November On The Fly - From Soft Hackles To Dries!

" The style of nymph fishing in which a small nymph is tied on eighteen or twenty inches below a split shot and fished on a short line is often called the South Platte method and stories about it on the river date back at least to the 1930's, when a member of the Wigman Club was asked to stop fishing that way or be ejected from the club for catching too many trout. To be fair, though, the method is so obvious and so much like bait fishing that it was probably independently invented at one time or another on every river in America, although it wasn't until the 1970's that it began to be seen as anything more than cheating." - John Gierach (His view on the origins of tight-line nymphing??)

Some days just seem to work out nicely and yesterday was one of them. I met my client at 7:45 at a crowded Swift River(Pipe) parking lot. The neat thing was instead of making a beeline to the pipe etc we worked our own stretch of water that is overlooked by most and then spent the next 3 hours covering about 200 yards of gorgeous water pursuing spawning bows (well, trying to spawn) while meeting only one angler.

The bows were ganging up on the gravel and my "sure bet" egg fly struck out. So on went a size 16 P&O SH and all hell broke loose. So did the 6 big bows that grabbed that fly! I think that they have the advantage when fighting in shallow water. No undone knots and nothing foul hooked. Just hook pull outs.

We then worked our way downstream to meet our first angler of the morning who claimed that he couldn't get the pod of brookies he was fishing over to take anything. My client went to work and and immediately landed brookies including one around 12 inches and and another about the same size that got away!

Now for the Pipe. Remember that I said that the parking lot was full in the early morning? Well, by 10 am I saw a significant thinning of the ranks as evidenced by the steady stream of waders heading back to the parking lot. By 11 am we we stepped into the river at the tail of the pipe run and with only two other anglers within sight, one at the pipe and one at the end of the Tree Pool.

Trout were smacking the P&O but there was a significant hatch going on that looked like winter caddis. Off went the SH and on went the #22 caddis dry. It was exactly the correct offering as brookies and bows both rose to this fly.

All told we got into the double digits before we broke for lunch and then took a trip to the Y Pool which my client had never seen before. There were only two other anglers there which seemed odd.

This season isn't over by a long shot. The average daily high temperature for November is comparable to that of April and if you want we can start later in the day when it's warmer. So, if you want to wring out the last of the hours left in your fishing license just contact me!!
                                                                           
Ken

State Of The Rivers And Another Soft Hackle

"I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution" - John Gierach

NOTE: THE WARE RIVER WAS STOCKED 9/28

It is September 28 and The Millers is running at 77 cfs (below normal), the EB is at 32 cfs (far below normal) the Swift is at 133 cfs (above a normal flow of 88 cfs) and the Ware is at 29 cfs which is normal.
What does this mean? It means that we are exactly where we were last year at this time. The Millers was stocked last year on 10/7 with a flow of 90 cfs. We are close enough!! The Swift was stocked on 10/3 (it should be stocked NOW!!!) and the Ware got its fish on 10/11 and the flow then is what it is now. The EB got stocked in mid October last year when it finally got some water.

If you're interested the DFW stocked the usual Cape ponds for the catch & freezer burn crowd but the Swift has to wait. Go figure!!!

All we need is a day of rain and it will fix everything. My usual group of "spies" will be texting updates on stocking AS THEY OCCUR and you will know about it ASAP. You'll also get the rundown on fishing location by location, a service that is always lacking on the net. If you like crowds or solitude just stay tuned!

BTW, read the comments over the last two posts about the BIG browns in the Swift. The DFW surveyed the river this past Summer and they used the word "enormous" when describing them. Also realize that this is not a "program" that produces big browns like in Connecticut. This is just HAPPENING on it's own just like the brook trout explosion of the past decade. Do we have something special here?? I think so!

The soft hackle fly pictured above is the Grouse and Flash. (I tie it with partridge which may be considered a grouse in some quarters. It makes no difference). Nick Yardley, the inventor, claimed that it is a good caddis emerger imitation. Actually it imitates any aquatic insect that is getting ready to hatch.

Hook - wet or dry in sizes 12 through 16

Thread - olive 6/0

Body - thin mylar strip wrapped around the hook

Thorax - optional (use something buggy if you tie in a thorax)

Hackle - partridge or starling

Wrap the olive thread around the hook shank and then the mylar. The olive color will show through.

Playing with my new smoker. Smoked chops, zucchini and potatoes. Almost as much fun as fly fishing!!
Ken