I asked the DFW guy a simple question: are there more pounds of native brook trout per cubic foot of water in the Swift than any other stream in New England? His answer was quick - "Yes".
It makes sense! Clear cold water and with the exception of this past winter, a stable environment. In case anyone is wondering the brook trout survived the flood and are all over the place!!!!
The Swift has always had a native brookie population but not like it is now. One good reason for the obvious population explosion is that this river has accumulated tons of woody debris which adds nutrients to the flow, provides home for insects which trout eat and provides safety from predators (even brown trout).
Brown Trout
Monster brown trout become monster brown trout because of the special predator/prey relationship that they have with something that they like to eat and in the case of the Swift that food is brook trout. It is a very plentiful food source and that is why we have browns that weight in the double digits.
Now these browns are not going to swim between your boots like the rainbows do. They are normally shy and secretive preferring log jams and brush piles to wide open areas of the river. And they love the cover of darkness. Targeting browns is not so much fishing but TROUT HUNTING!!!!! We did just that yesterday!!! In fact, instead of studying the comings and goings of clonebows maybe we should be studying the successful brown trout.!!!
Goodbye Sulphurs
The last month has had some great fishing below RT 9 during what seemed to be a never ending sulphur hatch that started at mid day and then went on until dark. You knew that it would start when the cedar waxwings would take to the air in mass starting over the riffles and then spreading up and down the stream. Those birds were so intent on eating those mayflies that they came close to flying into people!!! Now it appears that this hatch is on the wane although it could sputter on for a while.
The Rain And The Other Rivers
The EB - 78 cfs (low but good)
Millers - 254 cfs (very good)
Yesterdays cloudbursts brought the rivers up and with cool temperatures for the weekend it would make sense to make a trip to the EB and/or the Millers.
They are still in that morning/evening mode and will be into September. Three hour trips can work very well on these rivers. Contact me for a trip!!!
This Blog is your only source of up to date fly fishing information for Massachusetts. I write about the rivers, the flies and the trout and as an added feature that you will not find anywhere else I NAME THE RIVERS AND THE LOCATIONS ON THOSE RIVERS WHERE I FISH. Although thousands read this blog on a monthly basis I still find a quiet place when I fish my rivers!!
Ken
21 comments:
ken
I noticed the drop off in Sulphurs this past week. The birds were not so frantic!
GW
Hello Ken,
I enjoy reading and visiting your site/blog and I never fished beyond Worcester but, you got it wrong again as you did with your comments last summer about kayakers on the river bothering you. The last sentence of this post bothers me when you refer to the waters as"my rivers". Last summer I commented to you that the waterways are for the enjoyment of all, dont you get it.
Fishing on the millers looking good?! Ive been fishing the swift but its been getting crowded and am looking for a new river to try. thanks!
I don't believe that there is a measurement of lbs per cfs for trout populations. Typically biologists will measure by lbs per acre or lbs per mile or # of fish per mile or # of fish per acre.
I'm sure the Swift has a very impressive brookie population that measures up against many fisheries.
My question is - why stock rainbows over one of the best wild brook trout fisheries in the Northeast? To me that makes zero sense. Any credible biologist recognizes that stocking fish over wild trout populations is a dangerous proposition - it is the very reason why Montana stopped stocking trout in their rivers.
not to start a argument I. would have to say the roach river in maine that 6 mile of catch release below first roach pond to moosehead lake many year round fish and it explodes in September during the spawning runs And it shuts down to protect the redds. However the bears cant read signs Hope all is well will make it out soon. Will be leaving the salt shortly. tincup
Tincup, No argument here but the Swift may be better.
Anonymous 1:28
Strange but the fisheries biologist agreed with me and knew what I meant.
Anonymous 11:06
I've been on the Swift every other day for three weeks and Haven't RUN INTO CROWDS!!!!
Anonymous 9:42,
Kayaks Again??? I was right last year and am still right now. Kayaks get free use of the rivers and do not pay licenses or fees or taxes to use the waterways. They use public access and boat launches that PEOPLE WHO FISH PAY FOR. People who fish pay the freight. The rest are freeloaders!!
Woody Gutherie sang the words "this land is your land, this land is my land". You're the one who doesn't get it.
Ken
Ken, do you really think fishing the EB is a good idea in those flows? I know we got some rain recently but I imagine the water temp is quite high. Personally I haven't gone near the Westfield in almost a month. Farmington has been getting the bulk of my attention since it is closer . I'll be back to the freestones come fall but most fish in the westfield are prob stacked up in front of colder tribs.
Pat,
Yes and especially at this time of year. Days are shorter, days are cooler, there is less evaporation and the sun is angled lower in the sky. I've caught many trout on the EB in Mid August through mid September when the flow was about 65cfs. I fish early in the morning or to darkness. The flow as I write is 116. Go for it!
Ken
Tincup,
The Roach is a top BT river in Maine but the Swift is in Ma and could certainly challenge the Roach.
Anonymous 128,
If the lbs p/cubic foot of water isn't a valid measurement then why did the fisheries biologist answer me and not correct me?
We stock rainbows because they are easy to grow and fairly easy to catch. 2/3 of the trout stocked in this State are bows. I'd like to see 2/3 browns even if they are nor indigenous. Browns are survivors and work well in our "borderline" rivers.
Anonymous 11:06
Funny, but I haven't fished within 300 feet of ANYONE on the Swift for three weeks and it seems like I'm there 5 times a week. What crowds?????
Another Anonymous 9:42
Kayaks again??? I was right last year and am still right about the kayak/canoe crowd who get to clog up our rivers without paying the fees, licenses and TAXES that we do. Conservation land, public access, public boat launches - where do you think the money to secure this land comes from. People who FISH!!!!
Woody Gutherie sang "These land is your land and this land is my land......" You're the one who doesn't get it. Maybe you've spent a bit too long east of Worcester. Your political correctness is showing!!!
Ken
I fished the EB daily the whole month of July without being shut out,in some places it was a rock garden,but in some places it wasn't. Also true on the WB and MB. April,May,are great months but the reasons for that are obvious. I think fishing a freestone river this time of year makes you (me) a better fisherman technically and teaches patience. Matter of fact I have enough patience to be back there in the 6am hour tomorrow. Oh there were no kayaks on the EB, but maybe a few tubers.
I am heading out to the swift tomorrow. It has been a few weeks. If sulphers are hatching hopefully some dark soft hackles will take some trout.
Mike C,
Sizes 16 and 18 seem to work well for me.
Gary,
You will do well at 6am today. Wednesday nights' storms helped us.
Ken
Ken - not to start an argument but one cannot measure a population based on flow - it is a variable measure based on numerous factors and simply can't be used as a way to measure the number of fish in a river system. The Swift may have relatively stable flows but it does go up and down. Stable measures are length (trout per mile / lbs per mile) and area (trout per acre / lbs per acre). I have reams of population data on the stream I fish most frequently, dating back to the 1950's when electro-shocking methods were in their infancy and nowhere is there a measurement of trout per cfs or pounds per cfs.
I do hope that the bio leading this study makes the findings public. I suspect that they may be trying to ascertain how long stocked rainbows stay in the system. Even with the hatchery right there it is still an expensive proposition to release hatchery trout and if survival is low from year to year or even over the course of the season then its reasonable to ask whether or not the brook trout population would benefit from a reduction or elimination of stocking rainbows (and browns).
Anonymous 7:53
Brookies and browns thrive and reproduce here because of the tailwater conditions. Brookies and browns belong here. Bows are here to fish over and to eliminate them would be very unpopular because license fees and such fund them. There is no evidence that bows or browns have harmed the brookie population because the population, brook trout, has grown over the past ten years. Quabbin has changed everything. We have brook trout because of this tailwater and the same for browns. We watch rainbows come and go year after year. More Browns - YES! Bows? Find out why the disappear and why they don't reproduce in this river. The answer is known. The solution may be known too.
Ken
Great comments in this segment of the blog. In the last two weeks, below Bondsville and below Rt 9, I have caught 4 BROWNS between 7 and 9 “. This is exciting as they must be river born. I would be in the camp to stop stocking rainbows and let the brook and brown trout find their equilibrium. Once stocking is stopped, the Swift becomes a fly fishing C&R River right away as anglers hunting those rainbows will move elsewhere
Ken,
Didn't fair great today. Got 1 nice brooke and a couple of small ones. Caught a small rainbow with parr markings. Are they stocking them that young? All fish were down stream. Tried down stream of the rt 9 bridge in the afternoon no luck.
Anonymous said...
Ken - not to start an argument but one cannot measure a population based on flow - it is a variable measure based on numerous factors and simply can't be used as a way to measure the number of fish in a river system. The Swift may have relatively stable flows but it does go up and down. Stable measures are length (trout per mile / lbs per mile) and area (trout per acre / lbs per acre). I have reams of population data on the stream I fish most frequently, dating back to the 1950's when electro-shocking methods were in their infancy and nowhere is there a measurement of trout per cfs or pounds per cfs.
I do hope that the bio leading this study makes the findings public. I suspect that they may be trying to ascertain how long stocked rainbows stay in the system. Even with the hatchery right there it is still an expensive proposition to release hatchery trout and if survival is low from year to year or even over the course of the season then its reasonable to ask whether or not the brook trout population would benefit from a reduction or elimination of stocking rainbows (and browns).
August 9, 2019 at 7:53 AM
Would you please read the first sentence of Ken’s blog again. He asked about the number of fish per cubic foot (not CFS). No need to start an argument, just slow down and read what is being stated. By doing that most of what you are pontificating would become a moot point. Joe
Joe C,
THANK YOU!!
Ken
I thought the point was that the actual volume of the water can change, even as the number of fish might not. Consider a swimming pool with 25 fish in it. The ratio of fish per cu ft will change with the water level, since the volume will change, but not the number of fish. But the number of fish per sq ft of surface area will not. Switching to the river, you want to replace area with linear length, since the width may change with water levels. So, in fish per X, you want X to be a constant, so that you really are measuring the relative number of fish in a consistent way.
In any case, I hope we can all agree that more fish is better!
Cheers,
Dave P.
Dave P and/or Anonymous,
Please read Joe C. comment on this beaten to death comment. Streams and rivers, especially tailwaters, don't fluctuate much and remain much the same for the most part. The 80 year average for the Swift for this date has fluctuated less than 20% for this date. That is a stable environment which makes comparisons between the Swift and other lesser brook trout waters valid.
The Swift wins!!!
Ken
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