I like freestone rivers and central Massachusetts has a bunch of them. One of the reasons that I like them is that they all have a different personality. Tailwaters? Not so much. Turn off the cold water tap and you mayhave an trout stream, maybe not. Freestones shine in the Spring, reward the angler who knows enough not to fish them until the sun is low on Summer evenings and then shine again to the skillful angler in the Fall. Trout fishing on a freestone long after the stocking truck leaves is like trout hunting. A tailwater is close to being a hunting preserve: trout everywhere with, it seems, little regard to your attempts to catch it.
There are no second rate freestones!!
The Ware - this river came into my world a bit late. I now think of how many Quill Gordon and Hendrickson blizzards I missed over the years and according to the old timers that I've met there were a lot! This river is rich and full of insect and like the Millers it holds onto it's browns. Last Spring browns were stocked and browns made up 50% of my catches this past Fall although the Ware didn't get any Fall browns!!
Swing a soft hackle over it's riffles and runs and you will catch fish. A Partridge and Orange and Partridge and olive in sizes 10 through 14 will do the trick. It was also my #1 streamer river last year!
This river is never crowded even at the stocking points and you can have it pretty much to yourself at any time.
The next post will deal with two sister rivers: the West and Middle Branches of the Westfield River.
Keep tying flies and scouting rivers, especially those "thin blue lines." These are the streams whose name and location I never divulge. The DFW still likes to stock some of these little gems with stockers dumped on top of native born fish, I'll divulge those streams but not the real McCoys!!
Ken
