One of the most common items that I post on the "lost and Found" part of this blog is the "lost rod section." Being old enough to remember when most fly rods were only two piece I can see that we have an epidemic on our hands. Thankfully it's easily remedied.
Most lost sections are lost on the way back to the vehicle after fishing BECAUSE we take down the rod at streamside and then drop a section on the walk back. LEAVE THE ROD FULLY ASSEMBLED until you are at the vehicle. Problem solved!!! -Me
DMS Caddis
Backcast 25 years or so ago to a June evening on the Deerfield where the Cold River joins in. I'm doing well with a few trout here and there but my friend Rick is killing them with a caddis creation of his. He gave me one, I liked it enough to tie some up and then promptly forgot about them for a few years until I had a good evening on the Millers with them. I even wrote about them in my blog and then forgot about them again.
Then my friend Lenny, the Patagonia Guide,. put on a clinic below the Duck Pond two Novembers ago. "What are you using I said after the sixth rainbow?" "YOUR CADDIS FLY" was the answer. That's all I needed to make this fly a staple in my arsenal.
I call it the DSM Caddis. Born on the Deerfield, perfected on the Swift and it works on the Millers. It was the sunken fly most used this past year for me because it works with the soft hackle and peacock construction. It has a gray, somber tone to it just like a natural caddis. Size 16 is perfect for the Swift while the other sizes work everywhere else. Size 12 will crush it in the Spring and early Summer.
WORK THE RIFFLES with this fly. See that shin deep flow in the photo to the right? That's what you are looking for.
You guessed it! I have these flies for sale!!!!!
Rain is on the way
It will start by late afternoon and continue through a lot of Thursday with a good 2 inches of much need rain. It will not effect the swift but the Millers, Ware and the EB will benefit. It will certainly improve the fishing. Now, I mentioned the EB which hasn't gotten a Fall stocking. THERE ARE STILL FISH THERE so go get 'em!!!
18 comments:
Hey the EB was stocked go back to 10/8 they screwed the chart up initially, but recovered and corrected next day. I also think it will get 1 more (browns).
Good work Gary. I knew that they must of stocked it with all of the fish that were seen.
KEN
On the Swift today at 1pm when I hear a racket upstream. Here come two dnr guys in a blue rubber boat shocking. They get 40 yards away and I call out “can I stay in the water?”. They say sure we’ll go around you. They start up shocking again 30 yards below me (where I had just fished!). Now I had caught 2 brookies and 1 rainbow in that stretch, but they raised up at least 10 more large trout in a very short piece of water. If you think there aren’t trout in the Swift, you’re probably wrong.
BTown Jim,
I was on the Swift yesterday and saw that contraption, too, and I had no idea what it was or what they were doing. I saw it way down stream near the Cady Lane. The two men were wearing shirts that said "Kelleher" on it.
As for fish, I landed 41 Trout, about 30 of which were brookies in the 6" - 8" range. I got one big rainbow, one 12" brown, four brookies about 10" -13" and a few 6" rainbows. I alsolost another 3-4 good sized rainbows when they spit out my hook/tore off my tippet.
Anonymous 9:41,
That was a good day and I'm curious about the "Kelleher" team. I thought shocking would be over by now.
Ken
Friendly reminder to stay off the Redds this time of the year. It makes a big difference.
Millers is running around 870 cfs right now, hopefully it will be down to a reasonable level by the weekend but be sure to make a alternative plan.
Brian Keleher is listed on the web as an Aquatic Biologist for Mass Fish and Wildlife, Connecticut Valley District office in Belchertown.
TC
TC,
I know he's a state biologist but what's the deal with his own tee shirt? Is he now an outside contractor?
Chris,
The Millers will not be down for this weekend but the EB will be fishable by Saturday and so will the Ware.
Falsecast,
Maybe someone should tell the biologists to stay off the river untill after spawning.
Ken
The "Kelleher" guys told me they were sampling marked fish to monitor how much they move around post stocking.
Reggie,
They've been doing this since July. Is it adversely effecting brookie spawning which I was told they didn't want to do and would try to wrap up this sampling before spawning?
Ken
Ken,
Good October caddis hatch in Bondsville this afternoon. I mean they were everywhere. They don't stay on the water long so it seems to be hard for the trout to make use of them, but just as I was leaving one zone I heard a tremendous splash from a trout trying to. After hearing that commotion I stuck around to drift both an emerger pattern and then an elk hair caddis in the splash zone, both to no avail.
The brook trout did make for a good day though, hitting soft hackles much like the one pictured in your post. Amazing how colored up they are right now, never gets old looking at them. Hooked that sizable trout that haunts me in the same zone where I have hooked it twice before. My fault this time being I set the hook a tad late as it hit the soft hackle with a little sip which I wasn't quite ready for. Had it on briefly. Also caught the smallest brown I've ever caught, a 6"er or so. I thought it was a little brook trout until I brought it in.
A great afternoon to be out with good brook trout action. I ran into a fellow angler friend who reported that the older trout hunting couple who practically run from zone to zone throwing big spoons, hauled out a three pound brown along with other sizable fish. I'm glad I didn't see those fish on the stringer. They boasted to me in the spring about the 5# rainbow they took out.
Sam
Sam,
I'm curious as tothe size and color of those caddis that you saw.
As for the "trout hunting couple", the whole river should be CR all year. There's no reason to keep fish from the Swift. Are these people starving???
Ken
Ken,
The caddis are pale orange in color. The orange color looks more pronounced as daylight fades and they are a size #14.
I certainly agree the whole river should be CR.
Best, Sam
Good morning Ken and all, it's been quite sometime since I have posted life as of late has knocked down the trout fishing a few rungs but this fall I have been making a comeback, soft hackles as usual have been doing the trick for me my favorite way to fish them is to give the old leisenring lift into a line of rising trout, this has become more productive for me in most cases then using cdc/catskill style Duns, I find the trout to be less picky. I'll use a a standard PT pattern if I believe they are into mayflies, cream or tan for caddis and flashback orange or olive as searching/ stimulator patterns, in the past 5 years I have rarely used anything different
Hi Ken,
I'm not sure what size October Sam had hatching down below at Bondsville, but when I was fishing the gauge run down thru the "tweener" zone, I saw a couple of large ones in the air and was able to capture one. The were big - probably close to an inch in total length. I would not call I saw a hatch, but more of a sporadic appearance. I started fishing an orangey golden colored chubby Chernobyl and had some a few nice rainbows on the surface, one in less than 10 inches of water and brown. The rainbows were not surprisingly in faster riffles and the brown was in the softer water up against the bank in the upper gadge run.
Best,
Paul
.....and in case it wasn't obvious, the color of the October caddis was pale orange/pale yellow. Not surprisingly, there were also lots of small BWOs hatching and simulians. Small black zebra midges dropped off the chubby Chernobyl caught countless beautiful brookies in all river sections along with smaller 'bow escapees in the run below the pipe.
Paul
Thank you EVERYONE!!! Tons of REAL comments from you readers which is more than you will find on any other site!!!!
Ken
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