I barely ever use 7x...maybe on a few super tiny flies but I only buy a spool every year to keep it fresh not because its gone. I fished the highly technical South Platte in Co for the last 7 years...presentation is king. The really good fishermen never really use anything below 5x except on occasion for the tiny bugs. I used to use 6x and 7x on the Swift exclusively but realize after many years that I was probably casting from the wrong spot more often than not. You hit the nail on the head Ken..to all readers here there is a lot of great information randomly dispersed throughout Kens blog...well worth the time to go through it-you will be a better angler. Thank Ken for his great blog. - Comment from Dan T on July 15 2016
Sulphur Soft Hackle
"Summer weather here now means the best fishing will shift more & more to early and late in the day." - Upcountry Fly Shop 6/24/19 Those boys should know!!
The Sulphurs
I've seen them as early as the first few days of June and as late as late July on the Swift. The early emergence was down in Bondsville and the Y Pool being the latter. My favorite spot is below the Route 9 bridge down to about the crib dam. Cady Lane has them but I've never seen big numbers down there like the BWO in October.
Here's what to do. Get out on the river around 9am and swing some soft hackles while watching the sky for the birds. Cedar Waxwings will start swooping and diving for the hatching sulphurs and this will last to about noon. When you see the little yellow sailboats floating downstream switch to an appropriate dry although that soft hackle will still catch fish right under the surface.
There are basically two sulphurs out there- Dorothea and Invaria. Don't sweat the size difference because it makes no difference.
Sulphur SH With CDC
The Drought
Yes, the rivers are low but the fish (browns) are still there and they will be when we finally get some rain. I've seen worse droughts than this one (2010 and 2016) and Millers and EB trout always put through.
Ken
7 comments:
I like the use of the CDC in that soft hackle.
A.Z.
I'm glad that you don't split hairs over the two species of sulphurs. I think UpCountry just referred to them as little yellow bugs or something like that.
GW
A.Z.
It actually works until the stuff gets chewed up.
GW,
Splitting hairs over those two mayflies is best left to the entomologists!!
Ken
Hi Ken - The flow at the Swift is now controlled by the dam. There doesn’t seem to be any overflow anymore and it is going at 125 cfs. I was in the bubbler arm today and it is 3 times higher and has blown the new big tree down to the Y pool. It was a hot one and I was there midday, but still managed a few nice Rainbows on dries. We are at the beginning of the Sulphur hatch and I saw fish eating the emerges today. That said, there wasn’t much of a hatch due to the high water and likely temp change. The bugs should begin to be a regular thing for a month. All that cold water will help. I was really noticing the warming effect of the overflow before it stopped.
For what it’s worth, I’ve seen Sulphur hatches with both bugs where I have tried to “size up” for the bigger Sulphur and the fish have no interest. It seems with this hatch on any given day the fish are keying in on something different. Some days duns work well and the next day they have no interest. They definitely get more selective as the hatch progresses.
Falsecast,
This happens every summer- we get into a drought, the freestones get low which means the Chicopee River and the Connecticut River get low and by agreement with downstream communities Quabbin releases water. 125cfs is double the daily average which goes back over 70 years. As soon as we get RAIN the freestones go up and they will turn down the tap at Quabbin.
I was downstream of RT 9 last evening and had a water temperature of 58 degrees. It felt good!!
Hi Ken -
I was at the Millers a couple of nights ago fishing dusk-into-dark and narrowly missed the Millers Slam: A brookie, a clonebow, a smallmouth bass and...didn't land the necessary brown but had two sturdy-feeling fish on that sure felt like Salmo Trutta. Oh well, still a great experience and again, thanks for your terrific blog. I have been away from
fly fishing for trout for a regrettably long time but you've helped coax me back into this wonderful game.
- Tim
Skunked down in Bondsville yesterday, lots of little yellow mayflies coming off the water, and the water was nice and cool, very shaded area - so I can't blame the conditions. I just didnt see any fish. I was throwing wet flies upstream and downstream for a while and then tried some a weighted nymph as the anchor fly while keeping my soft hackle on, and I moved around a bit. No sign of risers or trout! I love the area though, I'll be back.
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