Some anglers never learn. We see it all of the time - a nice trout laying on the shoreline rocks for that precious photo opportunity. That photo can be taken while the trout and the net are in the water. No harm done that way but for some reason it just doesn't sink in!
The worst example of poor fish handling was the very recent photo of someone doing a one handed death grip on some poor brookie. The grip was so strong that you could see what looked like milt running down the tail of that brookie!!!!
Salmon
There have been some interesting reports this season of salmon in the Swift. They all seem to be in the 8 to 12 inch range and they are everywhere from the Bubbler down into the depths of Bondsville. These guys are the aftermath of the 2018 October overflow which sent hundreds of BIG salmon into the Swift where they immediately began to dig redds and spawn. Here's my question. Brookies spawn all over the Swift. The DFW says browns don't spawn but just get stocked and grow BIG. Rainbows don't do anything and need to be replenished a few times a year. WHY NOT TRY PLANTING LL SALMON?? They seem to do well even with that unintentional accidental stocking. Some salmon in northern New England are stream residents and don't need aa big lake to grow out in.
Just a thought.
Try putting a bit of color (orange) as the thorax of your next soft hackle. The fly to the left is a Grouse and Flash with a orange thorax which makes sense during the egg season.
Ken
10 comments:
I'd like to see them stock LLSalmon in Littleville Res. Would be a nice run to fish in the Middle Branch!
Everytime I toss one of my PO soft hackles (#12, #14, #16, #18), tied after your versions, I catch fish. Can't argue with success.
Charles
Anonymous,
Their excuse for not doing it is that there isn't enough biomass for the LLS to feed on. There are smelt in Littleville already and the Middle Branch is a good spawning stream.
Charles,
They work all of the time!!
Ken
Speaking of LLS
Right now, the hordes have descended on the Stillwater river because the LLS are having a late run. Numerous out of state plates are filling the usual parking area as their owner’s repeatedly stomp through the redds on their way to their favorite lies in hope of hooking/snagging a spawning fish. It’s the same kind of behavior that turned me off from fishing the Salmon River in Pulaski but now it’s in my backyard and getting worse.
I only wonder what’s going to happen when the Horseshoe dam is removed and the Quinnie gets its own fall run.
Perhaps now is the time to consider regulations
Perhaps FFO With C+R after October 1.
I can only hope
Mike
There seems to be a lot of rainbows pairing up on redds above rt9. I caught one last weekend (not on a redd) that released milt as soon as he was netted. Are they just going through the motions or are there some wild ‘bows in the river? I know some of the stocked fish are fall spawners and I’ve caught wild rainbows in the Deerfield (the TU chapter there is forming a study).
Mike (HamOnFly),
Good to hear from you!!
"Out of State plates" on the Stillwater?? I always remembered the locals mucking the place up. That river is too small for for that kind of attention. I hope it's like other places where most of the attention goes to a spot or two (Y Pool, The Pipe) and the rest is left alone.
Alan,
We have been told that the bows don't reproduce due to the fact that the females are sterile. Bows go through the motions with no results.
Ken
Regarding the Stillwater, agree with HOF...I hadn't fished the Stillwater in over a dozen years due to the lack of regs the state has on that fall fishery. Would watch tons of guys sitting over redds, dropping worms on their noses for hours, then snagging them if they would not take. Apparently MAF&W has no concerns. Stopped by the river about a 3 weeks ago only to find several out of state vehicles as well.
HamOnFly — I have witnessed the mess at the Stillwater and once saw an EPO there so I talked to him. He couldn’t care less about the LLS or the fact that there were people snagging them walking through the Redds. It’s the day I really realized how useless EPO’s are. They are just there to write tickets. The Stillwater his historic in the sense that is the southern most wild LLS spawning area. Nothing south of the Stillwater has spawning wild LLS.
Not sure what to make of this, Ken, but I netted a nice rainbow tonight that was brought in after a fairly short fight. Hooked in the corner of the mouth, the barbless hook came right out.
Standing in slack water, I let it go and it sunk directly to the bottom laying on its side instead of swimming off like what usually happens. At my feet, I netted it again and held it upright for a few minutes and it seemed to regain its bearings as it slowly swam off to get in some bank side roots. I didn't play this fish long so I can't figure out why it sank like a rock. I have never had this happen before even in mid-winter when the water is colder than what it is now.
Sam
Anonymous and Falsecast,
I don't care what the DFW says but this State has nothing in the way of wild trout management.
I remember the angling hordes chasing salmon on the Stillwater thirty years ago. The one saving grace is that they don't spread out and explore. I guess I can call it the Y Pool Syndrome! We have native brook trout all over the Swift, LLS in Wachusett and Quabbin and brown trout holding over all over the State yet there doesn't seem to be any real effort to expand on this.
Ken
Sam,
I've seen that happen a few times if the trout was released in slack water.
Ken
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