Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning how to dance in the rain - Vivian Greene
Pheasant And Orange
Another feather that should not be overlooked for soft hackles is the common Ring Neck Pheasant. The late, great Jack Gartside loved them and used them as the primary material in many patterns from small wets to streamers. The beauty of pheasant is the huge range of feathers that are available to you on each skin. And they are fairly inexpensive when compared to partridge (which is still my favorite). You can buy them online or if you know a shot gunner you can put your order in for October.
So Many Feathers
The Drought
Thursdays rain was a godsend for central and western Massachusetts. It was not a gully washer but enough to boost stream levels and set us up for a good weekend. As I write ( 5:10am, 6/12) the flows are:
Millers - 186 cfs, up 30 from yesterday good)
EB - 240 cfs, up 136 from yesterday (great)
Ware - 57 cfs, up 20 from yesterday (not yet)
Swift - 110 cfs, up 3 cfs (Its been a good week)
WB - 106 cfs, up 40 cfs (the right direction)
Remember, this boost in the flow will not mean that your mid day angling efforts should start again on the freestones. It's still a early morning, evening game for the summer. What we need is a rainy day at least once a week. Yesterday was the first in about a month!
The Myth of the crowded Swift
I just finished three guiding trips on the Swift this week, one on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Sunday we came within 100 feet of an angler and on the other two days WE SAW NOBODY!!! So what's with the myth of crowds????
First - most anglers fish the same spots over and over again and NEVER explore other areas. Some of the biggest complainers spend their seasons at the Y Pool or the Pipe area and nowhere else. Some, strangely, enjoy the crowds and seek them out. Some, complaining of crowds at the Swift, go prancing off to the Farmy which is considered in many circles to have a REAL crowd problem.
Second - Covid 19 is to blame!!! Many forms of recreation have been closed such as theaters, amusement parks, malls (yes, shopping is considered a recreation) so the throngs go in search of something to do. Hiking seems pretty safe so off to the Quabbin they go. The visitor center was off limits so they ended up at the fishing parking lot on route 9. On a normal weekend you may have 30 cars there but the hikers swelled the number to close to 100!! Same thing at Tully Lake in Royalston. Normally you have 5 to 10 cars there. Two Sundays ago there were over a 100 parked all the way up to Doanes Falls. The same fate landed on Royalston Falls.
Third - Once we beat this plague the amusement centers will open up and the majority of "hikers" will return to their normal haunts. Then all we will have to deal with are the same people fishing the same places and complaining about it!!
Book Me
May was excellent and June is filling up fast. May I suggest a 3 hour evening rise trip during the summer on a freestone river? It's my favorite flyfishing!!!
Go Fly Fishing This Weekend
Ken
12 comments:
On a positive, the very crowded ... swift ... has had some nice mayfly (sulfur's and a browner bug I couldnt catch so not sure, but a mayfly) hatching. Slashing fish eating emergers has been fun.
Also on a positive, I saw an EPO at the Y pool. I've never seen one is the decades I've fished that river. I've seen a few DCR folks over the years, but never an EPO. Very welcome sight!
On the negative, there were a few Largemouth Bass swimming round the Y pool. I tried to catch one that was 2-3 pounds, but browns and rainbow's liked my streamer more than the bass did...
Ken been fishing up in Vermont for the last three weeks.I have seen ,no under exaggeration a total of 25 people fishing.I caught more juicy brookies than the number of fishers sighted.
Ha,Chet
"Some, complaining of crowds at the Swift, go prancing off to the Farmy which is considered in many circles to have a REAL crowd problem." Yes it is especially when you post all those grin and grip pictures of large Brown trout that's what you get!
Ken how much do you charge for a 3 hour rise trip?
Hibernation,
Don't worry about the largemouth bass. There were big smallies that went over the falls in the Spring of 2019 and they disappeared. EPO's -GREAT!!!!!
Anonymous 5:15,
Especially when you hold the trout in front of you when the picture is taken. It makes a big fish bigger.
Anonymous 9:06,
Check my blog!!!!!!!!!
Ken
Had a fly fisher's dream day on the Swift this week. On the river at 7 AM and by 9 had caught one brookie. Moved downstream and from 9 until 10 caught the grand slam - brookie, brown, rainbow, and my first ever tiger, all on an elk hair caddis. A grand slam not just on the same day and the same river. But in the same spot! What a day. All fish were released good shape.The Swift is a gift. Oh yeah, and I saw only one other fisherman and a guided drift boat in the 5 hours that I was there on Wednesday - a little annoying, but he kept his distance and fished in hard or impossible wading areas.
Anonymous 6:54,
I was there in the morning that day and saw the drift boat parked in the Pipe lot but then it left. I really don't understand why they are floating the Swift. The river is small and easily waded. Anyway, you had a great day!!
Ken
Hey Ken
I went to the Ware by that rail trail and bridge where I met you for a guide - they put up a no trespassing sign over the "fisherman welcome" sign. Whats up with that?!
Zack,
The land owner did that last year but took the sign down.
He doesn't own the land up to the high water mark so just walk down the path from the parking area, enter the river on the upstream side of the bridge and wade downstream and fish.
Ken
Hello Ken,
Just a note for local readers of this blog. I went to the Bridge Pool today and found new "No Trespassing" signs on the Wendell side of the river (across the bridge) but on the left or upstream side of the road. There weren't any there last week. Last year, the big rocks were placed on the downstream side, along with "No Trespassing" signs. I parked and fished anyway (going down the rappel rope side of the bridge), and no one shouted at me, but I am wondering if access to the Bridge Pool is going to be increasingly difficult.
Charles
Ken, not related to this article specifically BUT, using some of your wisdom I found an out of the way spot on the Millers last evening and caught my first dry fly brown of the year: a lovely holdover/native that ran about 14". The real thrill came just a few minutes later as near-total dark enveloped the water: a MUCH bigger brown probably in the 19-20" class took a swipe at my fly barely a rod's length out. It took my breath away and set my heart pounding. Didn't get another strike, but oh what a thrill. I'll be back.
Tim
Charles,
I'll be up there today and check it out.
Tim,
"Near darkness in an out of the way spot" on the Millers = Flyfishing at its best!!
Ken
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