"A subspecies of the "big fish guy" is the local loner who haunts ordinary rivers, peering into deep holes and undercut banks looking for the fat, hook-jawed old brown trout that turn up from time to time even in water that's not known for big fish. These bruisers are rarely if even seen because they shun daylight, fatten up secretly after dark on fish and rodents, and because most fishermen don't believe they are even there and so don't hunt for them." - John Gierach (Hunter, I'm talking about YOU)
I don't believe for a second that the average trout stream has a lot of scuds in it. Some do but most don't so why do they work? That semi-shiny exoskeleton screams of protein and calcium that is a mainstay of most subaquatic creatures from mayfly nymphs to crayfish to snails and ALL fish love to chow down on them especially in the dead of winter when many other exoskeleton aquatic creatures are under the rocks of buried in the silt. That's why I never leave home without them.
I love a size 14 to size 18 scud with a olive tan body that's loosely dubbed and then picked out around the thorax before the carapace is tied down and ribbed with finest copper wire that you can get. ( I once bought some 32 gauge wire at fly shop that was thick enough to use as a laundry line. NO GOOD! I have some from a tiny transformer, VERY GOOD!!I don't tie weight into the fly but use the tiniest split shot 8 to 10 inches above the fly.
If you can't order them from my site (I have a problem with it for that fly) just send an email with the number of flies (size 14, 16 or 18) at $1.80 per fly. Use a check or pay pal me .Free shipping!
Sight Fishing???
The photo on the right was taken on the Swift about 15 years ago about a 100 yards above Route 9. A typical Swift rainbow finning away in shallow water about 3 feet from me totally ignoring my presence (he must of known I was there) and certainly oblivious to to the dangers that surround him like ospreys, herons, otters, mink and the like, not to mention us. In a normal environment (freestone) he would not be an easy target in open water but would have been behind a rock, log or weed bank.
Now, someone may say that I was practicing "sight fishing" but you are only doing that when the fish that you see are only "half seen" because they are hiding. They are not acting like cattle in a field like most Swift rainbows do Or like many tailwater bows do. A rainbow in the Millers or the EB would NEVER allow me to take that picture because they get wild quick!! The browns in the Swift and the above rivers learn quick and don't sunbathe in open areas to become the quarry for birds of prey. Also, rainbows that mill around in tailwaters just don't seem to feed as much or at least feed like other trout in freestone rivers. It's the tailwater paradox.
My solution - stock more browns in the Swift and fish more freestones.
Ken
6 comments:
Given that the Swift is perfect habitat for our indigenous brook trout and brook trout clearly and successfully propagate in the Swift, wouldn't it make sense to manage the Swift as a brook trout fishery, at least down to the Bondsville dam? Stock whatever you want below Bondsville, but treat it as a brook trout fishery above. I am a realist, so I know this will never happen now that fishermen have become accustom to catching big stocked rainbows in the Swift. But if one were starting over, in a perfect world this would be a self sustaining brook trout fishery, wouldn't it?
Anonymous 9:05
I would treat the river below the Bondsville dam(s) as a brookie fishery too because it is loaded with BT.
I would eliminate rainbow stocking but continue with browns, either through stocking or enhancing spawning if that is possible.
They (DFW) say that browns don't reproduce in the Swift. If so, then we have catchable browns (12 to 14 inch) growing into double digit (10lb+) fish. That needs to to be studied and protected.
Rainbows are for the masses. The Swift isn't!!
Ken
Am I the only one that feels guilty fishing the Swift? While I think it is a great fishery, I do feel like it's fairly easy to fish once you've got it "figured out." Ive been there about 10x in the last two months, and while I got skunked my first outing, I caught on pretty quick and now never seem to catch less than 5 fish every time. I have enjoyed stalking less pressured fish south of Rt 9 and Cady Lane, but every time I fish north of the bridge I start to feel guilty. Those fish are pressured 24/7, and never seem to be able to eat in peace. I hooked a fat rainbow the other day, and he didn't even want to fight. He was netted in about 3 seconds and didn't put up an ounce of a fight. When taking my fly out of his mouth, I noticed how destroyed his mouth was from being caught so many times. I've also talked to many anglers who just sit by the Y pool and pick off little brookies on the same 3 flies day in and day out. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like catching fish at the Swift is far less rewarding than almost any other stream I've fished.
I don't know if the Browns can reproduce or not, but in June of 2020 I was fishing down in Cady Lane and the DFW were in the process of electroshocking and actually pulled their "craft" to the side of the River and I had about a ten minute conversation with the two DFW employees on board. One of them told me that DFW stocks several 4-5 pound browns per year in the Swift. Perhaps those are the ones that grow so large . . .?
As for eliminating rainbows, is there a particular reason you desire to do so? Do they not co-habitate well with browns or brookies? Do they compete for food sources and thus deprive the browns the opportunity to thrive?
To me, it seems the more types of trout that I can catch, the better off I am.
Anonymous 4:18
Rainbows in other rivers act wild after a short time. Swift bows stay tame and swim around in small groups. The big browns in the Swift get big from eating brookies. I'd like fewer bows and more browns and not stocked 5lb browns but fingerlings.
BosFly,
Good point!
Ken
I've had a love/hate relationship with Swift River rainbows for years, but I am increasingly feeling over it. Targeting rising rainbows on the Swift has probably driven me to learn more about fly fishing than any other single factor, and I honestly think they might be the most "selective" (i.e. demanding) fish anywhere. I have not been intimidated by any match-the-hatch dry fly fishing scenarios on any river I've fished thanks to the Swift. On the other hand, the rainbows can be quite easy to catch under the surface thanks to their approachability, their willingness to sit out in the open, and their soft spot for junk flies (mops, eggs, worms, etc). They attract fishermen looking for grip-and-grin photos with big fish (which I don't understand, since the fish are stocked and their size has absolutely no correlation with the skill needed to catch them). Given the crowds these days (16 cars in the Pipe lot on a recent freezing weekday morning was pretty ridiculous), I think I'm in favor of ceasing the stocking of rainbows so that fishermen seeking the "big rainbow" experience might fish elsewhere. I'm with you Ken... I'd love to see fingerling browns stocked. For my money, a wily 8-inch brown with a couple years in the stream is much better sport than an 18-inch pig of a hatchery rainbow.
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