"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.
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
12 comments:
Ken were you fishing the WB yesterday,Some dapper young guy in a shiny Suburban was tossing a few at one of the pulloffs? Chet
Ken,
My understanding is that the state "lightly" stocked in April due to the warmer March weather, and thelimited amount of time they had to hit all the MA rivers following the Governors stay at home directive ( still very early in the season). I would assume they plan more in the coming weeks.
Any thoughts or first hand knowledge on this?
Thank you,
Jack
Jack,
Your "understanding" seems reasonable to me. Only once in the last decade or so have I seen freshly stocked trout along River Road before May 1st. It always got a heavy stocking in mid May for the TU event. That event is gone but they've stayed true to the May stocking ritual.
Chet,
I'm not dapper or young and I don't drive a Suburban. He must of been an impostor!
Ken
Anonymous,
Doesn't the later stocking on the EB have to do with the condition of that dirt road as in too wet and muddy?
RO
Anonymous 4:35
Yes. after a normal winter that road is a mess until May. Some years the snow is plowed up at the entrance and you can't go down the road. It was not a normal winter this year.
Ken
Thanks for the update. I thought the original closure post was sketchy.
I fished in pretty high water in the Housatonic yesterday (inMA) and managed a couple of decent Browns in the pouring rain. The water is now too high. I don't know if I missed the Hendrickson's or they haven't hatched yet, but I took both on a Hendrickson nymph.
I am all for deterring people, but outright lying is wrong. Glad the EB is less crowded, but I am still going to wait to go there. Everything is going to get blown out. A truly good thing is that the Swift should get to 300 and very challenging fishing/wading. This should keep the crowds down during the next month and assure good flows during the summer. Not a bad thing.
Stay safe,
Andrew
Andrew,
Upcountry says the hendricksons are up to the Campground Pool. I think we will have another two weeks of them, easy.
I don't like that high water going over the spillway in May. If it's still going over in June it will heat up the Swift just like 2009 when they thought that they may lose the fish in the hatchery. They don't take river water any longer but that still leaves the fish in the river, especially the brookies.
Ken
I'm told that the Trustees of Reservations have closed all their properties during the stay-at-home phase of this mess. That's certainly the case here on the South Shore, where World's End is also off-limits
Yellowstone,
And your point is....???
It has nothing to do with what we wrote about yesterday which is "who cares" if the Trustees closed Chesterfield Gorge. It doesn't effect our flyfishing below the Gorge since it's not their property. That's what you're talking about, right??
Ken
Just to update, apparently a person commented on the post about the Gorge being closed, and mentioned that you are still able to fish the river below below. The blogger admitted to his mistake and changed his post.
Anonymous,
Right, only AFTER I posted the correct information before he/her corrected their post. Check the time stamps on the posts! When you host a flyfishing blog you have to get the info RIGHT whether it's fishing the EB or writing about how you missed the trico hatch on the Farmington, a hatch that really hadn't even started yet.
Writers have to get it right!!!
Ken
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