings ago I decided to swing soft hackles in seldom fished shallow riffles. A few brookies were connected with along with a 7" silvery brown. I have to believe that brown was a stream born fish. Hard to believe the DFW would stock them that small.
I hope the DFW's trout sampling results are published as I would find that interesting.
Regards, Sam
21#! Wholly crap Ken! The next time someone say's "Where are all the brookies"... I'm just going to respond: "Inside the giant browns hiding here!"
To heck with the 5-6x and #24's... next time on the swift, I'm bringing my 8wt and some 8" long streamers :)
Will
Hi Ken,
This isn't for publication, only a question. Is there a typo in your post? A 21-pound brown is two pounds larger than the state record from a fish caught in Wachusett Reservoir way back in 1966. If it is accurate, I bet there will be a crowd in Cady Lane.
All the best,
Charles
Charles,
No typo, it's real and not a big surprise since a 17.5 lb brown was samples 2 years ago. Personally, I wouldn't even fish for that trout. I'd leave it alone.
Sam,
The DFW has stocked some tiny browns especially in the Ware the past two years. Why? I don't know.
Will,
Funny but I found a 6 inch streamer at the Pipe parking lot this week.
Ken
Re: the 6-inch streamer. I saw a guy (the guy?) fishing it last week on a small spinning outfit. All legal. In the short time I watched, he hauled out two fat rainbows and released them. Nice guy; as it turned out, I was parked beside him.
Charles
"A 21lb brown was sampled down in Cady Lane.(so much for the Farmington!)" Decades ago while fishing between Last Cove and the dam, it was not unusual to see some submarines cruising under the boat. Never caught any but I have no doubt that they are still habituating that stretch of river. They have everything they need.
Anonymous 1:37 and Charles,
The Swift has had the reputation for BIG Browns. Now all confirmed! What we don't want to see is a horde of meat anglers trying to "Get Da Big One". The Swift should be C&R from the dam to, or beyond, the boat launch! There are some BIG FISH Genetics that we don't want hauled out of there!!!
Ken
"The Swift should be C&R from the dam to, or beyond, the boat launch! There are some BIG FISH Genetics that we don't want hauled out of there!!!"
I am all for it, Ken. With regard to Bondsville, how about from the last dam in Bondsville to Three Rivers? Beautiful water that should be protected.
Sam
Sam,
I would not be opposed to that!
Ken
I go to shocking events routinely on "my" home river and invariably the claims of a fished out river are proven wrong year after year.
It's great to see Mass Fish and Wildlife conducting these surveys. Lets hope they publish a report. Better yet would be if they did a population study on the brook trout fishery.
21 lb brown trout. Think it is moving in and out of the Ct depending on water temps? Or just feeding on anything that swims in teh Swift. Cool stuff.
Anonymous 12:36
Not a Connecticut River brown for sure. There's enough brook trout and suckers in the Swift and enough cold water to keep a brute like that happy!!!!
Ken
I have to give Bondsville area a rest for a while, Ken, and head upstream and fish with you guys up there. I fish in Bondsville mainly for lack of fishermen, but that is not the case this year, not to mention kayakers passing Twisted Tea beverages amongst themselves while I had a fish on underneath one of their boats.
Tonight really pissed me off though. I have fished amongst the spin and bait boys in this zone for years and I know they get their share, but they have always done their thing and I've done mine respectful of each other's space. Tonight, I am fishing a good zone on my way out and a fly fisherman with trout on a stringer parks himself in the zone I am fishing.
I said are you telling me you want to fish here? I'm heading out soon and you can have it in a little while. Barely acknowledged me, I'm not sure he understood English. He kept standing there looking at his trout on his stringer, waiting me out I suppose. I had to go anyway, but reminded him the limit was three. Not sure he understood or even cared.
Sam
So this is a little off topic but I think people here will enjoy or weigh in.
My son had lacrosse tournaments this summer in Lake Placid and then down in Maryland/Philly. So if I was going to be his chauffeur, I worked some fishing into the trip! Curious of others experience on these rivers, or just passing on some info to the bold and adventurous.
First stop was the famous West branch of the the Ausable near Lake Placid. Decent blog on it here:
https://www.ausablerivertwoflyshop.com/ausable-west-br
I found this river to be beautiful and had a few hook ups but didn't land anything. The area around Lake Placid is a big tourist area, and this part of the river seems overfished to me. I ran into several fisherman who clearly didn't know how to fly fish and were asking me silly questions. I had only a little time to explore. I felt if I had more time and could have gotten more north, that is likely where the action is, or at least the less fished spots.
The next spot I had never heard of, but its a blue ribbon trout stream and one of, if not the most famous Limestone rivers in the country. Its called the "Yellow Breeches" in central PA. http://www.streamconditions.com/StreamConditions_Local_Water.cfm
There is an Orvis endorsed lodge in Boiling Springs and you can fish right out back. Caught a couple nice browns. It's said to be heavily stocked with browns and bows, and many hold overs also. Met a very nice local who chatted me up for half hour (and even he fished near the lodge). Many creeks and other rivers in this area if I had more time. The Limestone river made for some very easy wading, even though the river was running high. They got a big storm our last day which ended the fishing early, but I want to go back to this spot! Big river, easy to cast. But did fish one tiny creek that reminded me of the Swift, flowing out of a decent sized lake they have. Curious if others have fished these rivers and their experiences.
Big Dawg, I fished the Yellow Breeches with a customer of mine in that area on June 28th. I did pretty well catching 11 and 12" browns swinging soft hackles. Interesting stream in that it isn't very big and the stretch we fished didn't have much cover, but the fish were scattered laying against the bottom I guess.
As it was getting dark I saw a little splashy rise in a zone I had waded through a half hour earlier. I tied on an elk hair caddis and immediately got a rise to it, but did not connect. A few casts later an explosive hit on the EHC and this one was the best fish of the night, a hefty 15" brown that fought like crazy. Afterwards we went to the Boiling Springs Tavern for a beverage and bowl of their seafood chowder which was quite delicious.
My customer and I are hoping to fish again in the fall and I very much look forward to that.
Best, Sam
Ken - regarding that 21 lb brown - obviously an outlier. Is this the same one that was captured a couple yrs ago at about 17 lbs?
Question - when you say there are "big fish genetics" what are the average browns? Are they spawning or being introduced at a large size? A 21 # trout in almost any river system is a freak of nature (or man if it is a released brood stock fish).
And don't worry ... I am not planning on fishing the Swift anytime soon, my preference is for lower density / lower pressured rivers where sharing a pool with one other angler is considered crowding.
I'm just curious about the nature of the river - it certainly seems to offer up some surprises.
Thanks.
Anonymous 12:36,
Question #1 - I have no idea if the 21lb brown is the 17.5 lb brown of two years ago. Strange that the DFW didn't tag the fish.
Question #2 - The big browns are not being introduced at that large size. Do you mean an average hatchery brown or a wild brown?
The Swift has a huge population of brook trout and white suckers and I would guess that they make up the main diet of the browns. Also the Swift is a cool, stable environment, perfect for trout. I also saw a DFW photo of a brook trout over 2 feet long.
Ken
Is the state stocking browns and if so at what size?
I am assuming you have some brown trout spawning given the quality of the water.
Very interesting about the brook trout - that is the sort of thing that is music to my ears. Being our native salmonid this is what really impresses me.
Thanks.
Anonymous 4:57,
Of course the DFW stocks browns!!!!!!!! Where have you been????
The size range is between 8 and 18 inches.
Ken
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