" 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
30 comments:
Good post Ken the freestones are all about timing, scouting and getting off the beaten path, speaking of that i begain fishing the upper deerfield in vermont between searsburg and harriman reservoirs and there is no paths to speak of just bush whacking to each run and hole, i did very well with large brookies up in the stream from harriman early season and then throughout the spring on SH and green rock worm style caddis bounced of the bottom, had a few 30 plus days with some gorgeous browns in the mix!
Paul,
Every fly fisherman should have their getaway spot and the fewer paths the better. And I don't mind telling others about these spots because decades of doing so has not really ruined the places. If it's far from the car few will venture there.
Ken
Far from the car....with all the foot traffic at the "hot spots", that may be my new motto for 2021.
Off topic question but does any one know if camping is allowed in the gorge area of the EB
Paul Fay,
This has always been "on topic" for me. The short answer is that no camping is allowed in the gorge area of the EB, only downstream at Indian Hollow which is for groups only. I've had dreams of being left off at the lower gate on a Thursday and being picked up on a Sunday after crossing the river and camping/fishing my brains out on that river. I found an old PDF online from the 70's about 2 guys who did just that and had a ball. I'll not break the regulations to do it but I wish I could. I would cross the river to stay away from the foot traffic and the river cops.
Oh well!
Ken
Hi Ken - I thought you were allowed to camnp there and ended up sleeping in my car at the end of the long dirt road.
I thought you and your readers might be interested in this bit from Mass Wildlife 2019 Annual Report.
Swift River: Teaming with Connecticut Valley District Fisheries Biologist Brian Keleher, we have made investigating the coldwater fishery in the Swift River a top priority. We began comprehensive electrofishing surveys of the Swift River in 2017 to start to develop a baseline over several years in which to monitor changes in coldwater fish populations moving forward and to begin answering important questions regarding the status of the fishery.
In 2018, we surveyed 13 study reaches from upstream of the Cold Spring Road Bridge to the very upstream source of the tailwater near the Y-Pool. We found 1616 Brook Trout across all size classes from abundant young-of-the-year to a few truly large individuals 16+ inches. On average we found almost 1900 Brook Trout/mile throughout the tailwater section of the Swift River. This was slightly lower than 2017 (2300/mile) but with only two years of surveys no conclusions can be made as to whether or not this is a trend or simply that this amount of annual variation is the norm in the Swift River. The upper half of the tailwater retained an exceptionally abundant population of wild Brook Trout with 3150 fish/mile. We found 41 Rainbow Trout in our comprehensive surveys, almost exactly as many as the previous year.
..rest of the report as it got cut off for the character limit on blogger.
Again, as in 2017, most of these fish were found in the up per 1/3 of the tailwater and consisted of recently stocked fish with only the rare larger holdover fish. We surveyed three times as many Brown Trout in 2018 than in 2017 (12 v. 35) and although we did not turn up the truly exceptional 33-inch fish we did capture a 28-inch 13 pound Brown Trout in the same stretch of river. Similar to 2017 we found juvenile Rainbow Trout near the Pipe Pool area and downstream (potential wild reproduction of rainbows but more likely hatchery escapees) and no evidence of Brown Trout reproduction anywhere in the river. High water in early summer 2019 forced us to push off our usual survey dates from late June to July so these data will be included in next year’s report.
In summary, the Swift River supports an abundant population of wild Brook Trout of all age classes. The Swift also supports larger individuals than in any other stream in Massachusetts, except maybe some of our sea-run Brook Trout streams in the Southeast and Cape Cod. The Swift has the ability to hold over stocked Rainbow Trout to some extent (mostly short-term) and Brown Trout (potentially for several years) in some reaches – the rainbows mostly in the upper section and the browns further downstream. Both stocked species have the potential to reach large size if they survive. Rainbow Trout over 20 inches and Brown Trout, in particular, over 30 inches and approaching 20 pounds. Future work on the Swift will be designed to continue surveying the trout population to monitor changes in abundance and size structure over time, assess ages of larger fish to better understand growth rates, and to track the movement and mortality of stocked Rainbow Trout. For example, in July 2018 we pelvic fin-clipped all Rainbow Trout stocked into the Swift River upstream of Route 9 (530 individuals) and monitored how many remained in that reach after one week, one month, and three months post-stocking. Fall stocked Rainbow Trout above Route 9 (376 individuals) were adipose-clipped for the same purpose. Of the Rainbow Trout stocked into the year-round catch-and-release section above Route 9 in July 2018 only 38% remained in the reach one week post stocking, 16% remained one month post stocking, and barely 5% remained in the reach three months post stocking. Of the fall stocked Rainbow Trout only 12% remained in the reach one week post stocking and only 1% were still in the area one month post stocking. We were unable to complete the three month post stocking survey because of high flows. This first attempt was only a preliminary investigation to form a rough idea about mortality and/or movement of stocked fish out of the year-round catch-and-release section. We are developing more rigorous studies for the entire tailwater, and including spring stocked fish as well, going forward.
Yes Ken certainly sounds like a grand old time, I may do some heavy research and try to find a few locations that this is allowed on, many campgrounds offer stream side sites with good fishing to boot but I'd love to hike in and sleep in my hammock and fish my brains out
Paul Fay,
ME TOO!!!
Falsecast,
This is exceptional information and we all thank you for putting the light of day to it! It is a true eye opener with the brook trout density. The info on rainbows above rt 9 is also a mindblower for some but suspected by many. Your belief that the Swift is really a brook trout stream is being proven for a lot of people and that the rainbows are a "catch for fun" fish and nothing long term.
Good Work!
Ken
Thanks for sharing Falsecast! My first question... only 41 rainbow trout? Where are they sampling and finding so few? I'm all for managing the river for browns and brookies, but any "comprehensive survey" should turn up more than 41 rainbows unless they are skipping over all of the obvious/popular pools.
The lack of brown trout reproduction is the question that puzzles/concerns me most. Is the overall stock simply too low to allow for reproduction? If so, let's stock lots of browns in hopes they take and become self-sustaining. Or do we need a program along the lines of the survivor strain program in Connecticut, not so much to improve survival (the large browns clearly show they can survive), but to improve successful reproduction? (From all I've read, the CT program has greatly increased the number of wild browns in the Farmington, though, of course, they still stock the hell out of the river.) The quality of the habitat in the Swift is certainly good enough to support a wild trout fishery (the brookies are proof!), yet we basically get the same a management plan on the Swift as you would find on any old put-and-take stream. The fishing experience on the Swift for most anglers (myself included a lot of the time) is focused on the stocked fish... thank you Ken and many others on here for steadfastly promoting the wilder side of the Swift and reminding us all of the amazing brook trout opportunities. I've always felt that the fishing experience on the Farmington felt more like a wild trout fishery such as you find in the Catskills or Central PA... the abundant/diverse hatches have a lot to do with it, but I think the predominance of brown trout in the river does, too. Even if they're stocked, the browns just act more naturally than the bows. If the survival of the rainbows is even half as poor as these studies suggest, we should be changing management/stocking strategies immediately. Unless of course the whole point of stocking the Swift is just to provide some easily caught food for bait fishermen come January 1st every year?
"Of the Rainbow Trout stocked into the year-round catch-and-release section above Route 9 in July 2018 only 38% remained in the reach one week post stocking, 16% remained one month post stocking, and barely 5% remained in the reach three months post stocking. Of the fall stocked Rainbow Trout only 12% remained in the reach one week post stocking and only 1% were still in the area one month post stocking." THERE'S YOUR ANSWER!!! THE BOWS DON'T LAST THAT LONG! IT COSTS A LOT OF $$ TO RAISE FISH THAT ARE STOCKED IN A CR SECTION AND THEN DISAPPER.
KEN
Which raises the question, if that study was conducted in the "CATCH and RELEASE" section as it says it was, where did 62% of the trout disappear to in the week after they were stocked?
Hi Ken,
So of the 906 rainbows stocked above Route 9 in July/Fall 2018, approximately 344 were found there just a week after stocking? And less than 45 of them were located there three months later?
Does that mean the majority of them are migrating down stream, i.e. below Route 9?
If they are all dying off, wouldn't the DFW (and we fishermen) find many more of their carcasses over the ensuing three months? If everyone is practicing catch and release above Route 9, shouldn't there be far more than just this approximate 45? I suppose a dead trout is going to sink to the bottom no matter what, but with all the pressure the Swift gets above Route 9, wouldn't we fisherman begin noticing dead rainbows with more frequency?
With all of the postings on this blog, do you have a memory of other fishermen reporting/seeing lots of rainbow carcasses?
I don't pretend to know the migratory patterns of hatchery raised rainbows, but this study seems to raise, for me, more questions than it answers. Thanks for the informative posts, as always.
Tom from Boston.
WrongDay and Tom from Boston,
Two questions/One answer - My guess is that they migrate downstream. We would see more dead bows if they were dying above route 9.
It's said that bows like to flow downstream while browns like to stay put. Not just my opinion but info that came from the DFW.
Ken
I think the reason the state stocks rainbows....they grow faster in the hatchery than browns do...its always about $$.
Why they don't stick around-well I was reading and linked to a telemetry study they did at the Deerfield and may still be doing. Fish can and do move quite a distance in a short period of time (as far as 4-5 miles in a couple of days).
I think once they are stocked-after the initial shock, they need to find food and I suspect its easier for them as hatchery fish to find more food downstream-especially with so many new residents in such a short stretch of river. I may be wrong but they probably go into survival mode pretty quickly and move to start trying to find what seems to be recognizable food. I am also certain the poaching crowd has an effect.
they should probably extend the study beyond both the temporary and permanent C&R areas to get more definitive answers. The fish, to they best of my knowledge don't pay attention to whats catch and release and what isn't
Bob T,
Many newly stocked bows end up below the Pipe because they smell the hatchery (home) and know were the food is (pellet hatch). I have been told by hatchery management that bows grow quicker than browns and that they are wary of pissing off anglers by growing and releasing browns which will be smaller at release time than bows. I have been told that they don't want sporting groups complaining about smaller fish but this is nothing but placating the catch and freeze crowd who are only around at stocking time and not through the whole season.
Ken
Ken,
Where I mostly fish in Bondsville, it seems the rainbows stick around better in the spring. The catch and keep folks thin out the herd after a while, but never get them all, and some are still to be had for a good while after spring stocking.
Fall stocking, they seem to get scarce in a hurry. I have no idea why that would be unless they are following the spawning brookies. I caught darned few rainbows this fall, as did a couple of angler friends of mine who reported the same.
One common denominator whether spring or fall is the stocked fish change the fishing. For example, I would have certain zones dialed in where I could pretty much count on trout taking insects on or near the top on a regular basis, but once stocking took place that activity came to an abrupt end. I often think to myself that fishing was better before stocking. I have read that stocked fish are very aggressive and chase the holdover residents and native brookies off. I believe that to be true.
Sam
I'll have to dig it up but i do have a picture of what I always assumed to be a stream born brown trout parr caught in the bubbler arm a few years back ive spoke to a few others that have caught them as well, any chance that there has been successful spawns in the past ?
Sam,
The same is true on the open water on the Beaverkill in the Catskills. Right after the stocked fish arrive the fishing goes downhill.
"Doc"
Paul Fay,
I think the DFW guys would of seen them them way they carpet bombed the Swift with electroshocking the last few years. My bet is that they may have been very young salmon. It is strange that there is a lack of evidence on successful brown spawning. Don't brookies and browns, like all trout, need similar spawning habitat. The brookies have it. Why not browns.
Ken
There are not many watersheds in Massachusetts with reproducing browns (at least from the State biologist). There are no streams with reproducing rainbows, the state biologist said that has to do with the ph levels in the water.
There are some good documentaries on farm raised trout and why they make problems for native fish. The biggest is they are larger and don't know how to behave in the river. They out compete the native fish for the best spots in the river. The problem is their genetics are not as good as the wild fish and don't survive as well in the river through the seasons. Out west in some of the states, they stopped stocking and have more fish than before.
Basically stocked fish are big and not that healthy and put pressure on the natives.
This is a good book on the subject "An Entirely Synthetic Fish: How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World"
JonBoxboro,
I've read that book not just once but twice. Bows don't make it in Ma but brookies do and browns grown large but can't seem to sustain themselves through spawning. It would be great if they did. Brook trout, as all trout, like the same spawning habitat so what's the problem with browns? If they can grow to 20 lbs why can't we foster a race of browns with that genetic makeup?
Rainbows are there for the masses which includes fly fishers who beat a well worn path to the CR above Route 9 and then fish for "tame" trout.
Ken
What percentage of trout in the Swift would you say are taken by eagles, otters and beavers?
Beavers don't eat trout.
eagles and otters take some but not a lot
Ken
A blue heron can consume at least 1 full size trout a day, my personal observation on the Westfield River!
I wouldn't totally discount natural predation of stocked trout that have little innate fear of predators. I watched a blue heron eat 5 or 6 large trout in little more than an hour... dragging the fish up onto the ice covering the spillway before swallowing them.
Brendan,
My source says that a heron can eat a pound of trout a day. That's less that 5 or 6 large trout.
Strange about the "ice covering the spillway" scene. Most blue herons are long gone by that time of the year.
Ken
I would certainly consider that episode to be an exceptional occurrence, not a normal one. I think the fish were congregated under the ice making for easy targets if/when they wandered out from underneath. I do see herons year-round where there is open water... the Swift certainly qualifies.
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