The BROOKIES Are Back!!

"A very nice read and guide to the Millers, thank you. Of course I have my favorite spots, many that coincide with yours. I am sure that I will re read your guide several times. The most important thing for me is, how to fish the spots, not necessarily where the spots are".- Reader comments about the Millers Guide  and the MAIN reason why I guide on the Millers which is SOMETIMES YOU NEED A GUIDE!!!

                                                                                                 

THEY'RE BACK and they came back with a vengeance. The wave of brookies are leaving their summer homes and are heading upstream. I took a beautiful 12 inch male in the gauge run and saw several others along with the browns. I have heard that the BT are scarce above RT 9 but that should change soon. So tie up some eggs, tie up some Partridge and Orange SH and get at it. Remember, don't walk on spawning grounds and that is everywhere you find clean gravel. Walk on weeds,leaves,sand or any debris to reach your location.

For the record - according to this blog the brook trout began their upstream march in 2017 on 10/22. It was earlier the year before and a week later this year.

Autumn On The EB

How are the other rivers doing? Well, here are the current flows for them as of 5:30 am on 10/29:

Millers - 949 and rising.  I may have to write this river off for the season. Even with no rain for November the seasonal draw down from Lake Tully will fix that. (Thank you Bill from Tully for the info)

Ware - 167 and dropping. It's hard to believe that the flow is excellent here after all this rain.  FISH THIS RIVER

The EB - 563 and dropping. And it will drop a lot with every dry day that we get. I'm looking at a flow of below 500 to hit some areas and a flow below 400 to hit most of the river. That will happen by mid week hopefully.

Book a November Trip

We have fished the EB well into November over the years and have had excellent catches.  I remember client Van tossing a stimulator into the run on the right and having it smashed by a large hungry bow! Want to get in on the action on the Swift?  Book me for a 3 or 6 hour trip.  Want to explore the Ware? Same answer as above.




Ken

The Millers, The Swift And Book Me

"There is a lot of room for good lures in our trout fly boxes, as the purpose for them will exist as long as there are trout. And designs meant to be swung (as opposed to dangled under a bobber) will always fill a sporty niche."  The Soft Hackle Journal - Trout Spey And The Art Of The Swing

At 660 CFS one would have an outside chance of catching something so off to the the reliable Bridge Street Pool of the Millers on Tuesday morning. The flow was manageable if I didn't wade too far out and the hunch paid off with two browns coming to the net within an hour. It's a big difference from the last two years where low flows kept the trout schooled up and double digit numbers were easy. This year you have to hunt for them. As it turned out the flow increased overnight and is now running over 700 cfs. I'll keep the faith and hope that November will be good on this river. It always has.

Big Browns - Browns are not like rainbows. They will not be found  swimming around in the open especially in broad daylight. Instead they seek the  cover of brush piles, logs and undercut banks. If you are not seeing big browns you are looking in the wrong places.  Also, the rise form is discreet, almost dainty and one would think that a tiny brook trout was at play until 18 inches or more of brown trout explodes across the pool.

Book Me - We still have a good month of good conditions. The Swift, EB and Ware all have great flows and have been stocked so what's stopping you?  Contact me!                                                   

Since Monday we have spied browns on the Swift that were in the 4lb range and have hooked and or landed browns in excess of 18 inches and all of them rose to size 20 to 24 BWO!!!

Ken

 

What Is Fly Fishing And Book Me

Note: The EB has been stocked as has the Swift. The Squannie and the Nissie were stocked last week = old news.  Ditto for the Upper Deerfield. 

The blob is the latest joke to be added to what used to be a fur and feather sport.Will someone please come up with a name other than flyfishermen for those who use these type of things.They denigrate the sport. - DanT, comment from This Blog on 10/10/18

DanT says it all!!!

I agree with DanT. This sports' definition, a definition that has existed for a 100 or more years, has been run through the weeds to encompass a growing style of slinging weighted flies, flies that have very little resemblance to natural stream organisms for the sole purpose of causing trout to strike outside of a feeding purpose! Trout see hundreds of insect prey every day that are represented by flies that are of the natural color/form/shape found in a trout stream. To fool a trout with a natural looking insect is the epitome of fly fishing. To get it to strike a Blob, a bright green Mop or a glowing Rainbow Warrior or  something like that is a lesser version of fly fishing. Maybe it's not fly fishing at all.

A blog post of mine back in early August mentioned a "fisher" on the Farmington.  I watched him catch trout after trout but after a short while I wasn't fooled by his 9ft limber road or the fact that he was casting fluorocarbon line but by the fact that his 9 ft rod was rigged with a spinning reel and the fluor was 3X! He was fishing with meal worms (legal where he was). I wanted to introduce him to flies but I seemed to have gotten the fact that he had been approached before. I showed him a fly that looked like his meal worm and there was some interest but he said that his trout were never deep hooked and he released all of them.

Now, what is the difference between what this guy ( a gentleman if there was one) and a tightline nymph fisher? Answer = NOTHING!!!  Change the lightweight spinning reel to a fly reel  AND IT'S THE SAME. He was casting the same 20 to 25 feet of fluor as your typical, I HATE FLY LINE, nympher does.

I asked him what he would do in shallower water seeing that he had lightweight split shot a foot above the fly.  "Take the shot off"  he said. DUH!! I should of known. That's easier to do than  changing a weighted fly and that's easier and makes a lot more sense then looking for a water flow (faster) that suits nymphing. (can't believe I saw that on the internet!!!!)

In short, there are degrees or levels of fly fishing. If your game is to catch as many fish as possible with costume jewlery you must realize that after a few dozen you are working over freshly stocked trout which includes the Farmington. If your intention is to fool trout with something that looks and acts like a natural insect then you are in the zone, you are FLYFISHING!!!

The Rivers

They are coming down slowly but surely. Look for 300 on the EB, 250 on the Ware and 500 cfs on the Millers.

Guided Trips

Book me NOW!! October and November are great months that can be warmer than May and April.  These are my favorite months!!!!

Ken

Tiny Soft Hackles/Big Trout And Booking October

"Like frogs, trout can't possibly have any idea what we are, or what a fishing line is, or what an artificial fly is. Nor can they associate us in any way with the lures at the end of our lines or have any reason or ability to suspect them. They don't have the cognitive horsepower to perceive our fly as a fake. In fact, they don't have ideas at all. They don't possess the capacity for reflection and analysis. In other words, in terms we use to describe human intelligence, fish aren't smart." - Bob Wyatt in What Trout Want: The Educated Trout And Other Myths

I love fishing the Swift through the Fall with its quiet,low flows and ample small fly hatches. Now, I know these conditions bother some anglers, especially those nymph anglers who must have ample current to dredge their heavy offerings but that's not my game. As you know I love soft hackles because they actually LOOK and ACT like a real INSECT instead of a piece of costume jewelry! All of the rivers that I fish see my offerings, most of the time, in sizes 12 through 16. Now is the time for sizes 18 and 20 for the Swift as we swing these dainty flies through 5 inch deep riffles like we did on Friday. These flies also work well on larger rivers like the Millers with 18 and 20 BWO Soft Hackles being a top choice on the Millers when that flow gets down around 200 cfs (hope that happens soon).

My favorite hackle for these smaller flies is starling. A typical starling cape is loaded with 18 and 20 size hackles but a word of caution. These hackles are extremely fragile and will make partridge hackle feel like you're wrapping wire around the hook!!

My usual setup to fish these flies on skinny water is an 8 1/2 foot 3 weight rod with a progressive action pared to a 3wt double taper or a Triangle taper in the same weight. Leaders are 12 feet long and lately have been 6x although 5x works just as fine. This is a Swift setup but when on the Millers or the EB (bigger water with more wind) I will go with a 5wt with the same leader.

There are some who may think that a 3wt is too heavy for the Swift with those flies.  "You need a 1wt or smaller". Well, one can ride a tricycle from Boston to Springfield but I wouldn't recommend it. Take a car!!!

The Rivers

As I write the Millers is at 1620 cfs. Good news since it was over 3000 2 days ago. Wait a week to see what happens.

The EB left the 3000 range and is at a fishable, but maybe not a crossing stage as of yet. The flow is at 432 so take your chances. Fish were caught before the flow went up.

The Ware, at 389 is rounding into shape nicely.

Stocking is supposed to start next week (tomorrow maybe) and although I don't "follow the trucks" I know that it is the last hurrah
of the season for many so we will do our best to keep you informed.

Booking October

I still have choice openings for October so grab them up. My evening trips (5-8 and 4-7p) are now 3 to 6 or 2 to 5pm. In fact you can set your own hours for the 3 and 6 hour trips. October weather is usually in the high 50's to the 60's and is perfect for what we do. It will actually feel good to have a fleece vest on after the summer that we had!!!!

Ken

The New Orange And A River Update

"I've been getting into astronomy so I installed a skylight. The people who live above me are furious" - Steven Wright

Last season I began to experiment with different body materials and colors for soft hackled flies. I was testing this nice yellow material when I noticed the strangest thing. The bright yellow body entered the water as bright yellow but when removed from the water it was the neatest pale orange that I've ever seen on a trout fly. Furthermore, the fly turned back to yellow as it dried out!

It caught trout and lots of them. It's been my go-to Partridge and Orange this year and it's all I've used on the Swift this Summer. The above photo shows the yellow version of the fly on the bottom and the "Magic Orange" on the top. If you want to order some just use my paypal buttons for the partridge and orange, place the order and then send me an email with the message "magic orange" and you will get the right material. $20.00 minimum for all flies.

The Rivers

The Swift dropped like a rock yesterday going from 130 cfs to 52 cfs. I for one like that flow especially with brookie spawning season just around the corner. If the flow is too high the BT will not hit the redds. 50 cfs is perfect spawning flow.

Now, is it my imagination or does there seem to be fewer brook trout down in Cady Lane this year? Gone are the schools of a dozen or so brook trout just milling around. Are they further  downstream and if they are why would that be? I think we will know in a month.

The Millers - forgetaboutit!!!!! On Monday 9/10 it was a perfect 220 but now it's at 973 cfs as I write. I would love to see a flow of 300 or less by the last week of September. As my comment section states, the browns are still active on this river.  We just need a better flow.

The EB - 994 cfs but it will drop like a rock by the weekend if it doesn't rain. The trout are still there and we have caught some by moving around and fishing hard!!!

A Funny Thing - Last Monday morning I drove past the RT 9 parking areas at 7:30 and saw no cars.  The Pipe parking lot also was vacant of vehicles and so was the Pipe and Tree Pool for the next 2 hours until Phil showed up.  late yesterday afternoon my client and I had 3 hours ( 5pm - 8pm) of fishing the same place with nobody else in sight.  Question - I thought that the Swift was crowded??

Ken

Fall Is In The Air, The Swift River And Book A Trip

"Another great post from an experienced angler. It amazes me how much of a bond I feel with you even though we live on opposite sides of our nation, fish different types of water, and have different preferences for the areas we fish."  Reader Phil in 9/6/18 comments

On Tuesday September 4 it was 92 degrees at noon and I waded wet. In fact, I waded wet all week. Yesterday, Sunday the 9th, it was 58 at noon and refreshing and I hope it stays like this. This is the time of year that I anticipate the most. The streams are low but cool and trout will be after everything from size 20 olives to size 12 October caddis. These great conditions will run right into November so get out there and fish! I'll keep you posted!!!!

Pellets

It's always interesting when I tell a client about the pellet hatch while guiding on the Swift. First, I get the impression that they don't believe me until it actually happens but the sight of dozens of surface slashing trout will quickly change their minds. Then out comes the PELLET FLY and to see trout fooled by a piece of cork is entertaining. Kyle saw his first pellet hatch, caught his first trout on a pellet and showed up the next day with his own pellet flies tied up the night before.

Then there's Des who caught his FIRST trout by any means on the Swift yesterday. I think he is hooked on fly fishing!!!!

Big Browns

I received a photo of an outsized brown taken and released down in Cady Lane this past week. The sender of the photo claims that it was just over 24 inches long and I believe him.

Here it is for your viewing pleasure!!  It's that time of year folks!!!

The New Orange

I've got a new body material for the classic Partridge and Orange that just outshines everything else.  Stay tuned for that!!!!!

Book A Trip

My calendar is filling up quickly but I still have some prime spots open. It's time to "call in sick" after you've booked a session with me. We will be hitting the Ware, Swift, the EB and my most popular destination, the Millers. Get introduced to places other than the same old stocking spots. YOU DESERVE IT!!!!!!!

Ken