Another Look At Soft Hackles

 " Don't fish for the fish that you see.  Fish for the fish that you don't see". Me

Partridge and Olive size 14

It was about 8 to 10 years ago that a reader asked the question about tying soft hackles on scud style hooks.  I think we all pulled out our scud hooks and began to whip some up.  They looked great and caught fish too but seemed to faded into memory except for a special situation.  I see them on the web occasionally but they appear as an afterthought.

Now, the question is: should we use them?  The answer is "of course" but they work best in certain conditions.

1. I tie 95% of my SH on standard dry fly hooks.  I hardly ever use heavier wire wet fly hooks.  I fish most of my SH on the swing so I don't want any unwanted weight from the hook effecting the presentation.  BTW, my most used sizes are 12, 14 and 16.  Size 10 and 8 work well on big stonefly rivers like the Millers and the EB but most of the time it's the standard stuff.

2. Now, if 95% of my SH are tied on standard dry fly hooks what about the other 5%? When I tie in sizes 18 through 22 I use scud hooks. Why, the hook gape is wider in these hooks so you have a better chance of hooking and landing a trout with that style of fly than with the standard straight shank hook. (the added weight of the hook, in those sizes, can be dismissed.

3. Another thing is that the majority of these tiny SH are basically black because I get to use those tiny startling hackles!!

4.  Don't waste time and money with those gimpy little bags of loose partridge feathers.  Make friends with an upland bird hunter or just buy the total skin.  It's worth it.

The Seasons Change

As I write this blog entry it's 5 am and only 49 degrees on this last day of August.  In my opinion Autumn is the best time for the fly fisher.  Book your dates now!!

BTW, I'm being told that the EB is off  the Fall stocking lit BUT when I look it up, on the latest updated list, it's still there.

Ken

Little Salmon And Fly Rod Thoughts

" I do have some 71/2 foot 4 and 5 weight rods - plus a couple of 7 foot 9 inchers. I use them a lot on small mountain streams and medium sized creeks and love them dearly, but I think anything shorter and lighter than that is too specialized to be very useful. If you're spooking fish with an 8 foot, 5 weight rod, the answer probably isn't a 7 foot 3 weight. The answer is a longer leader and a better cast". - John Gierach on Rod Selection

I seemed to be out of the loop with this LL Salmon thing on the Swift.  It seems that some have been catching them with regularity but that was not the case for me until this past Monday when I took 5 out of the Flats above the Duck Pond. Now, I've had a few trips there within the last few weeks but no salmon until now which leads me to believe that the genesis of these fish is from a recent wash over from Quabbin this past Spring and not from spawning activity in the Fall of 2019.  Why is that?  

It appears that these 6 to 8 inch fish are seeking safety in numbers and are still hanging out together.  Stream born fish will separate as they grow bigger while these guys are still strangers to the Swift environment.  Another reason is that we will catch plenty of 2 and 3 inch brookies but no 2 or 3 inch salmon that I've heard about.

Let's hope that they learn to feed on tiny brookies and grow larger and can successfully spawn in the Swift.

Fly Rods

The quote at the top of this post makes so much sense.  There seems to be a weird trend that states that one must go with the lightest rod possible if you are dry fly fishing.  Well, common sense solutions get you in trouble more often than not.  My first trout caught on a size 28 dry was caught with a 9 foot 5wt fly rod.  The rod, slightly on the moderate action side, could lay out  a very soft cast but also punch a line into a good wind. And with a 12 foot 7X leader it was a good small dry fly tool.  It also gave me the distance that some of these fairy wands can only dream about.

Is there an "all around" dry fly rod?  The answer is No but my personal choice for the Swift would be a 7 to 7 and a half foot bamboo coupled with a 4wt double taper line. The Millers would find me with 7 and a half foot to 8 foot 5wt matched to a weight forward line for the distance and for beating the wind which can be problem on that river.

I love Triangle Tapers when the conditions are good as in NO WIND.  Other than that I'll fish a DT line.

The Drought

I don't think we're praying hard enough!!!!!

Ken

A Duck Pond Tale And Things I'd Like To See

 "If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong". John Gierach

By 6:30 am the Y Pool lots were filling up (close to 20 cars) but that was not my destination.  Neither was the Pipe or the Tree Pool.  As always solitude is part of the mix for me and I knew where to find it: The Duck Pond Flats.  Now, I'm not giving away any State secrets because everyone knows where I'm writing about.  It's the flats below the Route 9 bridge all the way down to the lip of the Duck Pond and it's almost always underpopulated at certain times of the day.  Mornings until 10ish are good because everyone and his brother is going upstream because it's supposed to be better fishing (it isn't) up there.  I've found that afternoons can be busy because the C&R, by then, is too overcrowded and the overflow hits the flats.  By dinner time it empties out and you will have a lot of fishing room on the flats.

Now, with decades and decades of fly fishing under my waders, I can honestly say that the sight of a rising trout puts me in hunt mode.  And I'm not talking about random risers that seem to wander around aimlessly looking for something to eat.  I like trout that have picked out a holding lie and stay there ambushing any insect that goes down the chute. When aquatic insects are near/on the surface you will see the rhythm of the rise and adjust your casts accordingly. You also have to make accurate casts because the trout, especially browns, are not likely to move out of that feeding slot.  You have to put the fly THERE. This is how I learned the surface game while fishing the Squannacook years ago and then continued the lessons on the Millers.  It's weird, but it's not the game with the Bows of the Swift!

Watch these fish!  They will rise and then move away to a new location and then rise again.  They are not like browns or even brookies that seek cover, conserve energy and let the food come to them.  It's been almost 2 months since the last stocking and the bows are still fining away next to my boots.  They are basically tame fish.

Now, here's the story of a wild fish.  I was fishing the Flats when I noticed a rise to an emerger next to a log.  It was a 100 feet below me and I decided to take my time approaching it. It rose, and rose and rose again all in the same place.  I was about 25 feet away when I cast my size 12 partridge and olive soft hackle 4 feet above the rise. He instantly rose to the fly and in a minute or so a native brookie close to a foot long was in the net.  

On the Swift it's the brookies and the browns that will stake out a claim to a spot- not the bows as much.

Things I'd Like To See

Cut the number of bows stocked in the Swift by half and replace that number with the same number of browns divided by 2.  Let's face it, Connecticut and NY have good brown trout rivers with some natural reproduction. Yet we have to recharge the rivers with clonebows at least yearly because these fish don't last.  And they really are tame!! 

Book Me

The Fall is approaching. The freestones will cool off and we will get some rain.  Pick your October and November dates now!

Ken

 

Favorite Fall Flies

 "Sylvester was not a dry fly fisherman", his wife Hazel said. " He abhorred bead heads. He would say that was not fly fishing, that you might as well use a spinning rod". - Hazel Nemes recalling her husband, Sylvester Nemes, views on fly fishing.

It was 53 degrees at 4:30 this morning and the heat in the kitchen actually felt good as I whipped up breakfast.  No, it's not Fall (the official start is a month away) and we will have enough hot days to complain about until then but the wheels are turning and you can see it with the lower temperatures and the lower angle of the sun.  Fall will come and for many, including me, it's our favorite season.

There are two things that I look forward to in the Fall. One is the BWO hatch down in Cady Lane and on the lower Millers and swinging soft hackle flies on some reinvigorated freestones.

And my soft hackle selection will be top heavy with two patterns: the Partridge and Orange and the Partridge and Olive in sizes 12, 14 and 16. These two patterns have worked all Summer. My Partridge and Orange has a body of orange kevlar which gives it a waxy look which the trout told me is irresistible to them.  The Partridge and Olive has a body of olive (of course) uni-stretch floss (good stuff).  Add in a few Grouse and Flash and last Winters' King, the Copper Grouse, and I will be well armed.

Now, if I get all my ducks in a row this November I plan to swing some LARGE Soft Hackles on some Great Lakes tribs. I'll tie some up in sizes 10, 8 and 6 on a salmon style hook and swing them with a 7wt Heddon bamboo.  Why not!!

And The Rivers...

Trout have been caught at dusk on the Millers and they have been caught by early morning anglers working deep runs on the EB.  I have always loved August evenings because it is dusk at 8pm so the wait time is down.  It's better in the morning too because the sun rises later now.  2 months ago we had blazing sun at 5am.  Sun up is at 6:04 today. (much better).

The Swift is at 130 cfs and will stay there unless we get some rain. It is very fishable.

Book me for the Fall

Don't wait too long because slots will fill up quickly and those slots run right into late November, early December.

Ken

 

 

Tricos Made Easy

 

Size 22 Trico Spinner

The largest Trico swarm that I ever saw was on the Millers at the Upper Trestle Pool one August morning. The morning sun shining off the tiny wings looked like someone had dumped a 100 lb bag of mica shards from a low flying airplane.  I'd like to say that every brown in the river hit the surface that morning but nothing happened.  Tricos are everywhere on the Millers as I've seen hundreds caught in spiderwebs  at the Arch Street Bridge.  In fact, most trout streams have them but not in the epic numbers as the Farmy and other lucky streams.

Some Basic Tips

1. August is the month for this fly. Some places have a July emergence and some rivers have good numbers right into September. And it's a long hatch so  your chances of missing it are slim unless you're there at the wrong time of day or know little about this fly.

2. It's the spinner stage that gets the attention of trout and trout fishers.  Size 20 through size 26. Here's a trick that works on all small flies: Tie your size 26 on a size 22 hook as seen above.  You will have more hooking power with a larger gap hook and the trout don't seem to care.

3. Two long tails are all that you need even though the natural has 3. I use the finest of mono tail material for the tails.  The wings are the most important element of the artificial.  I've seen EVERYTHING used for the wing but the best material is ultra fine post wing material.  CDC looks good but doesn't stand up with the constant false casting  that's required. Also CDC gets slimed easily and then becomes next to useless.

3. A standard dry fly hook will work as will a light wire caddis pupae hook.  Tie in the tails and then tie in the SPARSE wing material on the oversized side (you'll cut it short at the end) at the thorax position.  The body is nothing more than black thread and the slightly oversized thorax (I use black rabbit) is used to fan out the wings. The basic mistake in tying this fly is that the wings are too short. The natural has wings that seem large in proportion to the body. Trim the wings on the long side.  The ultra fine post wing material is visible on the water but you can always fluff up some of it to improve visibility and it dries/cleans up great with silica powder.

The Flow On The Swift

It seems to have settled in at 129 cfs which should hold there until we get some REAL rain.  129 is very fishable but the fish need a few days to adjust to it. They seemed to have adjusted this morning with 7 brookies and two bows coming to the net but the rainbows have spawned a question with me.  It has been about 1 1/2 months since the big stocking but these bows are still acting like freshly stocked hatchery fish - all schooled up and chasing each other. The brookies are holding in feeding positions near weeds and the browns ambush out of nowhere but the bows act like dopes and are sitting ducks for blue herons and ospreys. A comment from NH mentioned this last week and I think he has something.  I should reread that book about rainbows called the Totally Artificial Fish!!

Pray for rain - lots of it.

Ken

  

 

Home Waters

    

"As you've worked your way through a pool the lot you've been cast in life means less then how well you cast" - Mike Fitzgearld S.

A few years ago I took a trip to Montana because I just had to see, fish and feel those rivers that I've been reading about.  Now, I'm not one of those unlucky ones, trapped in some condo miles, or worse yet, hours away from the nearest trout river.  I"M SURROUNDED BY THEM! Not rivers of Montana standards of course, but good trout fishing none the less.  But going to Montana would be nice at least to see what it's all about.

I  had to take a flight from Hartford to Atlanta AND THEN take a flight to Bozeman.  The first thing I noticed was that at least 1/3 of the overhead carriers carried rod tubes.  God only knows how many rods went into standard luggage!  I then began to think of how many flights were to land in Bozeman that day and how many rod tubes would be unloaded.  I kept saying to myself - "It's a big state, don't worry"! (you know you're in trout country when guides are in the terminal holding signs with their clients names on them).

To make a long story short, the fishing was good, the rivers were beautiful and the mountains were beyond belief BUT I still kept thinking of my Home Rivers.  I found myself checking the Ma weather, the rainfall, the river flows and shooting emails back and forth with other trout bums.

I also remember that I hit the Millers the day after I got back.

    It was then that I really began to appreciate what we have here just like the Montana native who looks at the floatilla of drift boats and thinks "glad I don't have to travel to do that".

As you know we have the chance of hooking (but not necessarily landing) a 10lb brown on the Swift along with the best concentration of brookies in New England.

So, plan your trips but don't forget your Home Waters. My best fly fishing memories are from right here in Massachusetts!

The Drought

We need rain!  the entire state is on the dry side and with the exception of the Swift all the rivers are low.  The Swift flow has been on a roller coaster  ride over the last week with a 112 flow a week ago, a 53 cfs flow yesterday and now a 131 flow as I write.  What we need is about 3 inches of rain over 3 days!!!

Book Your Fall Trip!!!

Ken

Engle's Little Blue Midge, Things I'd Like To See Happen And Book Me

"Sell a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity" - Karl Marx (yes, he did say that)

I've always been a fan of  writer Ed Engle.  I like him because he is not a flyfishing tech/equipment junkie, fishes bamboo rods, is a good friend of John Gierach and creates some interesting and effective flies.  

At the end of one of his books he gives the recipe for his "blue midge" which he claims is a must-have-go-to fly for tailwaters during the Winter.  He credits its success to the blue mylar used in its construction.  First, this fly is not just for the Winter.  I first tied one onto a clients leader back in January and it caught fish.  I then promptly forgot about it until this past week when we needed something to wake up some Swift River bows.  It did on Friday and really did yesterday with brookies getting into the act. It also accounted for a good double digit day down in Cady Lane. It is a good, general purpose midge fly fished alone or behind a soft hackle (what else). Here is my version which is SH style (again, what else):

Hook - size 18 through 24 shrimp/caddis pupae hook

Thread - 12/0

Body - brown or black thread for the rear half of the body, Pearl Crystal Flash for the thorax (Engle says that the color should be blue.  My crystal flash isn't blue enough so I doctor it up with a blue sharpie)

Hackle - two turns of starling. I've seen some midges tied with CDC for the hackle.  Don't waste your time with that flimsy stuff on a subsurface offering.  Starling is better.

Things I'd Like To See

1. A surtax on kayaks and canoes earmarked for conservation and wildlife habitat like the surtax that recreational fishers pay ON ALL FISHING EQUIPMENT.  If you are going to use the resource then you should pay for it! (some "birders" have gotten into the habit of buying a duck stamp even if they don't hunt because the $$$ goes to habitat.  Good Move!!)

2. A Trout Stamp!  If you want to fish moving water (streams/rivers) you need to buy a trout stamp with the money going to habitat and conservation and with the aim to develop self sustaining trout populations.  $30 per year sounds fair because fishers know how to spend money and it's money well spent.

Things I Don't Want To See

The great John Gierach once said that there's no such thing as a fishing dog.  I agree after I saw one fly fisher let his mutt chase spawning brookies on the Swift. He looked like I was infringing on his constitution rights when I said that he should restrain his pooch.  He did but probably resumed the chase game after I left.

Book Me

Right now the Swift is really the only local game in town and what a game it is.  I and my clients have fished in wonderful solitude this summer with no other anglers crowding us out.  This is especially true for our evening trips.  It can be almost lonely out there with only the trout to keep us company.  

Book a trip!!!

Ken

Brookies, Rainbows, A Brown And A Big Smallie On The Swift

 " I knew by now that one of the pitfalls of falling in love with old bamboo fly rods was that there was no end to the number you could collect.  You could rationalize this in various ways.  You could say, for example, that going on a fishing trip with only two rods was like playing Saint Andrews with only two golf clubs." - George Black

 We were after rainbows that were slurping in sulphurs which really didn't happen.  There were fits and starts of a sulphur hatch but the brookies (good size with one around 14 inches) would beat the bows to the prize, at least that was our going excuse.

One of my clients dropped a good bow on a size 14 Partridge and Orange (what else) but then took a brown of about 14 inches on the same fly AND then had a subtle hit that took off like a rocket.  It was big and somewhat the color of a brown but then as my client stopped its upstream charge I saw, as it turned, that it was a smallmouth bass!!  It fought like a demon and when it got to the net it was a full 15 inches and with a weight guessed at 2 to 2.5lbs.  It was FAT and really a great break from from the usual fare.  I take back everything bad that I ever said about their presence in the Swift.

BTW, the fly was a size 14 Partridge and Orange again.

Brookies continued to be caught but finally a good bow came to the net courtesy of an Ed Engle midge that I fonld in one of my Ed Engle books.  I can't remember the name of the fly but the secret sauce is a BLUE mylar body.  I threw on an olive thorax and some black starling on a size 20 hook.  Engle swears that this is his favorite midge pattern and that's good enough for me.

Fall Fishing

In less than 60 days we will be in October and that is, along with November, my favorite times to fly fish in central New England. The weather is balmy with the heat of summer is a memory and the rivers are usually in great shape.  Also the DFW throws in an autumn gift with another stocking.  I book up quickly and that has already started.  Pick a date, no deposit required, and we will be all set.

Best.

Ken

Line Weights And Flies And A Lost Fly Box

"Every fly rod, regardless of its action or length, is capable of casting several different weight fly lines.  The rods casting potential depends on the actual weight of the line beyond the rod tip.  The weight of that length of line dictates how the rod will cast.  Although the taper of the fly line has some effect on how the fly is presented, tapers don't affect weight". - Jim Bartschi, Scott Fly Rods. 

Read the quote at the top of the page.  Those are the words of an honest man as were the words of another rodmaker, E.C. Powell I believe, from 50 years ago.  The conventional wisdom is that you MUST match the rod to the line as in a 4wt rod to a 4wt line.  That's good for starters but it's not the end of the game.

The weight of the first 30 feet of fly line is supposed to maximize the casting potential of that 4wt rod. But what if you are casting 40 feet?(5wt land) It doesn't mean that you have to go and buy a 5wt rod because your 4wt rod can handle it easily. Remember that some fly casters will overload their rod with a line that is one or even two weight classes heavier than the rods weight designation to cast for distance quickly.  They may sacrifice finesse but they get the job done.  Some line manufactures try to help them along by building their lines on the heavy side of the designation making a 5wt a "5.75wt".

What about casts shorter than 30 feet?  Nobody will suggest that you have  to rig up a 3wt for the occasion.  Your 4wt is fine.  In the last decade I've gotten into the habit of underlining my 4wt rod with a 3wt DT line on the Swift and the Farmington.  I can manage to get the distance I need  and still get the delicate presentation.  Lefty Kreh taught me that (not in person but in print).  One thing I will not do is rig a 3wt rod with a 1wt line if I need some real distance or if it's a windy day.  I can handle any tiny fly situation with a 4wt bamboo, a 3wt DT and a 12 foot leader.  I will be loaded for bear!!!!

Size 20 BWO Emerger                             

 

Make sure that you have plenty of these for August AND especially for the Fall.  Find yourself on the Swift, the Millers or the EB on a cloudy cool day and you will see these critters.

I tie mine with a new "secret sauce" as far as the thorax is concerned and I've dumped the Dun version and go with the emerger exclusively which is visible on the surface even when the the body is below the surface.  The wing material floats like crazy.

Size 20 DHE

Or use the finest deer hair that you can find and use this traditional wing material instead.  

Lost Fly Box - Someone lost a loaded fly box down in Cady Lane around the 3rd of this month.  Contact me if you find it and I'll connect you with the owner. - Ken

The Rivers

This tropical storm will really dump a lot of rain WEST of the Connecticut River which is GOOD as it will really recharge the aquafers which we really need for a good Autumn.  The EB and the Millers will be fishable for sure (once the water goes down.)

Ken

The "Damp" Fly

" Our leader spooked trout" are not the the cause of "heavy" leaders but THE CAUSE OF BAD PRESENTATION. "Lining" trout (dumping your fly line on top of the fish) or slapping your fly down on the water are some of the causes. You see this when fishing dry flies for rising trout."

This has been a great month but never for the reason(s) that I would expect.  Over the decades July would be devoted to evening fishing with a dry fly.  My daytime fishing on the Swift would have me dusting tiny offerings and trying to avoid drag.  But in the last few years I've come to realize that the "rises" that I've seen are not to an adult fly but to an emerger AND a trout that is rising to a parade of adult flies will easily take an emerger pattern if presented correctly (thank you Sylvester Nemes).  

This is easily seen down on Cady Lane on the Swift. (or even at the Y Pool for that matter.)  The surface is disturbed by a surfacing trout BUT you don't see what it picked off the surface BECAUSE what the trout took was an inch or three below the surface.  

What would I use? With the Sulphur-like flies hatching now I would tie on a size 18 to 20 soft hackle dressed SPARSELY and it would be tied to the business end of a 12 foot, 6X leader.

How would I present it?  DOWN AND ACROSS!  Let's say that I'm at the head of a good run of maybe 50 yards long.  I'll cast that SH down and across, sometimes on a fairly tight line and other times with slack and a lot of mending.  I like the tight line when a see a rising fish.  I'll swing that right past his nose just like an emerging fly.  When casting a slack line remember to allow that line to straighten out below you and don't rush into that next cast.  Many fish are caught when that fly stops its drift and rises to the surface.

Book Me For The Fall

Don't wait too long.  It's not too early to reserve a date to fish either the Swift, Ware, Millers or the EB for October and November.  Remember, these rivers are on the Fall stocking list and if the water holds up we will have great fishing.  

In the meantime it's a good time to get to know the Swift and I don't mean the mob spots but the out of the way areas.  Email me to set up a date.

Ken