A Little Knowledge Is A Dangerous Thing - The EB And Other Rivers

"Flyfishers are born honest but they get over it" _ Ed Zern

It has come to my attention that a blog has stated that the Chesterfield Gorge is closed and is warning flyfishers that they may not
want to make the long trip from eastern Massachusetts to fish it. NOTHING CAN BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. The Trustees of Reservations has closed THEIR property BUT the access road going down along the EB is WIDE OPEN with no signage saying that it isn't. That's because the Trustees don't own that land below the Gorge and the Gorge is not where we fish.

Saying or implying that it is closed is erroneous.

I drove up there this morning and saw one sign at the Trustees lot saying  PROPERTY CLOSED but down below (where they don't own property) there's no "go home" signs. It's totally open for fishing.

The Trustees area may be closed because of what was experienced a weekend or so ago.  A reader counted only three flyfishers on the river but said that there was a steady stream on hikers, dog walkers, mountain bikers, strollers and such along the road and the parking lot(s) above were jammed. So we may be able to say that the casual user screwed themselves by overloading the area. For flyfishers the EB is the perfect SOCIAL DISTANCING venue because you, by the nature of our sport and by the terrain, are NEVER close to ANYONE. 

The EB is open!!! Enjoy it but this evening we are supposed to get 1.5 inches of rain.  That will spike the flow for sure.

IF YOU NEED UPDATES ON THE EB JUST EMAIL ME OR CHECK THE "WESTFIELD RIVER USGS FOR KNIGHTVILLE MA." YOU WILL GET ALL THE INFORMATION ON THE RIVERS THAT I REPORT ON RIGHT HERE!!!!!!!

RISING TROUT ON THE EB

Here's another Massachusetts  river that's only mentioned here.  Yesterday, with the flow dropping down near 300 cfs and a water temperature of 52, we had the first real hatch of Quill Gordons along with caddis with trout rising everywhere but very hard to hook up with. The rises were quick and splashy as you would see with the Gordons and with the caddis.  A frustrating day but a fun day too.

This heavy rain in the next few haours may ruin this surface action too.

Watch the gauge!!

Ken

The Flymph Again

"It is not how abundant nor how considerable our catch be, but rather to the sport, and manner in which our quarry, the noble trout is angled." - J.B. Martin

I've been getting emails and comments that have a lot to do with the good old Flymph. What is it? or how do you fish it.? Let's go over it again.

The Flymph should be called the AMERICAN SOFT HACKLE because that's what it is. It is a soft hackle but not like those from the British Isles. English soft hackles are dainty or should I say "less robust" than the American variety. The Brits developed those beautiful flies to mimic the mayflies of there waters. The Yanks had to deal with caddis flies which tend to be beefier than mayflies. Hence the Flymph!

How do I tie them?

1. My traditional soft hackles are tied with thread bodies (slim) but the flymph has a body of rough dubbing or heavy floss  or both (thick).  I also tie a "head" on flymphs.

2. Traditional soft hackles use the thinnest of partridge and starling hackles from the bird's cape. Flymphs look great with a thicker hackle such as hen hackle or hackle from the WING of a partridge.

Check out the partridge wing to the right.  The individual feathers have thicker fibers (good for caddis) and it has a thick hackle stem so you probably won't snap it while tying. BTW, I don't like hen hackle except for flymphs.

There is a drawback. I hate that light stripe running down the center of the feather. It wraps around the thorax and is too obvious for my taste.  I solved that with a brown Sharpie and it works perfectly.

I have no names for the flymphs that I tie.  They are generic, dull, caddis-like flies and I like them.

Now, would I tie a classic Partridge and Orange in the Flymph Style??  NO WAY!!!  I have boundaries!!!!!

All the rivers are coming down.  FISH NOW!!!

Ken

Avoiding The Crowds, Avoiding The Plague And The State Of The Rivers Again

 

"Nobody Goes There Anymore. It's Too Crowded" - Yogi Berra

I went to the Swift this morning (Friday) to get into some of this dry fly/nymphing action that

has taken over the Y Pool over the last week or two.  I was there twice this week, once with a client and once, for a very short time, just to scout the place out.  Lots of rising trout and lots of fly fishers.

That was to be expected since most of the trips started at mid morning.  Today I wanted something else.  So I got there around 6:30, saw no cars in the parking area and soon I had the Y to myself. Yes, there was a light rain and I think that kept the crowds sleeping in.  The short story was that I took 3 on a size 22 black and starling soft hackle in a size 22 and the rest and all the misses on size 26 brown midge larvae. I left at 10:45.  It was a good morning but not because I caught some difficult fish.  It was a good morning because I planned the trip for an early start (actually it should of been earlier) on a rainy forecast and I had SOLITUDE for most of the time. Only two showed up by 9:30. I like Gary from Westfield and old Bill R. BUT fishing alone is what I like the best.

Some may say that the midge action doesn't start till mid day. That's true in many cases but not today.  Rises were fairly sparse but I didn't care.  I would rather catch one trout alone than three with an audience.  There's just something about very early morning and as evening slides into dusk.  Both times are magic!!

If you complain about bait or lure slingers crowding you out than one can only say  that you are fishing in their territory which is most likely in close vicinity to a stocking spot because that's where they do what they call "fish'un".  Move a few hundred feet above or below the bridge, boat ramp or other convenience and you will avoid them and you'll avoid, hopefully, exposure to covid-19.

Most of my clients want SOLITUDE and I can give it to them even on a destination like the Swift.  I'll show them the famous spots on the Swift which will always be crowded but we generally leave them alone unless they are devoid of anglers.  My other rivers are easy to get lost on.   I have to laugh when I hear or read that someone has solved the EB or the Millers.  Translation - They're probably fishing the stocking spots not long after the stocking trucks have left.

Covid-19 Facts

The average age of a covid-19 fatality in Massachusetts is 81

The average age of all covid -19 cases in Massachusetts that required hospitalization is 68.

Draw your own conclusions but don't let your guard down.

The Rivers

The Millers - at 1150 and dropping 50cfs a day as long as we don't get a lot of rain.  Fishing really starts on this river for a fly fisher at 600cfs

The EB - 477 cfs but they have been playing with the flow. Personally I believe that the flow will continue to drop without rain.  477 is fishable. Quill Gordons will rule!

The Ware - Finally down to 321 and dropping.  I love that river.  Hendricksons in two weeks

The Swift - 133 and slowly rising.  Big deal! fish it anyway!!

The WB - 289cfs and that's the lowest this Spring

All of the above streams have been stocked.  Don't ask when but they have been stocked.

Ken

The Swift - Up Again And The Rest Of The Rivers

If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes. - Unknown

The Overflow Arm in June 2009

If you noticed that the Swift flow is up you are not the keenest of observers, you are just right.  A few weeks ago we were flowing along in the mid 50's and now, today, we are at 107 cfs as I write.  What happened?  First, let's look at what didn't happen. The DCR did not release more water through the bubbler. The water is coming from the OVERFLOW arm, pure and simple.  It's a simple fact that the Quabbin watershed received a lot of water in the last month, enough to cause an overflow.  Second, don't get your hopes up about salmon flying into the Swift from the Quabbin.  That's an Autumn activity, period.  It didn't happen in late June, early July of 2009 the last time we had an overflow outside of Autumn.  Third, look for some great midge/dry fly activity in that overflow arm as long as there's an overflow. "Why" you may ask. That's because the water temperature in the overflow arm is warmer that the Swift water because its surface water from the lake and not from the 80 foot level of Quabbin. Insects will hatch sooner and trout actually like temperatures in the high 50's/low 60's than in the 40's.  I had great surface activity using midges and winter caddis one May a few years ago.  The Y Pool was so-so but the "Arm" was on fire.

This situation should be with us for most of May so make the most of it.  Then I hope the flow drops to 55 cfs where it belongs!!!

The Other Rivers

The Millers is at 1290 and dropping
The EB is at 810 and dropping fast
The Ware is at 349 and dropping fast
The Swift is at 107 and going up
The WB is at 370 and UP (I don't get it)

All of this will change if we get heavy, steady rain.  The Ware was dynamite until it broke 500.  I don't want to miss those HATCHES!!!!!

                                                                                     Spring Time Generics

I hate tying to "pattern" simply because I love messing around with flies.  I like flies that represent everything and nothing, flies that look like bugs that trout want to eat.  The Spring gives us a good selection of insects of all sizes where as Fall gives us many insects but not a great selection of species.

The flies to the right work all Spring:

Hook - size 10 through 14 dry fly hook

Thread - brown 6/0

Body - non-lead wire underneath Australian Possum or Hare's Mask

Rib - very thin copper wire ( 32 gauge is too thick)

Tail - A few hen hackles

Hackle - Partridge ties sparse

These flies are mayflies and/or caddis.  Take your pick

Book Me

We may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as this CO-Vid 19 thing is concerned.  We have a lot of time this Spring and Summer to fish some new places.  CONTACT ME!!!!

Tail -

Finicky Spring And A Caddis Larvae

Fisherman love rivers for their own sake, but we always look at them with the knowledge that it can take years to begin to see what's actually there. That's why we can't take our eyes off them. I've been in cars that almost crashed because the driver and all the passengers were looking at a river instead of the road" - John Gierach

I wanted to head off to the North Quabbin region to fish some almost nameless brooks this week but some neglected yard work yesterday and today put a dent in that so I ended up working a smallish neighborhood stream that I hit, it seems, every other year.  It has the reputation, by word of mouth AND in print, as being a Spring time stocked  fishery that gives up the ghost by July.  I have to chuckle at this wisdom because my best dry fly fishing on this small river has been in JULY. In fact, a stream survey conducted a few years ago in September resulted in trout captured.

Trout are hardier than we think!

It's a pretty stream full of riffles that hold springtime trout and when the water gets low in the Summer the trout are found in the long, slow moving pools between the riffles and a well placed dry fly will rule the day.  The place gets very little fishing pressure by C&R fishers or freezer stuffers so you will probably fish alone.

This river has some good company being in the foothills of western Massachusetts which is one of the reasons for it's lack of credibility.  How does it measure up to, let's say, the Squannacook River?

First, they are similar in size with the Squannacook draining 64 sq miles and my river draining 53 sq miles.  Second, the Squannie is flowing, as I write, at 259 cfs (there was some heavy rain there recently) while my river is flowing at 176 cfs (we missed most of the rain).  The 7+ decade daily average flow for the Squannie is 267 cfs and my river has an average flow of 178 cfs.

Both rivers are in the same ballpark!

There are a good number of rivers like this in New England and because of the weird need to only fish "bucket list" rivers these places go mainly unfished.  We are missing a lot of good opportunities!!!

BTW, my river is the Mill River in Williamsburg and Northampton.


                                                                                                   Shell Pink Caddis Larvae

This fly killed them on the Ware last week before the water flow went up.  I think this guy will work every week of the season.

Hook - 12 or 14 caddis hook

Thread - 120 denier Fl Shell Pink thread by UTC for the body (build it up)

Head - A few turns of peacock (no need for antennae or "horns" as the old time tyers called them.

Body Coating - Sally Hansen "Hard As Nails" and that's it. Rib it if you like!

The Rivers

They went up but will come down (the Millers being the last to come down, of course.)

Ken

Polly's Fly And SPREAD OUT!!!!!!!

"While your at it, get that straight in your own head, too.  You want peace, quiet, wildlife, scenery, wild trout, and you don't expect miracles."  John Gierach

Take a good look at the photo on the right.  Do you see the chorus line of anglers crowding into the Tree Pool on the Swift?  Imagine what the Pipe parking area looked like, not to mention the Rt 9 parking area.  We have to avoid the IMPRESSION that we are not into the social distancing thing.  Yes, I know that many of us do spread out on the river (this blog has been preaching that for weeks) and I know that not all of the cars belong to fly fishers but that will not stop the DCR from expanding what they have already done. In case you didn't know the DCR has postponed the start of shoreline fishing on Quabbin, Wachusett and Sudbury Reservoirs until May to fight against Covid 19.  It could happen state wide if we look like we don't care.

Do This

The following are suggestions:

1. Stay away from the usual gathering places.  That means the Y Pool and the Pipe on the Swift or any other hot spots.  If Orcutt Run on the Millers wasn't a construction site that would be a place that I am talking about. How about trying some other rivers that ARE not crowded?

2. One Is Company And Two Is A Crowd.  John Gierach writes about the solitary angler in a very good way and the best fly fishers that I know all seem to fish alone.  Two or three as a fishing team on the same section of river just adds more bodies and the impression that we don't know that we are in a plague.

3.  Parking   There were about 12 anglers above Route 9 at noon when I hiked up there BUT there were about 24 cars in the parking area.  The Reason - There were plenty of hikers above Route 9 and I saw them BUT it will be the fly fishers who will get blamed for this "crowding".  Park across from Route 9 or down by River Rd.

(We have been having an increase in hiker use of the Route 9 parking area over the past few years.  We can't blame today's crowd on the Visitor Center parking being off limits. (the visitor center is closed) I think it's fair enough that Route 9 parking be exclusively for fly fishers and the hiking parking be directed to the Visitor Center when it reopens).

Don't take any of this lightly.  There are individuals and groups (PETA for one) that think fishing is immoral and they would love to see it shut down.  Let's not give them any reasons to point their bony fingers at us.


Polly's Fledermouse

A week or so ago I wrote about the great Polly Rosborough and some of his flies. The Fledermouse is a favorite.  It's a big wet fly/nymph that just screams "I'm a big caddis fly!!!"

Hook - size 8 to 14 wet or dry fly hook

Weight - lead free wire

Body - dun colored Australian opossum tied in with a dubbing loop

Collar - Gray colored Australian possum using a dubbing loop then picked out and brushed with a dubbing brush.

Wing - short mallard of wood duck fibers.

This is a good fly to high stick through pockets and riffles.

Just about every place has been stocked so fish EVERY PLACE.

Charlie And The Ware

 "The fly-fishing catalogs weren't much of an improvement. They tended to confirm the worst fear of the conservationist Aldo Leopold had expressed in the 1940s, that our love of the outdoors was fast being overwhelmed by the addiction to gadgets.  Anglers could now clank their way to the river weighted down by a dizzying assortment of guy things: digital thermometers, telescopic wading staffs, streamside entomology kits, head mounted ion lights, and a collection of pliers, clamps, clippers, scissors, forceps, and hemostats that made you look like a surgeon heading for the operating theater." - George Black

Charlie On The Ware                                                                                 

It's good when someone gets their first exposure to a river.  Many times that first exposure is the result of two reasons: 1. there's a famous stream nearby that steals ones attention or 2. one thinks that the river is second-rate and thus not worth the attention.  Reason 2 has always been a big mistake among the fly fishing public.  All rivers have their charms and their secrets and Charlie Shadan of the Evening Sun fly shop got to witness those charms and secrets of the Ware this week.

Now, Charlie had no ill feelings about the Ware prior to this trip.  He just never had the time to fish it. He had read on this blog about the great catches and had heard the rumors about great insect hatches (Hendricksons) from customers at his shop.

Time to hit the Ware.

Tuesday started cool with temperatures starting in the high 30s and topping off in the mid 60s.  We postponed our start until 10:30 in the morning hoping for some surface activity but the 300 cfs flow put a damper on that.  It didn't stop the caddis from hatching and they were everywhere.  Sooo.... caddis pupae with weight to hug the bottom, or near bottom, did the trick.

I put Charlie in the HOT SPOT (clients of mine know where this is) and the rest is Ware River history. He took 15 or more in the three hours that he worked over this 100 yard section.  All were rainbows and some had some heft to them.  I ended up with 3 bows (no size to write home about) and 2 browns of about 8-10 inches each.  I was nymphing which I don't really care about.  What I wanted was some surface/subsurface trout to work over but not today.  Next week!!!!

The Ware, like the Millers, gets some not-so-good press from anglers who know nothing or next to nothing about the river.  These folks crowd out the stocking spots, catch the hatchery trout  until the trout scatter, rhapsodize about tackle and technique then say "it's a beginners river" or "it's fished out" and head to the Farmington.  The Ware, like the Millers, fishes well from April through November but you really have to KNOW the river, when to fish it and most importantly WHERE TO FISH IT.  That's where I come in.  The Ware, Millers, EB of the Westfield and the WB of the Westfield and, of course the Swift, are great New England trout streams. Learn how to fish them.  Book Me!!!!!
                                                                                    Do You See It??

Early Spring??

Not yet. Most streams are at their 80 or so year flow average but they are still fishable for the most part.  The Millers isn't one of them and will not be until 600 cfs is seen.  Even then it's still chancy.  The EB is high but drops like a rock.  Look for sub 500 flows.  More rain in the forecast!!!

A Different Wooley Bugger And Less Information Can Be Good

"There's always a hot new fly. Precious few of these patterns are genuine breakthroughs destined to last for a hundred years, but more often they're idle comments on existing traditions, explorations of half-baked theories, attempts to use new and interesting materials to impress other tiers, or excuses to rename old patterns. The results are often pointless fads like the craze in some pretentious restaurants of plopping fried quail eggs on everything or calling sandwiches "paninis"- John Gierach

My Peacock Bugger

7 or 8 years ago I ditched chenille from my wooley buggers and went with 4 or 5 strands of peacock herl.  They looked great, others liked them (Lenny said that they looked like insects) AND THEY CAUGHT FISH!!  The peacock made everything proportional with the size 10 and 12 hooks that I use. I thought I had actually invented something.  Well, not really!!

I was going through my fly fishing books a year ago and pulled out a copy of an 1988 addition of The Art Of The Trout Fly by Judith Dunham.  I wanted to read more about the great E.H."Polly" Rosborough and his Fuzzy Nymphs.  I got more than I bargained for!!!!!


                                                                                   Polly's Flies

Take a look at the flies that you see to the right.  Yes, there's 32+ year old bugger with a PEACOCK BODY!!!!!  Polly called it a Black and Bronze Wooley Worm for the record but it's a WB all the same.

I don't feel too bad about being upstaged by Polly.  He was a genius and a fly tying hero of mine.

BTW, do you like the looks of the other two flies that are shown?  They are great trout flies of Polly's and I'll give the recipes on the next post.



The Stocking Report

You should have noticed by now but sometime in the middle of last week the DFW listed waters that have been stocked but not the date that the waters were stocked.  This is, no doubt, to cut down on social crowding  during this time of plague and that's a good thing.  Now, I would mention when a certain stream that I cover was stocked but I never really liked it.  Word of mouth worked fine and just chancing it worked better.  I would prefer no reports at all.  It will keep the crowds down!!!  Let's face it, fly fishing doesn't really start until after the stocking ends.


Guiding

Even with so many people not working I can still find lonesome areas to fish.  Contact me for April, May and June.

Ken

Time To Fish Part 2 And The State Of The Rivers

"An ounce of action is worth a ton on theory" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

The first thing one may notice if you occasionally glance at the Ma DFW stocking reports is that the stocking this Spring is earlier than any years in the past.  Water levels are very close to the historical average but there is a lack of snow melt to deal with so the trout are stocked.  I've never seen the Millers stocked in March as it was this year.





The area flows as I write are:

River           Flow  (cfs)           average for 4/3/20

Millers         1490                   1440

EB                729                      743

Ware             293                      385

Swift               53                       50

WB               316                      467

As you can see just about everything is at its historical average.  The Millers is still too high to be safe and productive but the Ware is fine.  I fished the Gilbertville section yesterday and got my ration of clonebows.  I was more interested in working out a 71/2 foot Heddon that I restored this past Winter.  It worked great and I began to wonder how many Heddon fly rods this river has seen in years past.

I saw very little insect activity due to the fact that the water temperature was still in the low to mid 40's.  50 degrees will be the magic number!!!

Safe Distance

While on the Ware I came within 50 yards of an angler and that was the closest that I came to anyone.  Fly fishing one of our rivers is safer right now than going to a grocery store or the pharmacy.  In fact, you may want to become a pariah and visit one of our marginal blue lines that are stocked and take a bow or two home for dinner.  Let's face it, many of our smaller stocked waters will not support a trout population (rainbows) through the Summer.  They are there to be caught or released.  It is ok to keep two for the grill and you will not be banished to Hell if you do. It beats getting sick or dying because you went grocery shopping.  Just stay off the C&R rivers!!!!
                                                                                 
                                                                                      My Quill Gordon

Book Me

It looks like we may have a "compressed" season with this GD plague but not all is lost.  If you want to fish rivers where the fishing is great but the crowds are very sparse then book me.  Remember, I don't load up a boat or raft with anglers in close quarters but take an angler of two and give them plenty of elbow room.

Book Me!!!

Ken