"We do have to think about conservation now, although it is chilling to realize there are catch-and-release fishermen alive today who don't know how to clean and fry a fish" -John Gierach
Swift River Landlocked Salmon
It was the winter of 2018 when Quabbin overflowed in late October and sent God knows how many landlocks into the Swift River. Those brutes were still there the next summer and then the strangest thing happened - 6 to 8 inch salmon began to be caught in the Swift.
The question now is are they still there?? I've only received a dribble of reports this year (2022) and the jury is still out as to whether or not they were salmon or small browns. Fill me in!!
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The Unsinkable Soft Hackle
What happens when you combine partridge hackle (soft, flimsy and very sinkable) with very kinky high floating poly post wing material? You get a fly that floats like a cork has very lively materials that suggest life.
Take a size 16 curved light wire hook and create a thread body from the thorax to the hook bend (2 layers of 8/0 will do.)
Take a small bundle of poly post material and tie it to the top of the hook at the thorax. Each end of that bundle should be about a 1/2 inch long. Pull the ends up tightly and then snip that material so that it flairs out as a wing.
Tie in 2 turns of partridge in front of the poly wing and you are done.
The Gierach quote at the top of this post is one of my favorites. Any other Gierach quote that values solitude over crowds does well for me. In fact, I am under the impression that most of the newbies to this sport really don't like to fish alone. I guided one young man from Beantown who asked me if I ever had any concerns about meeting some strange charactors out in the wilds.I said no, but they should have some concerns about meeting me!
Three months until April
Ken
10 comments:
Happy New Year, Ken. Have definitely caught landlocks, and some small ones, in the Swift in recent years, including this past summer. Forked tail, different spotting, extra color on gillplate, and that characteristic first leap after getting hooked. These are not browns. Only Q is whether they, too, spilled over some years ago or somehow more recently, or whether somehow there is reproduction going on. My bet is on spillover, but I’ve seen studies that suggest that landlocks can take hold in streams in small numbers.
Ken- Yes, it's odd that we do not harvest a trout or two especially when they are stockers which probably will not survive for long.
DM
Hey Ken, yes i have absolutely caught a couple of those 7 o 8" LL. Brooke Addict said it perfectly, once you hook up with one, they leap like crazy !One was caught way up in the bubbler arm, and one near the tree pool below the pipe.This was in Nov of 2020.
Brookie Addict,
Back in 2018 many LLS went over the spillway and started digging redds. About 2 years later the small guys started to show up on the end of a line. If they spawn in the West Branch of the Swift why not in the mail stem?
Ken
BTown Jim,
I caught 2 6-7” salmon in 2019 and one 12” salmon in 2020, but none in 21 or 22. The shock boys saw me catch the 12” fish and insisted it fell out of the Quabbin, but they don’t think anything (except brook trout) reproduce in the Swift below Quabbin. The 12” salmon was caught about 1/3 mile above Cold Spring Road, a long way from the reservoir.
Hey folks, Yes i have definitely caught 2 of these 7-8" LLS, One was in November of 2020, the other i think later that spring. Brookie addict is spot on, as soon as i hooked them, leaps and jumps like mad. For there size, they're spunky. I agree, I don't see why they couldn't successfully preproduce in the main stem.
-ST
Btown Jim,
I've caught 5 inch salmon in the Swift a year after the last overflow and I don't think that most double digit browns were once living in a hatchery. Even if they were it is great to see them thriving in the Swift BUT I think there is evidence that they were spawned in the Swift.
Ken
I caught a fish of about 8 inches last week in the stretch below Cady Lane that was either a small brown or a salmon. Silver body with small black and red spots. Didn’t notice if the tail was forked but since I’ve never encountered a brown trout of that size in the swift I wondered if it might be a salmon.
BDCarl,
Sounds like a salmon. Take a photo next time if you can.
Ken
Ken,
I caught a fair number of small salmon in 2019 that were in the 8-9" range and caught a few in 2020 and 2021 that were in the 11 - 13" range. The numbers were fewer each year. In 2022 I only caught one fish that I thought might be a salmon and I am not sure that one wasn't a sparsely spotted brown.
During the timeframe from 2019 - 2021 occasionally I would hook into something substantial, none of which I landed. Must have happened a half dozen times where I would hook a nice fish that took to the air 8 or 9 times before the barbless hook let go. When I say took to the air I mean 2 or 3 feet out of the water time after time. In retrospect I bet those bigger ones were salmon too being I have never seen anything fight the way they did!
I would be all for DFW stocking a few salmon into the Swift each year.
Regards, Sam
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