The Big Weekend And An Old Fly

"So with time on my hands I stopped for lunch at a roadhouse straight out of my idyllic youth, with deer and fish mounts on the walls and Formica booths with cracked plastic seats patched with duct tape.  I ordered the regulation hot pork sandwich on white bread with a pound of mashed potatoes on the side (no vegetables), the whole thing slathered with industrial strength brown gravy.  The waitress who delivered this feast was a cheerful three-hundred-pounder, in case there was any doubt about the dangers inherent in a steady diet of rural comfort food." John Gierach   (don't laugh. We've all been there and probably liked it!!)

Columbus Day Weekend - the last hurrah for many who do not have the luxury of TIME on their hands to fish when they want.  Many think that the fishing ends right about now but they are dead wrong. The rest of October and November have days that are as comfortable as April and even early May and the water levels are almost perfect.

All the rivers covered on this blog have gotten their Fall stocking EXCEPT THE EB which may get something today. (Note there are STILL fish to be caught in that river).  The Ware, chugging along at 14 cfs, actually got stocked.  The Millers is at a perfect Autumn flow of 160 cfs, exactly where it was two years ago when I had the best BWO action that I ever had on that river. Arch Street in Erving was ground zero for that action as it is every year at this time.

The Swift is at it's low flow (my favorite flow) which means that euro nymphers have retreated to more forgiving venues and the Swift is left for the TINY FLY GUYS and for those who slowly work streamers.  We will have fishing well into late November when Winter says hello and tactics change.

BTW - get your tiny flies here!!!!!                              The Turkey Top

I've always liked flies that have that certain trigger to them which is one of the reasons I've fished the Hot Spot for 15 or so years. That contrasting color in the middle makes all the difference. This was a killer fly on the Squannacook River in the big pool above the Arched Bridge in West Townsend.  That pool became history when the dam broke and drained it over 30 years ago but back in the day it was the best Springtime spot on the river and this fly beat all others.  It was the light colored turkey wing pad that did it.

It is dirt easy to tie:

size 12 or 14 wet fly hook

grey hackle barbs for the tail

body is grey dubbing

soft grey hackle

Turkey quill on the top

Happy Columbus Day Weekend

t