Old School Nymphing, All That Water And Book A Fall Trip

 

"I understand that to fit the profile of the modern fly fisherman I should be less the long-suffering sportsman-philosopher and more the conspicuous fanatic carpet bombing the river with the latest fly patterns, tackle and techniques: fishing from the same impulse that makes professional baseball players take steroids" - John Gierach

There he was at the head of a popular pool on the Farmie, about 20 feet out in the river and casting a 9 foot rod AND CATCHING TROUT! I was there to meet a fishing friend and with one eye on the road and one eye on the water I missed a few things but after a few moments I noticed the lightweight SPINNING reel attached to that limber road and that the casts were in the 20 foot range, always quartering upstream. The rod was held at a sight upward angle with his right hand and his left hand held the line out about 18 inches from the handle as his offering drifted downstream. No indicator was in sight. Bang, another fish, some quick work with forceps and the trout was released.

My curiosity got the best of me as he left the water. "What is that outfit" I asked. It was a 9 foot limber rod (not noodle rod limber), a lightweight reel spooled with 2lb flourocarbon, one tiny split shot about a foot or so above the business end which was a meal worm. All trout were hooked in the mouth and released unharmed.(Note: by holding onto the line with his left hand he was in constant contact with anything that grabbed that bug which would virtually eliminate anything swallowed).

This episode reminds me of the fellow on the Deerfield years ago who had a bobber (indicator), a large Montana nymph, a spinning rod and who also caught fish. That was crude indicator nymphing. The Farmie guy was more refined but still his technique was very simple as most nymphing is. He was doing what many "fly" fishers have done and that is to virtually eliminate the fly line and use a weighted fly to propel the long leader out into the river. I think he could of used a weighted fly and been successful too, even more successful than your average tight line fanatic.  Basically this is what we did years ago before we got bitten by the fly bug: we drifted bait with little weight with outfits that didn't come close to what that Farmie guy used. One thing I do know is that the Farmie guy didn't spend $600+ for that outfit and he can't really swing a soft hackle or present a dry with that outfit. That takes a fly rod and reel! (Neither can nymph fishers for that matter).

Turn Off The Water

Well, we asked for it. Two straight years of summertime drought left us praying for rain.  We prayed too hard!!!! As I write the Millers has leveled off at 3330 cfs!  This destroys the record for this date of 1920 cfs set in 1989 and it will not come down anytime soon. The EB is at 1890 cfs BUT if it doesn't pour in that watershed today or tonight it should drop enough (it usually drops about 300 cfs the next day after a big rain event) by the weekend to make a lot of it fishable. Tie up and use some Pat's Rubber legs with weight and when the water gets to 500 cfs go with big bushy dry flies.

The Swift

It's the only reliable game in town outside of some selected "thin blue lines". Now, the flow at the gauge says 53.7 cfs but Bondsville seems to have much more water. This makes sense since Bondsville is  4 to 5 miles downstream from the gauge and has more watershed to collect rainfall.  I know that the brookies like it!!!

One More Thing About The Swift

The Quabbin Watershed has received a lot of rain in the last few weeks and as of 8/1/18 was at about 94% capacity. Who knows where it is right now (measurements are published on the first of the month) and a lot of the recent rain still has to make it down to the "Pond". Now, in 2011 we had Hurricane Irene blow through and Quabbin overflowed just when the LL salmon began to search for spawning areas and followed the current right over the spillway into the Y Pool. We spent the Fall and Winter chasing salmon in excess of two feet long with the occasional Laker thrown in for good measure. Timing is everything for the overflow event. Too early or too late and you get nothing!!

It's hard to believe that the above salmon event was seven years ago. There is a whole new population of fly fishers who have yet to see something like that.  The photo on the left was from Nov. 28 2011 at the lower Y Pool and that big salmon was caught by a client.


Ken

Spring Fever, Trout Camping,Dries and a lost rod/reel

On Making Camp Coffee: "And then there were the aesthetics of the situation. My gear, with some notable exceptions at both ends of the scale, is largely of moderate quality - serviceable, but not extravagant - and my camps are cozy but far from posh. Expresso seemed out of the question. Not long ago I spent hundreds of dollars on a fly rod but an extra seventy-five cents for a pound of coffee still rubs me the wrong way. Once established, priorities must be maintained." - John Gierach from Trout Bum

It was 73 degrees yesterday and I've had a trip to the Swift on Tuesday during this balmy weather with limited success and limited space to fish in. I'll be there tomorrow (Thursday) in the snow, hopefully, and under less packed conditions. My favorite haunts are flowing high, cloudy, and cold with snow melt and the Deerfield is of no interest. Actually I'm thinking of Spring and Summer and have just made camping reservations for the Farmie for early August.

I love trout camping! Whether it's on the Farmington or on Maine's Moose River or somewhere in the White Mountains there's something about wood smoke, camp cooking, getting up at dawn, camp coffee, breakfasts that are politically incorrect: eggs, bacon, sausage, homefries and english muffins (and no fruit salad), fishing till noon, tying flies, napping in the shade and then hitting the evening rise. This is the Gierach School of Fly fishing. If this offends you find a B&B!! One of my favorite memories is fishing northern Maine at the end of the season after Landlocked Salmon. Me and my friend Myron slept on the side of the road, got up at 5 am, had a cup of coffee, two slices of Sarah Lee coffee cake, sausage and eggs and then fished till sundown. Dinner was Yakitori Chicken (Myron is a renowned chef), two shots of Jim Beam and we were off again the next day. The final day, on the way home, we found a Maine roadside establishment and had our fill of civilized junk food. It was a great trip!!!!!


The Farmington and it's dry fly fishing is seared into my brain and some of my best experiences have been at the Campground Pool, Greenwoods and at Spare Tire. Campground is my favorite because few go there, it's loaded with BIG trout and my experience is that one does not need to get too tiny with fly selection with a size 20 being about the smallest. Greenwoods is great but it suffers from the same malady as the Church Pool upstream - too many people. For some flyfishing is a social occasion with chatting about equipment and technique taking up as much energy as fishing. When I fish I'm usually alone (but never lonely). One fly shop owner told me that he doesn't like the Swift, not because of the trout but for the TALKERS who can't stop.  We're there to fish, REMEMBER?

The EB has been on my mind as of late and that's even after the poor Fall fishing on that river (thank you, DFW). This is another great dry fly river. In 1999 I fished ONLY drys from Memorial Day through October and 90% of the time during the Summer and Fall it's drys and soft hackles. During the Summer I like to work big bushy flies from late afternoon until the first trout begin to sample the evening hatch and that's when the comparaduns come on in sizes 14 and 16. The fly above is a good example of a bushy fly with a deer hair wing and palmered body. I'll think I'll call it the EB Adams since it has the grizzly hackle. My go-to-rod is a 4 or sometimes 5 weight and it will handle every occasion even when I'm down to #18 which is rare and it will give me the opportunity to throw some weight which lighter lines have a problem with.

Today On The Swift

I pulled into the parking lot at 7:15 to find Bill's car there trying to beat the weather.  Gary came in right behind me. I waited for him and we walked up to the Y together. Bill, Gary and I were the only ones there for 3 hours. Bill caught 2, I caught one on a size 8 rubber legs (tired of throwing small flies) and I'm sure Gary nailed one after because he usually does. It was a slow day with sleet. It seemed like the  winter of 2015.

Things will get better!
Lost Rod and Reel

I have a notice that someone lost a rod and reel probably by the main Y Pool parking area. Let me know if you have it and I'll send it home.

Ken

Old Favorites

"Really, the only thing a psychiatrist can do that a fishing guide can't is write prescriptions" - John Gierach

It's been years since I've and enough Griffith's Gnats in my fly box to make a difference. I gave up on this fly BECAUSE I didn't know what it represented. A cluster of midges? I did't buy it!! But then I had that "light bulb in the head moment" on the EB when some ants hit the water. My ants were back in the Jeep but I had an ancient G.Gnat and that peacock looked like that shiny exoskeleton of an ant. So off came the hackles on the underside and the fly worked fine until I lost it.

Now I love this fly because of its simplicity. It represents nothing and everything much like soft hackles. It's easily tied up by the dozens and it's a rugged little guy. I say little because I use them in sizes 18 through 24. I've also experimented with self dyed grizzly hackles in brown and slate gray. They look great!!!

 

Then there's the Royal Coachman, a study in Victorian material excess if there ever was one (please exclude the salmon flies). But I just had to tie one and I'm promising myself to launch it on the EB this June.

The Groundhog said 6 more weeks of Winter but what does he know? Statistically he's right only 38% of the time.

Ken

A Classic Fly - The Picket Pin

"Give me a brace of wet flies on the Lower Beaverkill on the second week of May and you can have the rest of the world, I won't need it" The reported words of an old time Catskill fisherman circa 1930's

The first time that I saw this fly I had to have it. Then I had to tie it and it may have been one of the first "pattern" flies that I ever tied. And I caught trout with it using that stout fiberglass rod that could have doubled for pole vaulting. And my "method" was to cast 3/4 downstream and then strip it back which would usually drive the stockers crazy!

But as the years went by and skill level increased and my understanding of aquatic entomology improved I began to leave this critter out of my fly boxes. "Just an attractor fly" I would think and not something a hatch matcher would want to use. But it looks sooooo buggy it has to match something. That something may be the damsel fly and dragon fly nymphs. These nymphs, especially the damsels, hatch en mass on sunny days in late May or early June by crawling to the shore or to rocks or logs that protrude above the surface. The Picket Pin looks a lot like that dark, drab nymph.

Hook - standard nymph hook. I like a size 12

Tail - brown hackle barbs (the traditional recipe calls for this but it won't make a difference if you skip it)

Body - peacock herl, about four swords

Hackle - brown palmered hackle (don't go overboard with the hackle. A size smaller and sparsely dressed will do)

Wing - Grey squirrel tail. Don't use too much. I've used red squirrel too and it works.

Head - peacock built up over the base of the wing.

I don't build weight into this fly and would NEVER befoul this classic tie with a bead head but I would use a micro shot about 8 inches above the fly if I had to.

We are one month beyond the shortest day on the year and have gained about 32 minutes of daylight. EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS. In another 30 days the sap lines will be out in the sugar bush and we will have turned a corner.

Think Spring,

Ken

First Trip Out And Some Questions

"It's gonna happen again. There will be a mix up regarding Winter Stoneflies and Snowflies.  Winter Stoneflies, or early dark stoneflies, begin to appear as the mid March sun begins to break the back of Winter. They will be everywhere until late April and then that's it.  I live on the banks of a trout stream (Mill River) and I see hundreds each year.  They are NOT a major source of food for trout. Let's face it, the streams are high, clouded and cold at that time of year. Also, the streams probably have not been stocked yet and have very few fish in them. This insect hatches by crawling onto the shore. A weighted pheasant tail in a size 16 - 18, fished slowly along the shore, may be your best bet to imitate this bug if conditions permit."

It's a late start to this year of fly fishing due to the worst cold snap in 30 years. I can put up with some ice in the guides but I'll draw the line at fingers frozen to the rod handle. That's why the 11th would be my opening day with temperatures in the upper 40's (just like April) and the hope of some surface action. So, I trudged my way up to the Bubbler Arm of the Swift and took ONE 8 inch rainbow and that was it. I didn't see another trout in that run. Even the Y Pool seemed dead with the best reason being that there is an otter who has taken up residence again. The otter will chase the fish right out of the pool and as usual the trout gather downstream in the shallow water around the hemlocks. So do the fishermen!

Jonathan, a client of mine, seemed to have had the top day on the river when he found a pod of trout and took three bows around 16 inches. Yellow eggs and my mini bugger all scored! Since it's his spot I'll let him tell you where it is. Hint: the place is usually ignored.

Overflow Arm Strategy

Reader Paul asked a question regarding the overflow arm of the Y Pool. I love that place and and it's one of the spots that I can rely on in the early Spring and the Fall. Why is that? This "arm" is basically a deadwater unless there is a overflow coming from Quabbin (usually there isn't) and it's not really effected by the discharge from the bubbler. This deadwater will warm up on an early, sunny, Spring day and
it will have the earliest hatches (winter caddis) on the river. Trout will move into this deadwater all the way up to the very end. The same thing happens in the Fall. In the Summer it's not the best place due to higher water temperature.

Once the shelf ice leaves that spot (along with the otter) I'll be there!!

Ken

A Favorite Millers Spot

"Tailwaters are what Thomas McGuane called "the great theme parks of American fly fishing," with their more or less stable water temperatures and artificially inflated populations of insects and fish. They are irresistible for all kinds of reasons, but all of those trout breed the peculiarly postmodern sense that anything short of a 20 fish day is a bust, so when things are slow there's the temptation to lie about numbers or to vaguely allow that you are "getting your share" - John Gierach

One of my favorite spots on the Millers is the "Gorge Pool" approximately a half mile below the Rezendes area in the Bears Den section. I call this the Gorge Pool because that is what it was called over 60 years ago by legendary Millers Fly fishers, the late Bob Rouleau and the ever present Rodney Flagg. They told me that this pool was known as the Gorge Pool when they fished it as kids and young men. Attempts have been made to rename it but they would have none of it. In homage to them and the generations who fished this pool I continued the name when I wrote the Fly F

ishers Guide to the Millers River. (FREE on this site). It's the Gorge Pool!!

Actually it's a double pool with the first section occurring after the long riffle below the Third Run (see the Millers Guide) and then running into another pool after a short heavy riffle.  Both "pools" are DEEP, almost in the swimming hole category and are PERFECT dry fly water. That perfect dry fly water is best visited in the evening when the place really comes alive. Before that it's the land of the deep drifted nymph. In fact, I've never taken a trout on a dry unless it was in the evening in this place. Trout, especially brown trout, love this place and I remember the monster that broke off my 4X leader as I fished a large stonefly and another time when I lost a bugger on the same rig. This pool is a sanctuary for the Summer and the Winter for this rivers trout. I've seen deer prints crossing this river while cross country skiing years ago. It may have had a foot of ice BUT there was many feet of running water below = that's winter holding water!!

When To Fish

Fish it when you can BUT if you can get there in late May through mid June you want to start around 6pm. Follow the path on the north bank down to the first pool but keep going to the tail-out of the second pool and start fishing upstream. Your dry fly drifts will be drag-less (perfect). I work larger flies here with stones, big caddis and the wonderful March Brown. I've never done it but God knows what a mouse pattern would do here!
Looking down at the "first" pool

There are blogs out there that give a flaccid overview of this river including other rivers. That doesn't help you. I can tell you where to fish and also how to fish it to catch trout.

Ken

The Millers And It's Browns,The Swift And New Stuff

"There's a story that the cylindrical deer-hair Bomber fly was invented on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick when a wealthy sport tossed a cigar butt into the river and a salmon ate it.  You assume it was an imported La Gloria Cubana instead of a rum-spaked crook bought at a gas station" - John Gierach


The Millers is loaded with browns. The comment section mentions it and my last two solo trips took these fish. There are no drag burners here, just a good head of 10 to 14 inch fish that hit on the surface and down deep. A recent stocking?? No way. These guys made it through the Summer and are found at Orcutt, the Upper Trestle, Kempfield and in Erving Center and some have caught them in between. My fish were taken at mid day which was cool but not unexpected because the air temperatures have been in the low 70's, it was cloudy and the sun is at the same strength as it is in late March. Comparaduns in tan around size 16 and any soft hackle will do.

Don't wait until the stocking stocks to arrive and then crowd into the usual places. Fish now especially on a cloudy day.

The Swift flow went hog wild on Monday and the expected rain didn't arrive. If you like high water this will be your place for a week or more!!

New Stuff - 8 years ago I was selling my flies on this site and got totally buried in business.  My full time, 50+ hour job took all the time so I had to let it go.  I'm going to be back with this (flies you can't find anywhere else) and some new, unique products.  More to come!!!!!

Ken

A Storm Shortened EB Trip And This Weekend

"Controlling micro drag is far more important than reducing the diameter of your tippet, which can never be completely invisible. Fine as they are (tippet), their presence is magnified by surface tension in the same manner that the feet of insects create tiny lenses. Wetting agents, including saliva, make short work of this problem, but keep the last few inches of tippet dry, lest they counteract the buoyancy of your fly" Thomas Ames, Jr. - Hatch Guide For New England Streams

"Damn the forecast, I'll just chance it!" That was the start of my 1 hour trip to the EB. The weather wizards said a "good chance of thunderstorms for western Massachusetts" which I like to think of as a good chance of "nothing" happening. So the trip was on.

I was looking for ants because the weather was perfect for them: warm, humid and early September. I saw only one of those winged critters all day so it certainly wasn't what was driving the trout to the surface! Trout were at the head of the pools slashing away at something on the surface. From where they held in the stream I figured some sort of mayfly which certainly hadn't gone beyond the emerging insect stage. Time to experiment!

First, I used a partridge and orange SH thinking that it would be perfect during this early stage of the hatch. Nothing doing!! I then tied on a BWO parachute emerger and struck a good brown on the second or third cast and then took a bow right after that. It began to look like an epic session until I heard that distant drum roll of a turbulent atmosphere. I kept casting and catching trout while hoping that the storm would disappear. No such luck. I retreated to the safety of the car. In all, I fished from 3pm to 4pm and took 2 browns and 4 bows.

The Swift dropped like a rock yesterday and is now back to a civilized 50 cfs. It will be interesting to see if the high water of the past week moved any of the fish around like the last high water event.

The Millers and the EB - keep an eye on the flows! The EB is in the 300's and the Millers is in the 200's. These are good conditions but the forecasted T'Storms can blow them out quickly especially the EB. BTW, the Millers is fishing well.

My guiding calendar is starting to fill up. Don't get left out!!!!

Ken

High & Dry With The Millers Bivisible, Your Comments And This Weekend

"Then I wrote it off as one of those days when I went fishing just to go fishing, not caring whether I caught anything or not - until I was on the water" - John Gierach

Note: a pair of Ovis sunglasses were lost by a reader down by Cady Lane. If you find them let me know!

Years ago I highlighted this fly on my blog as a sure fire way to bring trout UP during the Summer months. It got a very good response as fly fishers told the tales of good catches throughout New England while casting into the riffles and even pools with this creation. It still works as I took trout tonight on the Millers. It has the reputation as a riffle/pocket fly BUT it does well in calm sections of the river that you will fish. It will imitate caddis/stoneflies and land based insects that tumble into the water but it seems to work best in heavier currents because of its construction.

Hook - size 12 to 16 standard dry fly hook
Body - Gray works good and bright yellow seems to work better
Hackle - Any darker hackle from the rear to lighter hackle up front
Wing - Very fine deer hair tied straight up

The Bivisible name comes from two different colored hackles palmered in with the lighter up front. I've used darker up front and a lighter color throughout the mid and rear of the fly with good results. I've even taken a sharpie to color sections of the hackles and that worked too. Sometimes I've use the same color hackle for the whole fly. Color aside, it's a high floater with good visibility that looks like a living insect, stream born or terrestrial.

Note - don't crowd the hackles as you wind them in. Keep them sparse. It will float better. Use the dry "shake" powder and not the liquids or gels and stay away from the powder that comes with a brush. I'll explain that later.

My last 10 posts generated 129 comment and 70% were from YOU READERS!!!!! My platform, and all others, will not differentiation between your comments and mine and they get lumped together in the same total but I keep my words at a minimum (will answer questions directed to me) which means the comment section is YOUR section to respond, agree or disagree with what I say and you do this in great numbers! In short, this comment section is a blog within a blog with lots of information and insight. There's information in this blog's comment section that is invaluable and it is being read!!! There's no other regional source of fly fishing information that can claim this. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

This weekend - Fish the Swift whenever you can but fish the others at dusk.  That's when the action starts!!!!

Ken