I firmly believe that there are two kinds of fly fishers. The first care only about the river, the trout that are in it and the chance of fishing it in relative solitude (Gierach School of Angling), The second kind of fly fisher cares equally about whether there is a local fly shop, good restaurants and posh accommodations. Can't be too far away from civilization, I guess. BTW, it seems that covid - 19 has solved that issue. - Ken
Rainbows and a brookie came to the net all on a green soft hackle as nothing else seemed to work. It was the same for frequent comment source "Falsecast" who said that a green caddis was a top fly that day on the Housy.
Check out the hackle on the green SH above. I've started moving my soft hackles towards the back end of the thorax and then building a "head" in the front of the fly. It gives it a realistic profile (I think). Try it out and let me know how you do.
Still life Brook Trout With Heddon Bamboo
The Rivers
Every river has come down to classic late Spring levels except for the roaring Swift which is running at a whopping 274 cfs. Now, you can flog the Y Pool for the circus fish but that is all that you have on that river. Down by the Pipe it's a sluice way and not worth flinging a fly. I love the Swift when it's around 60 cfs because I like
skinny water (it keeps the Euro nymphers away).
The Millers
This river was coming down and got below 700 cfs until Friday nights storm brought it up to almost 900 cfs. I can hardly wait to get out there. This is a river that fishes best between 200 and 400 cfs. I have a feeling we will be seeing it soon.
The EB, WB And The Ware
Thank god for the obliging Ware River. It has been steady for weeks and it will have many weeks to go. Quill Gordons are on the wane but Hendricksons are around and of course there are caddis. The EB is wadable now and fishing has been very good.
Book me for a trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Readers
I'd like to thank the thousands who read this blog and the multitudes of people who comment on this blog. We have more readers and people who comment than any other blog in the Northeast and what is very cool is that you folks aren't afraid to say where you are catching fish either. That makes you a resource of knowledge instead of a member of a secret society. Note: people who are tight lipped about locations usually fish the most popular spots anyway. Suggestion: STAY THERE!!
16 comments:
I like the bright green on that fly Ken. I normally tie wets/nymphs/dry's in olives... that's almost kermit green. Makes me think of green silk thread I occasionally use, and makes me wonder why I have never tried something like that. Time to hit the vice - thanks for the motivation!
Met my brother at the EB this morning for a day...holy$%##@ never saw so many people fishing this river at one time 20+ from the gorge down to the gate. Parked at the gate and trekked down to about the 3 mile mark. Lots of flies both caddis and mayflys hatching all afternoon but nadda...I do not get skunked much but I did today. Tried wets, nymphs and a dry...my brother took one rainbow deep I imagine if I did the Euro nymph thing I could have hooked up but was really hoping to catch a couple risers so I didn't venture into the complexities of that rigging...only saw one other fish caught. Didnt linger between the gorge and gate but one guy said he was both above the gate and below and above had a little more activity but said it was kind of slow. Gorgeous day...lots of hikers ...did notice a couple cars below the gate...its apparently not locked - hopefully the lack of catching was just me being rusty
Hibernation,
Funny you should mention the bright green. I always used olive too but decided to go with the bright green after pulling bright green caddis larvae out of their casings and after seeing bright green caddis in Thomas Ames Jr. book. They work!
BobT,
That's a lot of people. Maybe someone was trying to recreate the old TU Indian Hollow weekend! Thankfully we have LOTS of water up there.
Ken
I too visited the EB C&R multiple days this week. Picked up a few on pheasant tails fished deep. Lots of people out on nice days, but not so many on marginal ones from my observations. If you think it was crowded just try the Farmington during the Hendrickson Hatch!!
BTW, not many fishermen on the other Westfield Branches from my morning turkey hunting observations.
Anonymous,
I haven't seen many on the WB or the MB either. More room for us!!! I try to stay away from the Farmy during "big hatch" events. John Gierach wrote about how he stays away from "Name" rivers during big hatches. He has fewer rising fish but far fewer fishermen going after them!
Ken
Also, according to another blog the Farmington has been invaded by non-english speaking Meat Packers up around the campground. Surprised they are so brazen with all the other fishermen and cell phone coverage! I know my dog has found evidence of poaching at the EB C&R this year which doesn't surprise me with its remoteness.
Anonymous 3:41
One wonders about this "sighting" since one would think that more than one would call in the cops if they saw this. It is a heavily fished river, right. I hope someone has called law enforcement. I've called the Ma Dfw law enforcement, the Belchertown Police and the Ware Police on everything from game/methods violations to indecent exposure. It's easy!!!!!
Ken
Ken, thanks a bunch for the blog. Great community and resource!
I've made a habit out of plotting and exploring a river I haven't fished this Spring, about once a week. Today was the EB. With zero experience on any part of this river I chose the Keystone Arches area. Absolutely awesome area. The river couldn't look any fishier with pockets, riffles and pools just the right depth. Add scenery and walkability for good measure.
Bugs were all over the water but after showing them an array of choices I didn't turn a single fish. Looked like caddis and maybe Hendricksons and I noticed big stoneflies holding the rocks. I tried a big black stonefly - riffles and deep in pools, then a big caddis in pockets... then I went to old ironsides my trusty hare's ear - riffles and deep drifts... Nothing!... I wrapped it up with a Hendrickson in some quiet pockets at dusk.
This is not to say that I'm shocked to get skunked, but it was one of those rare adventures where I leave wondering if it's water that gets fished. I didn't see a single fish come up, nobody else fishing, no cars were parked that gave themselves away as anglers. Absolutely zilch.
Begs the question... Is the Keystone arches area a place to fish? I hope so considering I liked exploring it a lot and it's nice water.
Jim
Jim,
The WB is a great stream but my fishing is in Huntington along Rt 20 and River Road.
Ken
Hi Ken,
Note to Jim - I have also been exploring the WB, and also fished yesterday around Keystone Arches, then downstream along Rt 20 near Huntington, then upstream in Becket where I have had good luck before. Great deep runs and pools, tremendous caddis and mayfly hatch in the late afternoon. Tried everything, didn't see a fish, did not get a hit. Some days the fish just have lockjaw! I just figured it was karmic payback since I got 5 big browns from the Housy C&R section (2 were better than 16", and I lost one that was bigger) in a couple hours out on Saturday afternoon.
Ken, I've now semi-retired and we are downsizing - bought a house in Pittsfield finally got the essentials (bed, table, internet connection) so we can stay out there and I have been starting to explore our western rivers - looks like there is plenty of water to keep me busy for the next couple decades!
Regards,
Mike (formerly from Andover)
Mike,
Good to hear from you!
That's a big move but a good one. Send in some Hoosic River reports!!!
Ken
WB... That's what I meant.
Ken I did notice people still trekking out and packing up to leave when I passed through the Rt. 20 section and that was after dark/late dusk. Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take that to mean that arches might be too far up to have a lot of fish, or that it doesn't receive stock, or that downstream is simply considerably better fishing.
...Then again @MDH mentioned it as a spot so I remain curious.
Tight lines. -Jim
So do you think this blog is worth reading? Well got to the EB at 7am and followed the path of the May 11th blog for a location ( even what side of the river) to fish. Then I fooled 5 nice bows at that location, 4 of them with a #14 green SH (May 16th blog). That place is just too easy (EB), well except for the 0 for April. Left at 10am, only saw one other fly fisher. My thoughts, if the river goes down another foot it will be a dry fly destination, finally spring as the OP says.
I've participated in fishing forums and blogs since they started more or less and in multiple regions...Northeast Fresh, northeast salt, rockymountain fresh and pacific oriented blogs/forums. Most have devolved into mean spirited somewhat hateful places and eventually disappeared...they are more of the forum type thing. This blog is the best incarnation of forum/blog. 1. people tend to show respect 2. there is an overall commitment to sharing openly. 3.its focused- I think thats almost as important as the other two reasons-when forums get into too many tangents/topics you lose interest of some while bringing on new people who may think its like any of the other forums/blogs they have followed b4...and the respect and decorum is chipped away....IMO
Thanks to Ken and many of the commenters..its the most worthwhile source of fishing content I have come across since Al Gore invented the internet(sarcasm people-no hate)
BobT,
Thank you!
I too am a veteran of the "forums" and blogs which, if they last long enough, become little cliques of the same old people rehashing the same old topics. You know when a blog/forum is breaking bad when they stop writing about rivers and talk about how many trout they catch WITHOUT naming the river or become a mouthpiece of manufacturers. When I started this blog 14 years ago it was to showcase the Millers and that was not appreciated by some of those locals who thought they owned it. Hard work and time went into getting C&R and brown trout into that river and that was accomplished by four people.
Like I've always said - I'm not afraid to name spots because I want people to catch trout too. So do my readers.
Ken
I couldn’t agree more with BobT. I’m new on here but the vibe is great. Not the typical forum with rude strangers flexing muscles and talking about gear.
It’s nice to be able to talk spots, flies, flows and share a few stories. Kens openness clearly leads the way.
Cheers.
Jim
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