Thinking Spring, Leaders/Tippets And A Favorite Pattern

 

 

There is so much BS out there about leader& tippet material...the factor I care much about with respect to tippet is the limpness factor for throwing dries...I like a few "s" curves on some casts. Most of the flyfishing specific tippets are fine SA/Orvis/RIO/Ump and others . I do stick to small spools on tippet because I dont want to buy a lifetime supply sized spool and have it go lousy...Over the past couple years I have been using mostly just 4x or bigger on most everything except some small dries. Out in MT this year we were on 2x and 3x at all times-caught tons of fish including roping some #16PMD dries to 3X.
I have stopped using flourocarbon for many years. Flourocarbon takes about 10X as long as monofilament to biodegrade and no matter how it is disposed of its most likely going to have to biodegrade for this reason alone I have sworn off flouro and truth be told I have always thought that we fishermen are kidding ourselves if we think the fish cant see it or even have a clue what it is and what the danger to them is. Until we can interview a fish...we will just be guessing. BobT, commenting in 2018

All it takes is two days of temperatures that have been higher than anything in the past month and the piscatorial juices really start to flow.  This happens even if you have been fishing and tying all Winter.  There is just something about Spring. We could still get one or two more snowstorms but the end is in sight.  Hang in there.

Book Me

There is an uptick in requests for trips for this Spring. A big chunk of May got snapped up so don't wait too long.  And remember, freestone fishing works during the mid day until around mid June and that's when it swings over to an early morning/evening fishery.  I've had great Spring days on the Millers but my best fishing has been in the evening, just right for a 3 hour trip!!!

 

A Favorite Spring Fly

Yes, I wrote about this fly not too long go but 

it pays to go over it again. My DSM caddis is my favorite Spring caddis pattern.  Swing this pattern when you start seeing those splashy rises. It's the sign that caddis are being chased by hungry trout.  Sizes 12, 14, and 16 cover everything.

Think Spring

Ken

A Real Mop

"But then the more I fished these little creeks and the more that I learned about them, the better I liked them.  Part of that was just the constant exposure.  Sure, there were better fisheries within a half day's drive - and I made those drives and other, longer ones often enough - but there was nowhere else where I could slip in for an hour of fishing before work or two or three hours after and have a rod in my hand every day of the week." - John Gierach

When I first saw the Mop fly I was not impressed. It was short, squat, a sickly chartreuse color that screamed "Attractor", had a useless collar and the obligatory beadhead.  I'm still the kind of flyfisher who actually wants his offerings to LOOK like something that lives in the river and that trout have eaten. I want to make trout hungry, not angry. (o, I don't think it looks like a caddis larvae)

Then I happened upon a website called "3 minute ties" and that changed everything.  Tim (I believe that is his name) used long marabou for the collar which gave it that shaggy, buggy look (much better than a "clean cut" mop) and then, for added effect, drenched the fly which really made it come alive.

Now,  I've made some adjustments to this critter which seemed to have worked keeping in mind that I believe that it resembles a hellgrammite or a leech or a large stonefly, you know - big nasty things!

1.  I ditched the beadhead and replaced it with BEAD CHAIN EYES. (very buggy and still sinks the fly) plus the eyes are tied on so the hook rides UP like a bonefish fly. (less weeds).

2. I use a size 8 scud hook.  Now, I know some of you are thinking "short strikes" but that's not the case.  This setup is a page taken out of the rubber worm bible that bass fishermen use. Bass will grab a 10 inch rubber worm BY THE HEAD all of the time and still get hooked because that's where the hook is.  That's where my hook is and it hooks trout. 

3. I use marabou for the collar OR large partridge hackle.  They both work.  I also use Sharpies to color up this fly AND I love the light grey mop fingers over any other color.

4.I like a longer mop because that tail just moves so nice.  It will wiggle in the current = it's ALIVE!!!!

5. I fish this on the DRIFT!  It's a hapless insect that got caught in the current and not a sprinting minnow. II never retrieve it!

Smallies on the Millers like this fly as did a smallmouth from Wachusett  which is a place I'm going back to this Spring.

Very  Wet And Very Buggy

KEN

 

All Purpose Nymph

 

All Purpose Nymph 

"If fishing is like religion, then fly fishing is high church" Tom Brokaw

Sometimes the simplest things work the best. Back in the early 1970's a writer by the name of S.R. Slaymaker (he wrote for the hook and bullet press about fly fishing) wrote about a simple generic nymph that was breathtakingly simple to tie and a virtual trout magnet when fished right. The fly had no name and still doesn't as far as I know although it looks like one of Sawyers nymphs. Slaymaker used mink for the body. I once had some raw mink but it's long gone so I use Australian possum or hare mask. (Hmm...maybe that's how I got the idea of the Possum Nymph)

Hook - Nymph or standard dry fly hook sizes 12-14

Weight - your choice wrapped around the hook shank (resist the temptation to stick a bead on it.( This is fly tying, not lure making) or fish it with a micro shot

Tail - A few partridge fibers or a tuft of fur

Rib - ultra fine copper wire

Body - Australian possum or hare's mask dubbed loosely and then secured down with wire. Use that little carding tool that we all have but never use to pick out the dubbing.

Above is my life time supply of Australian possum dyed olive or yellow. It has that kinky texture that works great underwater. I would guess that good old American possum would work just as well. Over the years I've taken to touching up the color to suit my taste (actually the trouts taste) with Sharpies. I've tied up some nymphs with yellow fur and then hit them with a black Sharpie. Just enough yellow shows through for a nice effect.

Spring

As of this writing daylight savings time is 23 days away and SPRING is 29 days away.  March can clobber us with massive storms but  3 days later the snow can be mostly gone.  That snow melt will end up in the rivers where it increases the flow AND chills the water. Your most important tool will be that case of micro shot that will keep your fly down and allow a lot of action to your offering as you high stick  yourself into piscatorial bliss!! 

Avoid all mono rigs.  It's not considered flyfishing in some quarters.

Ken

Winter Flies

 "I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution."

The Pinhead

During the winter we must spend our days working the tailwaters and leave our freestones for a more pleasant time.  This condition makes it rather easy to supply our fly boxes - if you are going to fish the Swift and/or the Farmy make sure you have plenty of small flies. It may not be your only style of fly to use on these rivers but they are a necessity.

The Swift, being a tailwater, will have huge numbers of insects BUT very little insect variety and most of the insects will be small (size 20 to 28).  Some sections are loaded with insects such as the water below the Pipe and that is because the outflow from the hatchery is loaded with black fly larvae and other little guys of similar size and color.  The Pinhead fills the bill for me when I'm fishing that stretch through the Fall and Winter.  Sizes 18 through 26 seem to work.

The Swift Serendipity is another go to fly for the tailwaters.  It may be the closest that I come to a dreaded attractor fly but it may represent a blood midge (I think).

Both of these flies fish very well at the Bubbler Arm, in some of the riffle sections above Route 9, below the Duck Pond, below the Gauge and of course, below the Pipe.  There is one key element that these locations have in common - they contain fairly shallow riffles which is home to blackflies.  I've never had good luck in deeper, slower water with these flies.

Place an order and try some out!!!

Book For Now And For The Spring

In one month we turn the clocks ahead.  The amount of daylight has greatly increased over the last month but that will really jumpstart things for sure. I'm booking already so don't wait too long.

This blog has spent the last 15 years doing what is appreciated by its readers and that is to provide information on our rivers. "Where to go" and what to do when you get there is knowledge that's in demand and I will continue to provide it.  Nobody wants to know about a great day of fishing on some mystery river.  I'd rather share that info.

Ken

Signs Of Spring

 "Calling Fly Fishing a hobby is like calling Brain Surgery a job." - Paul Schullery

Photo by Thomas Ames Jr.

If there is a harbinger of Spring that will catch the eye of the winter worn fly fisher it is the little Taeniopterygidae Stonefly, known as the Early Dark Stonefly and/or Winter Stonefly. Get a day where the temperature hits the mid 40's and the sun is shining and they will seem to be everywhere. I live on the banks of a decent trout stream and on those mild days my porch, deck and fence posts will be covered with them as they seem to be content to just soak up the rays.

They are a major hatch as far as numbers go but a minor hatch as far as surface activity is concerned. First, they crawl out of the water to hatch in sometimes inhospitable conditions such as high, flooded rivers. Second, most freestones in our area will be pretty empty of trout until the stocking trucks arrive. Third, in the words of Thomas Ames, Jr. "Fish are more likely to rise to early stoneflies when adult females are ovipositing and when there are other insects, like midges or early mayflies, to draw them to the surface."

I'll always have some imitations with me especially on March days at the Y Pool and those imitations will represent this insect's life stages with the egg laying stage being the most important IMNSHO. This also gives me a chance to play with quill bodies which is a fly tying skill that is being lost to the flow of time.

The egg laying stage -

Size 20 dry fly hook

sparse blue dun hackle fibers

body - dark grey stripped quill (Sharpies work well on getting the right shade of color

Hackle - Grey or black

This high floater can be skidded across the surface to imitate egg laying stones and does a good job at imitating the Winter Caddis too!

Now, to imitate the insect as it is hatching you need pattern like the one developed by the great Art Flick. Just take the pattern above, ditch the stiff hackles for small, webby brownish hen hackles and use a brown quill for the body. This fly will be fished around the rocky edges of the shore (Y Pool) just beneath the surface. It can also be used to fish over the spent stoneflies.

This fly is more important for getting your spirits up than for bringing trout up. That's why I'm mentioning it!!

More Signs Of Spring

Anyone who grew up in New England can recognize the change of a season.  The maple sap isn't flowing yet but  there's activity in the sugerbush as workers lay out the lines and make sure that their boiling equipment is shipshape. I'd like to say that robins are a harbinger of Spring but they've been in the Valley all Winter but the doves seem early this year.  The earliest I've seen a turkey vulture out here was the last week of February.  

Because of Covid 19 we've cancelled Florida for this March so I'll be able to guide a bit earlier than last year.  Pick a date and it's yours!!!

Ken

A Simple Fly - The Grouse And Flash

 "Maybe your stature as a fly fisher isn't determined by how big a trout you can catch, but by how small a trout you can catch without being disappointed". John Gierach

Anyone with a copy of the great book by Thomas Ames Jr., Hatch Guide for New England Streams, knows this simple soft hackle fly that was created by Nick Yardley.  Now, Yardley created this fly to represent an emerging caddis and it does a good job at that but I always think of this fly as an emerging MAYFLY.  I guess it makes no difference.

Hook - Dry fly in size 12 to 16

Body - Olive thread size 12/0 then Krystal Flash wrapped over that.

Thorax - Rabbit dubbing in olive or natural

Hackle - Grouse or woodcock 

In early to mid May our New England freestones host huge hatches of caddis and many of these insects do not rise through the water column but crawl to the shore and then hang out in the stream side bushes to molt. (shake some streamside bushes and hundreds may fly away. They do on the Millers). 

A smart way to approach this situation is to swing or drift the above fly along the shoreline because the shoreline is where the caddis are which means the trout will be there too!

                                                           Hen and Flash

It seems to be that I have a bit of "hen" on the brain.  Let's face it - it works very well in a soft hackle set up and when compared to partridge/grouse it is dirt cheap.

Give it a shot!!

Ken

It's Been 44 Days Since.......

" Trout are among those creatures who are one hell of a lot prettier than they need to be.  They can get you to wondering about the hidden workings of reality. " John Gierach

The Kempfield Pool

The end of the unfinished title to this blog is "the shortest day of the year".  You can see the difference in the late afternoon because the sun is teasing us by staying up a little more each day.  Spring is coming - don't worry.

The Rivers

If I could control the weather, the heat, the cold and the flow of water I would insure that freestones never got too warm, too cold or too dry.  Freestones are how we measure the REAL quality of our rivers AND the environment in general. Normal weather will supply the conditions for New England trout to make it through the summer. Last summer was the exact opposite.

Tailwaters are my default option when freestones are off their mark or if my schedule keeps me off the freestones in the evening (the BEST time). Tailwaters are almost always kept cold artificially which can kind of blow your mind as it did to me down in Austin Texas. The Guadalupe River flows through Austin and you can catch trout on a 100 degree day.  That's a little too manmade and engineered for me.  Just remember that many of these tailwaters, before the creation of the dam with the bottom release, were marginal trout streams if trout streams at all. 

 

This brings me to the EB. This may be our most valuable river because from it's source in the Berkshire foothills to  Knightville it runs without encountering a dam and given enough rain it fishes well all season.  Now, people like to say that it's the most beautiful river (it is) in Ma. while others have declared it totally overrated.  It is not overrated at all it's just as the season change your angling approach has to change too.  Don't think that you can fish the same mid day hours in July that you fished in May.  Like the Millers to the east it's an early morning river and an evening river and not a tailwater.

Start tying flies for the freestones making sure that they include plenty of soft hackles, heavy stoneflies and plenty of caddis.  Yes, bring some wooley buggers too.  Then contact me to hit the freestones (and the Swift)

Wait A Minute!!!

The Fly Shop of Redding California just did everyone a favor.  They are offering their base line of fly rods (H2O Freshwater Fly Rods) at only $169.00 AND with an EXTRA TIP at no charge.  I mentioned a little while ago that these graphite rod companies would be wise to offer the extra tip the way bamboo rod makers have been doing for years.  The Fly Shop states that "it's a built-in guarantee that'll keep you fishing on the  stream instead of waiting for the UPS truck."  Sounds like a good deal.

Ken

A Different Winter Caddis And The Swift

 

A Different Winter Caddis And The Swift

"It swims to the surface and then runs, still in it's pupal skin, to the streamside to crawl out onto the rocks" Thomas Ames Jr. describing the Winter Caddis

Backcast a week or so ago to the Swift above Rt 9 and to the Y Pool in particular. I had an ok/slow hour or so in the bubbler arm and then worked my way down under the footbridge and down to the pool. I had only one other angler there and he didn't last that long so I had the rare opportunity to fish the Y by myself.

That's when I saw it. That little insect skating frantically around on the surface to find something to crawl up on. A minute later I saw another doing the same thing but this time a rainbow ended that trip. I had just stumbled upon a sparse but interesting Winter Caddis hatch. This is what brings me to the Y Pool every winter!! It's the Winter Caddis.

This caddis is different. Instead of crawling to the shore to hatch or rising through the water column and then flying away this caddis makes it's way to the surface and then runs along the surface trying to find the shore or some object to crawl onto. Fishing this dry on a dead drift is not as effective as making this dry fly move. That means that you have to create an imitation that can withstand some wiggling and tugging and still come up floating. The famous Foam Caddis is the traditional imitation but it never worked that well for me when I imparted movement. I needed a dry fly with the same profile but something that floated longer. I settled for the CDC Winter Caddis.

Hook - size 20 to 22 scud hook

Thread - 12/0 black

Shellback Wing - grey or brown CDC

Hackle - dry fly quality size 20 or 22 in grey or brown

head - Black dubbing

I use a thread body where I tie in a CDC feather with the tip facing backwards.

Next comes a size 20 dry hackle that will be palmered over the hook but clipped short.

Next I fold over the CDC feather forward and tie off.

Next I add a head of black dubbing and that is it.

This fly skates when it's moved due to the stiff hackle stubs. The CDC keeps it on the surface as it's moved by me.

It works because I caught one bow and missed another while field testing.

I can hardly wait to see if I run into another MONSTER hatch at Cady Lane like I did last early Spring. The naturals were everywhere, the trout were rising and I had ONE hit with the foam version.
                                                                           Thomas Ames Photo

The Foam Caddis, a good fly but.......

The best winter caddis hatch I've ever seen on the Swift was not at the Y Pool but down at the Horse Farm bend at Cady Lane.  It was late March and there were millions of them!!!
This January has been so-so. I've been working above Rt 9 as I do most Winters and the trout are there and somewhat  willing. Think small, thing slow, think scuds and pheasant tails. Look for Winter Caddis!!!


Ken