This is a wide open portion that is a dream to fish. Tons of backcast room, fairly easy wading and lots of fish. The river widens out through this section meaning that the flows become less severe. Even a 500 cfs flow is wadable here if you're careful.
Soft hackle emergers rule the day here for the tons of caddis that call this section home.
It's easy! Take RT 2 into Erving Center and take Arch Street, go under the RR tracks, go past the bridge over the Millers and hang a right. There are a few parking spots in this half mile area (it's never full) and the river runs right next to the road.
If I were writing this in mid May I would expect some short lived crowded conditions but this is early January and in the next four months many will forget that they read this piece. Remember, fish this section starting in May.
Jerks On The Swift
Swift regular Bill R. told me this sad story last week. He was up fishing the overflow arm of the Y Pool when he noticed two young guys in the middle of the Hemlock Section (at the crossover) kicking up the bottom with their boots. This is very destructive practice that started on the San Juan River a dozen years or so. It kicks loose nymphs and larvae that the fish begin to feed on and I believe that some states have made it illegal. The problem with the Swift is that these morons were kicking up the bottom of the river that is prime brookie habitat. "They must of killed a thousand brook trout" lamented Bill. He hustled up to that area but the culprits were gone.
If you see anything like this call the EPO's. Their number is on this blog.
Hot Winter Stew
Italian sausage, green peppers, onions, chopped spinach, chopped tomatoes, lots of ground black pepper, Garlic and oregano, all slowly cooked in vegetable stock served with bread. Try it.
Book Me!!
Ken
23 comments:
I also saw those kids running back and forth and mixing up the soil. I think word must have gotten out in because about that strategy also, because there were other more yesterday doing the same thing but more subtly. I am pretty sure it was the same kids you spoke about in this article plus a few others. They must be telling their buddies about "their great new trick"
Im sure someone said something to them - now they kinda just walk around each other subtly trying to stir up the bottom. Its a pain because i dont want to confront them and further ruin my little escape from reality - especially when they are 50 feet upriver.
Seems to me like there are few very very basic precautions that could be addressed with signs in the area. Posting a signed under the "fly fishing only area" that says "no shuffling/disturbing the bottom - it kills brook trout" would be a breeze to do and probably do something to stop this before it gets out of control. Is there some sort of approval process to put up another sign?
Unknown,
Thanks for the update. I'll keep an eye out for them. Readers - let me know if you see this!
Ken
...a "no wading" mandate during spawning would :) Were they trying to catch the fish or just disturb the gravel and watch the fish? That is crazy. I am sure Bill used a few choice "adjectives" to describe them. :)
Ken - What is your go to fly for someone fishing mid winter (like now)? Is it a midge nymph or scud? I am thinking of taking a day out there next week. I am hoping for some seclusion, but will probably go above rte 9 and sight fish.
Happy Winter!
Falsecast,
Pinheads, zebra midges, blood worms, scuds for general exploring.
Ken
Happy New Year Ken- Is there a law that EPO's can enforce to stop these idiots and the shuffle?
Dean
Dean,
EPO's can enforce any environmental violation be it creeling trout in a C&R section, using methods other than fly fishing in a fly fishing area, destroying habitat and the aquatic creatures that live within it among other violations. the short answer is YES!!!!!
Ken
Ken thanks for sharing the knowledge you have gained over the years with everyone, especially your millers guide. In my opinion sharing experiences, techniques etc is what it's all about and when folks ask me I pass it forward as well
Signs do nothing, 2 times last week I had to tell the same guy no dogs permitted on a watershed area, Dogs are regular occurrence now! Empty beer cans left by the bench at the Y pool and the monofilament and braided line Tangled in the bushes are the norm now!
Paul,
We think the same way.
Jim D.,
You are right. No dogs allowed at the Quabbin but you can't tell some dog owners that because they feel that their dogs have a constitutional right to be there. Any angler leaving beer cans or other trash should be banned.
Ken
Ken, are there any other rivers out there that fish well in the winter? I tried fishing the swift yesterday, from south of Rt 9 all the way to the bondsville boat ramp and all I saw was bait boys drinking beer and smoking weed before noon on a wednesday. Eventually I had enough and went up to my usual spots above route 9 and did decent. Would like to find some other options out that way aside from the Farmington.
The ignorance of people will always be with us unfortunately. I find informative signs that educate to be a very effective tool. The old fashion art of approaching people and having a friendly conversation with them about how the ecosystem works seems to have worked for me as well. Yelling at people and/or putting up restriction signs does nothing but piss people off and doesn't really advance the cause. I run into people all the time in Yellowstone park who are fishing the Firehole river with bait even though there is a restriction sign stating "fly fishing only". Without context, the sign seems like ridiculous government overreach or the fly fishing lobby got its way. Instead of yelling at them, I will usually have a friendly conversation about why the restriction is in place.
In this particular instance, I usually bring up the point that artificial flies rarely get into the digestive system of a fish as they tend to immediately try spitting it out, whereas fish will interpret bait as actual food and try to swallow it immediately thus leading to exponentially more harm during hook removal. People respond quite favorably once they are informed of the rational behind the restrictions (or behaviors) we want to promote. I believe most people want to be good stewards of the land...some just don't have the knowledge and context to know how to do that yet. That's where us fishermen can play our part and contribute back to mother earth. My 2 cents.
Kozman,
Good to hear from you!!! If your approach works for you then use it of course. I like to mention to someone with bait in a no bait zone that the EPO's are out looking for violators and it's not going to be cheap. That gets their attention.
Ken
Nick,
Hmm... I fished below the Pipe on Wednesday and scouted above the Pipe and saw only 2 other anglers, both with fly rods. I've seen beer drinkers and weed smokers at the Y Pool also. The
Swift, Farmy and the Deerfield are really the only winter game in town.
Ken
Hello everyone, I came here today to address that I know who these two kids are kicking up stuff on the Swift River; I’m aquatinted to them actually. They’ve told me they had no idea that what they were doing was so wrong and they would like to come forth with full apologies as long as everyone agrees to accept their apologies in full as they agree to never do this again in any river what so ever.
Sincerely,
Swinger
Swinger,
Good work. I, for one, accept their apologies.
Ken
Hi this is jack. I am one of the "jerks on the swift". Im here to say sorry. I never thought before doing it and i never realized that was such a devistating thing to do. I did not typically kick the dirt as much as my friend but that doesnt matter i did it. After seeing this post and reading the comments i furthermore did a lot of research and i found out a lot buy looking up "san jaun shuffle". I am 14 and i would never try to destroy an ecosystem like that. So i will NEVER do the san juan shuffle again and hopefully my friend wont either. I would just like to say sorry to everyone and that this will never be done again, Jack
Hello everyone, I am the culprit my name is Owen. As well as my friend Jack. We are 14 years old and are not new to the swift and have fished it for about 3 months. But we are truly sorry for the damages and impact we have put on the Swift River. We never knew about the "San Juan Shuffle" but noticed that whenever a little dirt came up from the bottom trout would eat. It was an observation at first, and then became a technique. Of course we looked out for brook trout redds but now thinking about it inevitably there must have been handful's of brook trout eggs crushed. We never intentionally were going out there to destroy the habitat but just to catch fish. And we would've liked if someone could've spoke to us about this sooner. Coming forward we promise to never again use the "San Juan Shuffle" and its destructive power.
Sincerely,
Owen
Kozman is correct. The two young fly fishers fall into the category of 'You don't know what you don't know'. My guess is they were in the water, moving around and looked down and saw BIG Fish at their feet. We have all experienced it. The more you move, the more fish seem to appear. I'm with Ken... Apologies accepted!
Jeff J
Life is a constant learning process, and great to see the teens step up. Now, if we could get people who leave trash to fess up and pick up their stuff too!
Chico,
Blame some of the hikers above route 9 for some of that.
Ken
holy cow. I think this is the first blog I've ever seen where behavior gets called out and results in actual apologies. Ken, your blog is actually affecting change right now! I hope Jack and Owen will take this teachable moment and grow up to be awesome future ambassadors of the sport and pay it forward. May the winds be calm and your tippets knot free.
Kozman,
We have a good crowd here!!
Ken
Wow
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