Kempfield Pool on the Millers
Tailwaters drive me crazy especially on a cold wet Spring such as we have had this year. The Swift turned into a freestone want-to-be with a 3 month flood with its flow overtaking rivers like the EB and the Ware. It is, as we know, an artificial river with it's flows mainly controlled by the guys who run Quabbin. Frankly, I like the Swift on days in the dead of Summer but I really love the freestones like the Millers, EB and the Ware on Summer evenings. They are not artificial rivers and are not crowded like the Swift or the Farmington. It is the way trout fishing used to be before tailwaters were invented in the mid 20th century.
Freestone Conditions
The Millers, Ware and the EB are perfect now!! Try to hit them now in the evening which in the best time!!!
Ken
15 comments:
Ken,
I'm curious...are you actively fishing these central/western MA rivers, as we know you have moved to the north shore? Are you doing the multi hour schlep to these waters several times a week?
No multi hour schlep this Spring because the conditions have sucked. Just a few attempts. I've been casting for stripers with limited success. Maybe I'll move back!
Ken
Nothing like An Evening hatch on a Freestone, the river comes alive!
The Ware is fishing fantastic right now. About 30 trout to hand in 2 hours fishing. Unfortunately the browns they recently stocked it with look terrible. 10-12 inches maximum and super beat up. Most had torn fins all over and no pectoral fins at all. They remind me of a decaying post spawn salmon.
Anonymous,
In late May the Ware gets a helping of browns that traditionally have been on the small side. Physically they always appeared fine so this is a surprise.
Ken
Fly Fishing Report for 7 days: Connecticut Lakes Region, Pittsburg, NH 5-15 to 5-22
Overall best weather I have ever had up in Pittsburg for this time of year. Most trips when I get up there it is in the 40's and stays there but this time it was in the 50's and actually hit 70; plus no days were rainouts, every day was fishable.
Fishing: started off very promising as I reported in to Lopstick Outfitters on 5-16 to get some flys and the lowdown ( it took me all day to get up there on the 15th but that is another story) a guide told me that he had caught some salmon on the afternoon of the 15th when I was en route during some rain and thunderstorms and that there were smelt in the river at Magalloway. Great news! I then got a dozen flys mostly smelt imitations and nymphs that he recommended. However for the next 5 days I plugged away at Magalloway and all I got were suckers and a few chubbs. I did see one guy with a salmon that looked like a keeper in his net ( 15 inches). Up there nobody really keeps them if you are lucky enough to get one on - it goes back. So it was basically you should have been here yesterday or last week. I did get some trout at Moose Pond and lost some at Back Lake ( according to reports NH stocked Back Lake back with 5000 trout - this is not a big lake but there is a lodge on the lake, Tall timbers, that has been there forever. So no salmon, got some trout.
For me however there was a first time kind of event. Each day I would ride my bike north on Rte 3 toward the Canadian border; the ride was spectacular 4 miles out and 4 miles back. On Tuesday the day before leaving a bull moose with rack and all jumped out of the woods 30 feet in front of me and crossed the road. It was amazing the size of the animal was really something for sure. I fumbled around for my phone but as luck would have it some idiot came up behind me and scared the magnificent creature away !The moose was gone in a second. Very disappointing but also the highlight of the trip. Hope to get back up there in September. That's my report. Hockey.
Ken,
One good thing about the high Swift flow since January is that it compelled me to fish a local freestone stream more often. This winter the stream produced holdover browns and rainbows along with small native brook trout. This stream warms up in summer, but the trout, especially the brookies, must find thermal refuge somewhere. It is now stocked, but I liked it better when I was fishing for the holdovers and natives.
Regards, Sam
Sam,
When did they start stocking this stream? It's a shame that they did.
Hockey, September - just in time for the RUT!!!!!
Ken
Ken- in taking a look at my comment I just noticed than in more than I spot I misspelled "flies" referring to them as "flys". I apologize for that error on my part - not sure how it got by the spell check but it sure did. Hockey
Dear Ken,
For the first time since January 19th the Swift is flowing at less than 200 CFS. Over the past five days it has fallen by 9 CFS per day to its present rate of 197 CFS; should this trend continue the Swift will achieve a just-fishable flow rate of 150 CFS within the week.
Good news: from analysis of past USGS data, 200 CFS seems to be the threshold below which authorities can curtail Quabbin flow rates - sometimes abruptly. Should the MWRA so decide, preferred fishable flows of 120 CFS or less might occur at any time.
Bad news: as I had feared, we have lost almost the entire spring fishing season on the Swift.
-Mike
Mike,
Fish a freestone
Ken
Dear Ken,
I've done so! In April I fished certain western Catskill high-country streams for native brookies, and last week I enjoyed 3 days of fishing on the upper Beaverkill. The 'taking fly' was a tiny brown/white Bivisible in the Catskills, and on the Beaverkill the browns favored a #16 CDC & Elk; your excellent Copper Grouse also took several fish.
A note to hockey_dad: I've fished the Magalloway Road section in Pittsburg on-and-off for 20 years; occasionally the salmon fishing is red-hot, but more often I must work to take just a few fish (particularly when the river is crowded).
Rather than smelt patterns which the salmon see ad nauseam, I've had the most success with a #10 olive woolly bugger with grizzly hackle, tied sparse. The same fly works well in the Trophy Section above Lake Francis.
-Mike
Mike,
Despite putting the time in I've never ever caught a Landlocked Salmon at Magalloway, I have had some luck down below in the river working my way up and down from Lake Francis State Park Campground- that's a great stretch of water too. Since I was up there when there supposedly is a good chance to get one I was happy to log some more hours there and it was not crowded, plenty of spots to get out and cast to the big boulders that are there. One thing that I noticed this trip, for the first time, was that the current can be going in different directions at one time, it was bizarre I would make a cast and the drift would start in one direction and then end up in another. Also, there is the the sheer beauty of the place - huge hardwoods, breathtaking views of First lake in the distance, the feeling you might see a moose on the other side of the river at any time. it's really something - it ain't Massachusetts that's for sure !
Thanks for the tips on flies. I will take note of that as I made a reservation for the last week of September and I have something to look forward to. All the best ! Hockey
Ken- planning on heading out to the Westfield for some early Father's Day fishing tomorrow but I hear there are parking issues along the main stem and near B&G sports which is where usually go. Should I pick another spot ?
Hockey,
Drive to Chesterfield gorge to River road. It's much better than fishing along that part of route 20' so print directions There is no cell service in the gorge area so print directions before you leave.
Ken
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