October Pumpkin Caddis

 

     

The largest swarm of this particular caddis that I've seen was on the Millers River about 10 years ago.  That mid afternoon in October had millions (maybe) in the air.  They came in waves, all flowing upstream and I was covered with them.  The trout couldn't give a damn about them. A few days later with just a sparse hatch the trout couldn't get enough on them. So it is with this big tempting caddis fly. I always carry some with me on autumn days because you never know. BTW, the trout on that day 10 years ago were hitting a size 20 BWO.  Go figure.

I tie this fly on a size 16 hook with a very sparse tail of fine deer hair, a body of rust colored hares ear and a sparse wing of deer hair like the wing.  I color the wing with an orange marker because I think it adds to the fly although the trout may think differently.  Don't think for one second that this fly has to be pretty and perfect and all of that. The trout don't care!!

The EB and the Squannie

When you check out the DFW stocking page this Fall you will see a spot where you can ask a question.  Ask This: how come the Westfield River at Chesterfield Gorge, the premier freestone C&R river in MA isn't on the Fall stocking list.  There's enough water from the Gorge downstream and it's cool enough for trout!

 If you are stocking the Ware River why not the EB of the Westfield???????????  Same with the Sqannacook.

Ken

Fall

 "Shorten your line, focus your casts, and slow things down.  Enjoy the magic of local fishing."  - Fennel Hudson

It finally happened. We got this drought ridden Summer behind us and some early Fall rains have brought the rivers up to a fishable level.

The Swift actually came down from its months long 110 cfs level down to the mid 40's which is perfect.  "Perfect for what" some may ask. Perfect for brookie spawning which is more important for that river and to those who fish it than a 110 cfs flow. I like skinny flows on that river!!  

What's Up With The EB and the

Squannie??

I've noticed that the EB and the Squannacook Rivers have not been added to the 2022 Fall Stocking list.  Why would two premier rivers be left off the list?  It's not the flow level because both rivers are well within their many decade long flow average for this time of year.  It's not the temperature of the water because that is good too and will only get better. It's amazing that Jamaica Pond in the wilds of downtown Boston will get fish but the above two rivers will not. 

The DFW should reexamine this faulty decision and correct it or at least explain their rationale!!

Soft Hackle orders keep coming in.  Thank you!!!

Ken

The Myths Of Autumn

 

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

I was flipping through a fly fishing website that had what the author stated was the perfect Euro nymphing fly box.  The box was a collection of bead heads - you know the ones - Pheasant Tails, Sexy Walts, Rainbow Warriors and that awful Perdigon collection(I call them lures, not flies.)  That's when I was reminded of an experiment I performed for this blog about 10 years ago.  I remember reading where Thomas Ames, Jr. only listed one beadhead fly in his book Hatch Guide For New England Streams.  His reasoning was that he didn't really know whether the trout was attracted to the dressing of the fly or the bead.  I solved it for him! 

I glued a bead to a hook (there was no thread, dubbing or anything placed on the hook by me.)  I went to the Swift and caught a couple of rainbows and browns in short order with just the bead.  Case closed!!!

The Myth of Fall Feeding

You will see it if you haven't already.  Someone will claim that trout will put on the "feed bag" right after spawning so you should have a good supply of big, ugly streamers to get in on the game.  Tom Rosenbaurer of Orvis laid this myth to rest when he said that a trout will consume more calories in May and June than October and November.  For shear numbers October rules for me. The streams are mostly low and there's lots of insect life of which, the Isonychia, is my favorite. It's big and it moves fast.

My Least Favorite Month

And that month is July for obvious reasons.  It's the hottest month of the year (I love freestones but July can be brutal for them) and we have a lot of sunshine right up to 9pm which stalls the Evening Rise which is the best time to fish with dry flies. On the other hand September has darkness falling at about 7pm which means rising trout with no waiting!!!!  In fact, one doesn't have to hit the road at 3am unless you are addicted to crowded places. 

Flies for Sale

Stock up on Soft Hackles for the Fall. Size 14 through 18 should cover all conditions. The Partridge and Orange and the Partridge and Olive are good bets.

Ken

Soft Hackles - Don't Leave Home Without Them

 

Partridge and Orange

I group all trout flies into two groups: one that represents aquatic insects and one that doesn't. The "doesn't" group( includes all streamers (imitation of baitfish),and all terrestrial insects (ants, bees and grasshoppers are not aquatic insects).  Now, it doesn't mean that I don't fish with these flies it's just tha I prefer to imitate aquatic insects either in the mature or immature stage. But maybe the underlying reason is that the most beautiful creature we will come in contact with while fishing, besides the trout, is the Mayfly!

This ephemeral, gossamer and dainty creature is too beautiful to live anywhere else but a trout stream.  I find plenty of specimens without killing any by just an visiting the stream side bushes and checking out the spider webs.  It's also a good opportunity to take some close up photos to help with the imitation that you will make.

Don't forget your soft hackles for this Fall Season. Chances are the river flows will be lower then normal which makes the SH the subsurface fly of choice. Sizes 14, 16 and 18 should do the job.

The rain earlier this week was perfect. No washout but just a good steady rain (unless you live in Rhode Island which go clobbered)  Local streams made out ok:

The Millers- from 40 cfs to 208 (perfect)

EB              - from 10 cfs to 114 (very good)

The Ware    -7 cfs to 72 It's a start

The Swift     110 cfs again.

One rainy day a week into November will give us some sport before things freeze up.  The above photo was taken last October on the Swift.  Signs of things to come.

Ken

September Dry Fly Fishing, The Comparadun Revisited And An Update

 

September Dry Fly Fishing, The Comparadun Revisited And An Update

"Do you need a 50-fish day dredging the depths with three jig-head nymphs drifting under an indicator? Or will half a dozen trout rising to dry flies prove equally fulfilling? - John Shewey, Editor In Chief of Fly Fishing Magazine, September/October 2016 edition

It seems that there is some "conventional wisdom" being cast upon the waters that dry fly fishing, outside of #28,#30 and #32 midge fishing, is at some kind of low spot during September here in New England. This is a half baked idea that doesn't stand up to even casual scrutiny. For starters let's look at what UPCOUNTRY FLY SHOP, (Farmington experts) suggest for a late summer, early fall dry fly selection:Tan Caddis 16-18, Light Cahills 12-14, White Flies (good on the Housy too) - 12-14, Ants #20 and Blue Wing Olives 20-24.

These are not midges. These are the flies that hatch throughout New England (fewer white flies, very many BWO's) and give September the reputation of being, next to June, as the BEST dry fly month of the year. And let's not forget the terrestrials because September is the best month for them. Grasshoppers, crickets and ants rule the month. Take a walk up the railroad tracks to the Upper Trestle Pool on the Millers any day during September. You will see hundreds of grasshoppers in that short walk fleeing your approach. In June you could sit on your back deck in the evening and the landscape would be fairly quiet. Now it's September and you will hear a million crickets. I've had my best ant action in September when ant colonies split up, sprout wings and end up landing in trout streams.Terrestrials mean surface action!! It happens in September!!

The Blue Wing Olive is the MAJOR hatch of the Autumn and the Millers is a great place to see wonderful surface action to these insects. My best dry fly day was in early October on the EB and it was to the BWO. The Millers still has Cahills in September and that is a size 14 fly. The Pumpkin Caddis drifts in WAVES over the Millers in late September and it is best represented by a size 12 or 14 imitation. I still see Cream Cahills on the Swift in September. Never a populated hatch it continues from late May into September and the trout like them. I remember casting size 14-16 Light Cahills on warm September days years ago on the Squannacook when it seemed that every trout in the river was rising to SOME fly that my limited entomology failed to recognize. The Cahill matched what the trout wanted. They were not after midges.

In short, carry midges because you may need them but don't start dredging the depths because you think that dry flies with "meat on them" are through for the year.

COMPARADUNS - It's my favorite dry fly pattern and I have now tied most of my standard dries(including BWO's) this way for 35 years while giving up on the standard hackle patterns. Why's that? It's because it puts the body (the most important part) down in the film while hackle patterns really do not. And most rising trout are going after the insect caught in the surface film and not the dainty little sailboat floating downstream. Look at the comparadun photo above and you will see a small ball of dubbing in front of the deer hair. It's used to anchor that hair in place. I'm still surprised how many of these flies don't incorporate it. What about the Parachute?? I love to tie them because they look so nice and the body is in the film BUT caparaduns are easier to tie and are more durable. Dubbing and deer hair and that's it. What about the small sizes? Ultra fine deer hair works to about #18 then go to poly yarn or even better CDC. Kill the tail, use a curved light wire scud hook and you REALLY have a great emerger pattern.

Another BWO pattern that I like in #18 and #20 is nothing more the a wispy tail, olive dubbing and two turns of green dyed grizzly hackle (shown above). The green dye comes out a nice shade of dark olive on a grizzly hackle and it's mottled too. It's a dun or a spinner. I have to do something with all those hackle capes!!!

This year was supposed to be a big year for Atlantic tropical storms but so far it's been a bust.  We need the rain for our freestones and we need it in September.

Ken