Now, which flow do I like best? I'll take the low flow any day.
1. I love skinny water! I love drifting small dries, wets and emerging patterns over trout that are in less than 10 inches of water. Tiny flies and stealthy casts are in my blood. You have those conditions with a cfs in the 40's.
2. Euro nymphers appear lost with those conditions. The current is too weak to barge those tungsten bombs that they fish with.
3. Flows over 60 cfs change the Cady Lane section from something that is very wadable in the 40's and not wadable at 100 +. (and I'm not talking about the top of Cady Lane but below the horse farm to the cottages.
4. Brook trout love skinny riffles for spawning beds with just a couple of inches covering their backs. 114 cfs is, in my opinion, way too much velocity for successful spawning.
Top Summer fly
The Summer just works and is #1 on the Swift for me during the warm months.
All the rivers are flowing nicely (maybe too nicely). I've had good results on the Millers and have heard the same about the EB. BOOK ME!!!
Ken
10 comments:
I like an occasional bump in flows...it stirs up some bug/insect life can wash terrestrials in and puts fish on the feed. I have had some of my best days after a bump in flows...on the Housatonic, some rocky mountain tailwaters and freestones as well as the Deerfield to name a few-in college when I fished the Swift a few times a week I preferred the higher flow...they seemed to have it run at 120 until about 3 every day then drop it...I could be wrong but that is what I remember. It not usually dry fly nirvana but something big and oversized(think Stimulator or oversized ant/beetle) will often interest a couple to a few fish and you can drop a small wet or nymph off of a stimmie. I generally just like when there is enough cool water to support the trout they don't leave the river, just reposition...after the last month especially! I find I feel like a more accomplished fisherman if I can successfully deal with the conditions as they are.
The EB has been fishing awesome since the rain went this after noon and hooked up with 4, 3 rainbows and a 16 inch brown took the cake take advantage of these flows while they are here and hope we can keep getting rain to keep them up!
Anonymous,
Glad to see you up there. This rain did the trick!!
Ken
Ken,
Took a ride up to Quabbin with my wife yesterday and I always make a point to check the water level of the spillway. It is less than a foot from the top. Recent rains have filled Quabbin up pretty well.
Sam
Sam,
Good to hear from you.
Currently Quabbin is at 94.1% capacity which they consider the normal range. If the water level gets higher we could have another 2010 or 2018 where we had a overflow and salmon made an appearance. That would be good if it's after the brookies spawn.
Ken
Friday may bring quite a bit of rain...its good for the long term health of trout fishing in the northeast but may cause some shenanigans in the near term...wait an see.
BobT I couldn’t agree with your first post more. I like a change in flow and i have been catching big fish on size 8 and 10 flies. Not every one is interested, but those that are crush it. I haven’t seen a lot of hoppers, but I have made the switch to terrestrials until the sulphur action really picks up again. I am going out again today and dance around the the tstorms.
1500 to 2000 fish stocked in the Swift.....my a$$! Walked the river with my son from Y Pool down past Cady Lane, and then to Bondsville. Very very few fish seen, unless all were put into one secret pool. But, more shocking was apparently done above route 9 today to apparently study the movement of a few stocked fish. I am glad that DFW is spending so much time and money to optimize the number and dispersion of stocked fish. (Sarcasm)
Chico,
2 years ago they stocked above Rt 9 but nobody was seeing or catching many fish. They shocked the river from below the power lines to the Y Pool. They shocked hundreds of trout. I was there and I saw it. Remember, the flow may have been lower then the 115cfs we have today.
Personally, I'd like less shocking but more browns stocked.
Ken
Now that you mention it, Ken, I've never been able to spawn successfully at 114cfs either.
Cheers,
Dave P.
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