I Don't Get It.

 

"The solution to any problem- work, love money, whatever- is to go fishing and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be".

Armed for Stripers and Blues

It's been a strange Spring. Cold, high water and cold, high winds all of which appear to be over.  But there is something "off" with the trout fishing.  I've caught trout but there is something unsatisfying about the whole thing.  After mulling this over for the last few months I think I've found the problem - I don't want to fish over fresh stockers, especially the dumb rainbows.  I've come to the conclusion that every time you catch a clonebow it's just another reminder that the DFW isn't listening to you (if you are a believer in stream born trout) and are listening to the power bait crowd instead who just want more and bigger (triploid?) trout.  Why don't they stock more browns?  The "off the record" answer was the fish and gun clubs will be ringing the phone off the hook complaining if smaller browns replace larger bows. My answer was that they only complain until Memorial Day. We, flyfishers, will complain all year!  We got a laugh out of that but that was about it and the madness continues.  According to their own stocking reports the DFW HAS NOT STOCKED THE EB WITH BROWNS THIS SPRING in the Chesterfield C&R section. Why not??? Browns outlast bows in the EB and just about everywhere else. What replaced the browns??  How about the damn tiger trout, that genetic goofball, that the DFW wastes hatchery space on.  BTW, I've only found 2 dead trout on the EB and they were both tigers.

Will I stop fishing?  No way. I'll just adjust my game.  I'll visit the Swift to fish for those great stream born brookies. (two years ago I took 59 brookies from 6 inches to 14 inches on three successive mornings ON DRIES down in Cady Lane. I'll try to target those monster browns on cloudy evenings (not stream born they say but a true survivor) and I'll be working the lower Millers for smallmouth, a totally under appreciated fish.  And I will be chasing stripers and bluefish a lot this summer (more on that later).

I love the taste of bluefish!!

Ken

Very Special Lost Rod And Reel

  

Folks,

Read the two paragraphs below. Finding the lost rod and reel and returning them would get you a pass into Fly Fishing Heaven. If you find them send me an email (ken.elmer9@gmail.com) and I'll contact the owner. - Ken

"My name is (withheld). You guided me on the Millers back in 2019, and I've followed your blog ever since. I'm writing because I've recently (last night 5/20) lost a fly rod and reel, when I left it at the East Branch of the Ware in Princeton.  The rod is a Thomas and Thomas 8' 6 weight, and the reel is a Bogden.    They belonged to my late husband, so I'm attached to them beyond their actual value.

I'm hoping you might put in a word on your blog to anyone who may have picked them up and is looking to return them.   I'd really appreciate any help or suggestions - and I'm more than willing to pay a reward for their return."

Thanks - 

Beefing Up A Dry Fly And The Rivers

 "Flyfishing is solitary, contemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations. It's not even clear if catching fish is actually the point." - John Gierach

I always keep a few of these in my fly box during the months of May and June. Take a size 14 comparadun and copy it onto a size 10 dry fly hook. Replace the hackle fiber tail with a tail of deer hair and make the body very robust.  During May and June we have our largest insects on the freestones (not the tailwaters) and trout are geared up to seeing and feeding on large March Browns, larger caddis and stoneflies. Imagine dusk on the Millers or the EB on the second week of June and browns are working the surface. This fly replaced my old Millers River Bivisible because it has the same floating qualities as the MRB but it's easier to tie and you can see it in failing light.

The Rivers

All the flows are fine except the Swift. We will have brutal heat today and on Sunday but the next week looks kind of cloudy and cool which is perfect.  The Swift is still at 300 cfs as it's been since early April. I'd love to see it back to it's historical average of 60 cfs.

I'll be grilling this weekend but I still love working over a hot stove. Sauteed chicken, spinach, potatoes, carrots and chick peas seasoned heavy with cumin is a favorite.

Go Fish,

Ken

 

Notes On The Dry Fly

 

 "Any disturbance of the surface made by a trout is usually referred to as a "rise", but the characterization is erroneous except where it is applied to fish feeding upon the surface.  Rising fish are the delight of the dry fly fisher, but are really the easiest to take provided, always, that no error is made in the presentation of the fly.  The angler is called upon to exhibit a fine skill is casting, a knowledge of the insect upon which the fish is feeding, and to make the proper selection of an imitation; but he is aided materially by being apprised of the location of the fish, and is further helped by the knowledge that he is throwing to a willing one." - George M.L. LaBranche, The Dry Fly And Fast Water

As any regular reader of this blog knows I am a devotee of the soft hackle fly and the "swing" of that fly. No other presentation mimics the pre-emergence stage of an aquatic insect and if the trout are feeding and the presentation is right you will catch trout.

But it's the DRY FLY that captures the real essence of fly fishing and it has since the mid to late 1800's and it's patron saints, Gordon, LaBranche, Hewitt, Halford codified the techniques that worked best.

Upstream Cast

First off, they all used an upstream presentation which, if done right, will present a drag free offering. Imagine a clock face with the angler standing at 6 and the rising trout at 11 or 1.  You can cast without "lining" the trout. If the trout is rising at 11 then the angler should position at 5 or 4 and cast a few feet above the steady rise. Just keep your fly line away from the riser.

Most of my dry fly trout are caught with this presentation.

Hunting for Rises

I have come across pools and runs that look very promising but I see no rises.  This usually happens in the late afternoon when the sun is still high. That's when I search out the riffles with a buoyant attractor fly. Cast upstream on a fairly short line is all it takes.  As the sun sets you should move back to the pools and runs.  The action will be there.

One of my favorite methods has been the very slow walk upstream looking for rises. This worked like a dream on the Squanny years ago.  The walk started around 6pm and would go to sundown and there were always rising trout or should I say RISING BROWNS. Rainbows were never in the mix.

A Dry Fly Summer

2009 was a damp Summer. Not washouts but enough rain to keep the rivers flowing. It was a perfect Summer on the EB where I fished many evenings. I would drive down to the gate and then take the walk to Les's Pool or start at Slant Rock Pool and fish up to Chronicle Run and then to The Bliss Pool.  I caught a lot of trout that Summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day and they were all caught on an upstream dry fly!!!

It's Perfect Out There!!!!

 

Here are the numbers:

 Millers River 436 cfs

Eb - 208 cfs

Ware River 102 cfs

Swift River - 316 cfs

All the rivers, with the exception of the Swift, are perfect!!!  No real rain is in sight so the Quabbin overflow will end soon and that pesky NW wind (which was a very abnormal condition) appears to be over.

Now's the time to fish another river and not the same old same old. 

Get out and do it!!!

Ken

What's Up With The Swift And Other Rivers

 "A trout is a moment of beauty known only to those who seek it." 

Hendrickson by Thomas Ames Jr.

I was coming back from a semi successful late morning on the Ware when I decided to checkout the mighty Swift. It was noon on Thursday and there were only five vehicles at the Route 9 parking lot and ZERO at the gauge.  We know why that is: the flow is too high. On that day (May 5) it was roaring away at 381 cfs and as I write the flow has increased to 395!!!!  It's the only river that is actually rising. What's the solution? It's go fish the Ware or the EB or anywhere else until the overflow on the Swift stops.  If you read the comments section of this blog you will see that readers are out there and fishing local, smaller waters with good success.  You should too!!!

                                                             "Fish On" At The Y Pool

If you do venture to the Swift head to the Bubbler Arm because that section should be manageable. The Y Pool is fishable but after that I would head to another river because the Swift is a terrible place to fish when it's flooded.  Maybe it's because the stream bed was channelized down to the Route 9 bridge back in the late 1930's but something seems very unnatural about the place.  It's a much better place to fish when the flow is hovering around 60 cfs.

The Wind

This has been a goofy Spring with the constant north by northwest gale that has been blowing our fly lines around for a month.  I also believe it's been blowing the freshly hatched bugs around. I haven't seen the concentrations of mayflies and caddis as in the past.  I believe that they are out there but just hunkering down until conditions improve.

A Very Simple Emerger

When things calm down on the Swift or you have a Farmington day in the near future you may want to test this fly.  I caught my first Farmington trout on a size 18 version of my Simple Emerger and have taken many on the Swift too.

Hook - dry fly from size 12 through the mid 20's

Tail - a few dun hackle fibers

Body - rabbit mask picked out and roughed up.  Any color that you want.

Rib - a single strand of midge flash (only 3 to 4 turns)

Happy Mothers Day

Ken

What To Know About Hendricksons

" If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads you're doing something wrong" - John Gierach

Here's a check off list that you can use during Hendrickson time:

1. If the fly has two tails it's not a Hendrickson because they have three. Most likely it's the first cousin the Quill Gordon.  The Gordons hatch first but there can be some overlap to these hatches.

2. The magic conditions for Hendrickson are water temperature and atmospheric conditions. Personal experience by this writer and others I trust mark off 54 degrees as the perfect water temperature for the hatch. That means that this should be a mid day/ afternoon hatch. You will not see floating duns at 7am, period. Now for atmospheric conditions.  I've seen the heaviest hatches on overcast days. Not the dark, cold BWO conditions but a hazy sky and mild air temperatures.  That will trigger them.  One thing that doesn't deter the hatch is high water.  If the temperature is right they will hatch but if the flow is too heavy the trout will not rise for them.   One local dry fly guy has this up and one rafting guide said he killed thousands with his oars but not one trout rose.  My theory is that the high water keeps the trout from seeing the mayflies on the surface.  Fish wet flies!!!

3. From the Catskill patterns to Art Flicks quill bodies to Caucci and Nastasi comparaduns to Bob Wyatts DHE series, all will take trout but some better that others.  You have to fine out which ones.

Ken

We are starting the best month of fly fishing.  Rivers like the Ware, EB and it's cousins the WB and the MB should be fine.

Go Fish!!

Goodbye April And Hello May On The Millers

My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said "ok, you're ugly too" - Rodney Dangerfield

Lost above Route 9.  The tip section of an Orvis Clearwater. Contact me and I'll contact the owner.  Ken

Yes, T.S. Elliot said that "April is the cruelest month" which leads me to believe that he was a flyfisher going through an April like what we have gone through. Cold weather, cold, high water and a steady NW wind made it difficult.

But things are changing. The EB and the Ware are now flowing fine. The Millers has dropped over 300 cfs in one week.  It's still high at 628 but Orcutt Brook is very fishable.  That's where I was yesterday.  The wind still sucked but two bows came to the net.  Give this river some time and remember, Orcutt Pool is the best place to fish this river when the flow is over 450 CFS.

                                                             Ocutt in the Summer

The Swift

It's starting to drorainbowp. A week ago it was flowing at 454 cfs and is now at 362. Most of that excess is the "over the dam" flow and as soon as Quabbin drops the Swift will drop like a rock (same thing happened three years ago).  And remember what I wrote a few posts ago about fishing the Overflow Arm. 

Thank You

You readers have been swamping me with comments and that is great. Unlike some other blogs most of the comments are from readers and not from the author(s).  Just a note: it seems that there is a lot of support to turn down our reliance on rainbows and put more emphasis on habitat and species that will have a fighting chance of making it through the Summer.  That's a good thing.  

 

I'm hearing stories about fly fishers going into what appears to be a state of depression because they are not catching trout this Spring.  WAKE UP!!!!  These are dumb recently stocked fish and they are not what we are after. For me the fly fishing season starts when the flows go down, the water temperature goes up and the mayflies and caddis start hatching.  I'll fish in the cold and snow if steelhead, lake run browns or salmon are the game but rubber bows????

Ken