That brings me back over 40 years ago to the early days of Flyfisherman Magazine and an article written by some long forgotten soul who, like all good fly dressers, used pinkish fur for the bodies of Hendrickson dries. But he went further!! He began slowly change the color from pink to light red and then to a full red color. He claimed that the trout couldn't resist the RED fly either as a dry imitation or as a sunken offering. Then, like all good fly dressers, he abandoned the red fly because, well, it just wasn't done!!!!
I've never taken up the challenge of a red bodied fly until just within the past week when a Partridge and Red took some fish on the Swift. Is it a game changer??? I want some more time with this fly to really find out. That's the fun of this sport. We get to experiment.
The Rivers
The freestones are beginning to ice up (read Garys comment about the EB in the previous post) but if we get some days in the mid 40's that ice will melt and the trout are still there.
EB - 333 cfs
Millers - 388 cfs
Ware - 109 cfs
Swift - 46 cfs (as usual)
Go Fish!!!
9 comments:
Hi Ken,
Been a couple of years since I've fished above route 9 on the Swift, but decided to give it a try yesterday. Fished mostly the bubbler arm, had the place mostly to myself - in response to Falsecast's comments in the last post, any "wading" was confined to the very edges and/or standing on the bank. The place was loaded with willing fish, who would get tired of whatever the current offering was after a couple dozen drifts but would be willing again after a change in flies. 20+ fish day half each hefty bows and beautiful brookies up to 12-13". Saw one huge brook trout maybe 18" and a few large browns as well but could not entice them with my offerings. Interestingly I caught what I believe were two small (4-5") salmon parr up near the top of the bubbler arm - looking at comparative pics on the internet this morning I do think these were salmon rather than brown trout parr, though I cannot be certain. I do like red for midge nymphs on Swift.
Mike from Andover
I was at the EB last Thursday for my first time, and I can agree with Gary that there was ice. Here's a link to few photos of the icy river from my trip. https://imgur.com/a/eaGY4fV
I couldn't find any fish and had trouble casting with an icy line & fly so I packed up and fished the Swift instead.
-Andrew
Andrew D.
Temperatures will be in the upper 40's on Thursday. Much better conditions.
Mike From Andover,
1.A very good day.
2. I like blood midges!!
Blood midges are killer in the winter...bright red things - I have not tried them much past April but I think I might tie up some red mayfly/caddish bugs just for kicks. Purple is a very popular and effective color out west...Purple haze is probably a top 5 if not top 3 pattern in many western shops. I hate it, don't fish it,,,but I have a couple just in case. As humans we only see our perspective...we have no idea what the fish sees or thinks for that matter-Bring on the Red!
Winter Red is the name of an old Soft Hackle Pattern.
Bob T,
The Blood Midge was my top Y Pool fly last winter.
Anonymous 3:21,
YOU ARE RIGHT!!!!!!!!!
Ken
Hi Ken,
I hit the Swift yesterday above rte 9 also and there were very few folks out. Lots of action on egg patterns and pheasant tail variants - catch of the day was a healthy, butter colored 16-17 inch brown. There were a few good sized caddis dipping down on the water here and there. I worked up from the rte 9 bridge and saw a lot more redds than I remember in the past between the bridge and the first bench by the river. If you know what you are looking for and stay on the silty/weedy sections, they are easy enough to avoid. Had one massive brown chase down a brookie that I had on the line - thought for sure he was going to chow it down right in my net!
I was pleasantly surprised to see a good sized salmon in the bubbler arm! I saw a smaller one a few weeks ago further upstream in the bubbler. It's nice to see that at least a couple decided to stick around for a year!
I can't think of how many times I open my fly box and see my red zebra midges and always ditch them for a black or olive one. Thandk for the advice...I plan to give them a debut on my next outing.
While not related to central mass FF, I had a chance 2-3 weeks ago to fish the Salmon river in Altmar, NY for the first time. Wow, what a thrill to hook...and eventually land some incredibly strong steelhead. Those were my first ever steelhead on a fly rod - holy crap, they are awesome fighters. The hooking to landing percent is tough at first, but after a couple of days, and a drop in water flow from 2,000cfs to 750cfs, it improved. 1 for 5 the first two days; 4/6 on the last half day. I would highly recommend a trip - amazing fish!
Best regards,
Paul
Hi Ken,
I fished the swift above Rt 9 and down by Cady lane this past Sunday. In both cases I took rainbows quite swiftly (pun intended) on nymphs tied with a pink bead head and tan body. I fished the first couple hours with a typical olive or black presentation but when switching to pink it seemed way more productive. Made me think of your point about the visibility of the colour red. Still chasing my first brown trout. Getting closer every time I'm out.
SIdenote: If there's any UMass fly guys out there looking to join the rebirth of the fly fishing club. Shoot me an email jgaudet@umass.edu
Tight lines,
Jake
Jake,
Good comment and I hope the UMASS fly fishing club rises (no pun intended) again.
Ken
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