"Things flyfishers know about trout are not facts but articles of faith" - John Gierach
Bill At The Y Pool
It finally happened! The Swift got it's Summer stocking yesterday, July 1st in the early afternoon. This will be interesting. The flow is still up (171 cfs) but dropping. Last year at this time the stocking crew had to actually walk through schools of freshly stocked trout to scatter them in that skinny water. Not this year. Hopefully they will spread out by themselves.
BTW, rainbows were the species stocked that were stocked.
BTW again, turn in poachers!!! The environmental police number is 800-632-8072. The bandits will be out in force this holiday week. Don't let the get away with it.
The Tree Pool
The Other Rivers
The Millers is at 331 cfs and that is close to perfect.
The Ware is at 97 and it's been flirting with that flow for 2 weeks. Very fishable!!
The EB is at 116 cfs which is just a tick above it's 99 year average of 99 cfs.
The above rivers are now EARLY MORNING and EVENING RIVERS and will stay that way except for the overcast and cool days that we occasionally get. Actually we could stand some rain out in the Westfield watershed.
My Bomber
Want a high riding fly to ride those Summer riffles? Try a Bomber!! It's easy to tie:
Hook - size 12 through 16 standard dry fly hook
Tail - hackle barbs
Body - synthetic dubbing of your color
Wing - fine deer hair or synthetic post yarn (skip the calf's tail- it's inferior stuff!!)
Hackle - your choice of color to match the hook size.
Have a Happy 4th of July!!!
Ken
12 comments:
The EB yesterday morning was chosen by me to start my dry fly on top season, so out came the 4wt, built an 12' leader and tied on a #14 attractor. On the water at 6am, go to a run that holds fish, the water is perfect for dries and emergers,soft hackles. 1ST cast the dry lands softly and the wings are high on the water, bang a 14" brookie takes it after a 6 inch drift, so quick I almost dropped my rod, but I recovered, lifted and he was there what a start. Oh to the guy in the blue ford pick-up I saw you rip up the catch and release sign, I've got your plate number and will testify.
Gary!!! Turn him in!!!!!! There seems that there are some people out there that feel that the law doesn't apply to THEM.
An EB brookie in July!! Really cool!
Ken
Hi Ken,
I was fishing alone around the pipe yesterday when the stocking truck pulled up - not too many fish went in the water, maybe 2-3 netfuls at the pipe. It looked like fish went in up by the gauge and down at the horse farm as well. Within minutes, all sorts of characters - many with spinning equipment - start showing up to scope out and/or flail the water. Fortunately the recent stockers were hunkered down and I didn't see anyone pull a fish out. First day this year on the Swift (generally I don't fish it before July 1) and a pretty good one - 3 brookies, 2 nice sized browns, and 3 bows - including one that was pushing 20" and probably 4+ lbs that viciously slammed a swung soft hackle above the gauge. I encourage everyone to keep an eye out and report suspicious activity we need to make an example of these poachers!
Mike from Andover
Oh no, the secret is out on the Bomber! My favorite summer "stir em up" fly thanks to the late Fran Betters.
Ken,
among other fish I got a nice brown yesterday on the Swift. I talked to another guy who told me that browns were stocked too ...
FWIW,
Hermann
Ken,
A few hours in Bondsville yielded one 10" brown on a soft hackle at the end of the drift. I wonder if the DFW stocks them that small, or hopefully that was a wild stream born one. I can't tell the difference, though some say they can.
Saw a spin / bait fisherman land a hell of a trout upstream of me, most likely a rainbow, but I was too far away to say for sure. On the stringer it went. Can't say if he brought anymore home.
Talked with a fellow fly fisherman who connected with a big rainbow and had it on for quite a while, but it came loose at the end much to his disappointment.
Water is beautiful and cold with a few light cahills flying around. Nice to have easy wading again.
Best, Sam
Hi Ken - I was up at the Swift late today and didn’t have any signs of the newly stocked fish. I was there for the Sulphurs and caught a bunch of Brookies above rte 9, which makes me feel slightly better about the high water. The hatch was light, butt came on at dusk. I took a couple beautiful Browns before dark. Each 17 inches on a size 20 Catskill style sulphur. I hope this hatch stays going next week. I seem to have found all of the Salmon too. Looks like they have found a good spot to hide in plain sight. :)
Happy 4th of July, Ken and everyone else reading this!
Mike from Andover,
Good to see that they spread them out!!
Sam,
Bondsville is back!!!
Falsecast,
The Sulphurs should be around through mid July on that river.
Ken
Ken,
Just once I would love to see an EPO officer make their way down to see if yahoos have a fishing license or not.
You know the routine, throw worms, rooster tails, put them on a stringer and off they go.
Soft hackle brought me one connection tonight, but that was it.
Sam
Sam,
This past May an EPO carded ME on the Ware. I don't think I fit the Modus operandi of a poacher by going above Rt 9 with a spinning rod or by using power bait. It's safe to say that violations occur every week (or day) on the Swift.
Ken
Ken,
what do you know about the Wendell stretch of the Millers? I fished the Millers for the first time yesterday - a friend took me to what I assume is the Wendell Depot area. We parked in a small parking lot, where there was a "Catch&Release" sign on a tree, crossed the road and walked along the railroad track until we came a path that led down to the river. We fished from about 4:30 pm until after 8 pm but the only trout caught was a small rainbow I got on a soft hackle. I also fished the deep pool below the railroad bridge systematically from bottom to top without a touch. We kept looking for rises, especially later in the evening, but saw nothing....
A beautiful stretch of river but is the water too low (now around 229) and warm now? Is this stretch just best avoided during the summer?
Thanks in advance for any advice,
Herm
Herm,
Wendell Depot and the area is my favorite spot on the Millers.
The flow at 229 is perfect but a hot day will postpone any surface action until well after dark. A cloudy day will speed things up. My best summer fishing on the Millers is after 7:30pm. It's been that way for years.
Ken
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