Favorite Fall Flies

 "Sylvester was not a dry fly fisherman", his wife Hazel said. " He abhorred bead heads. He would say that was not fly fishing, that you might as well use a spinning rod". - Hazel Nemes recalling her husband, Sylvester Nemes, views on fly fishing.

It was 53 degrees at 4:30 this morning and the heat in the kitchen actually felt good as I whipped up breakfast.  No, it's not Fall (the official start is a month away) and we will have enough hot days to complain about until then but the wheels are turning and you can see it with the lower temperatures and the lower angle of the sun.  Fall will come and for many, including me, it's our favorite season.

There are two things that I look forward to in the Fall. One is the BWO hatch down in Cady Lane and on the lower Millers and swinging soft hackle flies on some reinvigorated freestones.

And my soft hackle selection will be top heavy with two patterns: the Partridge and Orange and the Partridge and Olive in sizes 12, 14 and 16. These two patterns have worked all Summer. My Partridge and Orange has a body of orange kevlar which gives it a waxy look which the trout told me is irresistible to them.  The Partridge and Olive has a body of olive (of course) uni-stretch floss (good stuff).  Add in a few Grouse and Flash and last Winters' King, the Copper Grouse, and I will be well armed.

Now, if I get all my ducks in a row this November I plan to swing some LARGE Soft Hackles on some Great Lakes tribs. I'll tie some up in sizes 10, 8 and 6 on a salmon style hook and swing them with a 7wt Heddon bamboo.  Why not!!

And The Rivers...

Trout have been caught at dusk on the Millers and they have been caught by early morning anglers working deep runs on the EB.  I have always loved August evenings because it is dusk at 8pm so the wait time is down.  It's better in the morning too because the sun rises later now.  2 months ago we had blazing sun at 5am.  Sun up is at 6:04 today. (much better).

The Swift is at 130 cfs and will stay there unless we get some rain. It is very fishable.

Book me for the Fall

Don't wait too long because slots will fill up quickly and those slots run right into late November, early December.

Ken

 

 

Engle's Little Blue Midge, Things I'd Like To See Happen And Book Me

"Sell a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity" - Karl Marx (yes, he did say that)

I've always been a fan of  writer Ed Engle.  I like him because he is not a flyfishing tech/equipment junkie, fishes bamboo rods, is a good friend of John Gierach and creates some interesting and effective flies.  

At the end of one of his books he gives the recipe for his "blue midge" which he claims is a must-have-go-to fly for tailwaters during the Winter.  He credits its success to the blue mylar used in its construction.  First, this fly is not just for the Winter.  I first tied one onto a clients leader back in January and it caught fish.  I then promptly forgot about it until this past week when we needed something to wake up some Swift River bows.  It did on Friday and really did yesterday with brookies getting into the act. It also accounted for a good double digit day down in Cady Lane. It is a good, general purpose midge fly fished alone or behind a soft hackle (what else). Here is my version which is SH style (again, what else):

Hook - size 18 through 24 shrimp/caddis pupae hook

Thread - 12/0

Body - brown or black thread for the rear half of the body, Pearl Crystal Flash for the thorax (Engle says that the color should be blue.  My crystal flash isn't blue enough so I doctor it up with a blue sharpie)

Hackle - two turns of starling. I've seen some midges tied with CDC for the hackle.  Don't waste your time with that flimsy stuff on a subsurface offering.  Starling is better.

Things I'd Like To See

1. A surtax on kayaks and canoes earmarked for conservation and wildlife habitat like the surtax that recreational fishers pay ON ALL FISHING EQUIPMENT.  If you are going to use the resource then you should pay for it! (some "birders" have gotten into the habit of buying a duck stamp even if they don't hunt because the $$$ goes to habitat.  Good Move!!)

2. A Trout Stamp!  If you want to fish moving water (streams/rivers) you need to buy a trout stamp with the money going to habitat and conservation and with the aim to develop self sustaining trout populations.  $30 per year sounds fair because fishers know how to spend money and it's money well spent.

Things I Don't Want To See

The great John Gierach once said that there's no such thing as a fishing dog.  I agree after I saw one fly fisher let his mutt chase spawning brookies on the Swift. He looked like I was infringing on his constitution rights when I said that he should restrain his pooch.  He did but probably resumed the chase game after I left.

Book Me

Right now the Swift is really the only local game in town and what a game it is.  I and my clients have fished in wonderful solitude this summer with no other anglers crowding us out.  This is especially true for our evening trips.  It can be almost lonely out there with only the trout to keep us company.  

Book a trip!!!

Ken

Stocking Update, River Update AND Book Me

Adipose fin clipped trout were stocked  by the Y Pool last week.  Make a note of any caught anywhere on the Swift and then email me.  - Ken

"For the moment at least, we fall into that class of fishermen who fancy themselves to be poet/philosophers, and from that vantage point we manage to pull of one of the neatest tricks in all of sport: the fewer fish we catch the more superior we feel"
- John Gierach

Conventional wisdom would say that the DFW would not stock the Millers with this high flow but they would be dead wrong. As in the past (I have a lot of experience here) the DFW NEEDS to stock trout and they generally have a two week window to do this and they will do it come hell or high water during this Fall season. This has happened before. As I write the Millers is chugging along at 1250 cfs which is not safe for wading but the flow is trending down and barring rain it will continue to drop. 700 cfs will get you into the Millers below Holtshire bridge but be carefull.

The EB

At a flow of 574 cfs at 6am today this river can be carefully waded but not CROSSED!!Wait until the flow is below 350. As with the Millers the EB has been running high during the stocking and that will spread the fish out WHICH IS A VERY GOOD THING!!! Over the last three years we have had very low autumn flows which yielded big catches but far from pleasurable fishing. (like shooting fish in a barrel).

Fly Selection

You know the drill here. Freshly stocked trout = any fly works especially if it's weighted.

The Swift

This river has been the only river to wade safely over the past three weeks. The number of Connecticut plates in the parking areas was proof of that. It was stocked from Ware to Palmer with a decent number of trout.

You will have crowds as you already know so spread out. Try Cady Lane if you haven't already and keep an eye out for brook trout. They seem pretty scarce this year.  In fact, email me if you catch any!!!




Book Me

My calendar is filling up but I still have choice slots available.


Ken

Autumn Olives, Book A Trip And A River Update

"Thanks for the continued updates! I wouldn't fish nearly as much if it wasn't for your blog." comment on 9/5

The Blue Wing Olive
The BWO is with us all season long but its prime stage is on those cool, cloudy September and October afternoons on rivers like the Millers and the EB. 20 years ago it seemed to be a rarity to see this hatch on the Millers. Now it's a daily event from mid September onward and if the weather stays good (no flooding rain) it will go right into November.

Where To Find Them

Fish the riffles at the head of pools. That's the neighborhood for this fly and that's where the trout will be. Think of the riffles at Erving Center/Arch Street on the Millers or that sexy riffle at the head of Les's Pool on the EB. Every stream has these locations and you know where they are.

What To Fish

Way to much emphasis is placed on the dry fly when working these insects. The pre-emergence stage is just as important. My top emerger the last few years has been nothing but a starling and olive soft hackle (what else) from size 16 through 18. I fish this fly upstream or on the swing until the rising fish REALLY begin to appear. Then my dry emerger goes on. Read Bob Wyatt's book What Trout Want to get the idea. I shy away from those dainty parachute flies for something that can be whipped up in mass and actually is the most representative of the BWO. Sizes 16 through 18 work the best on the above mentioned rivers.

The Swift

Believe it or not but the Swift release was increased on Tuesday from 50 to 130 cfs.  Now, I can hear the round of applause celebrating this event but I like 50 cfs!!! When they up the flow it puts the trout down for a few days.  Surface action was slow but I managed 2 sipping bows above the Duck Pond and then a brown at the Y Pool.  The water temperature was 56 degrees at 5pm and wet wading felt REAL GOOD!!!

The EB

It seems that everyone is catching something on the EB and although it isn't at the same success level as this time last year we will take it.  Iso nymphs are everywhere and BIG FAT Stoneflies are all over the place.  Sparse, size 12 or 14 dark buggers have done well representing the stoneflies and pheasant tail nymphs work for isonychia  nymphs. The flow is about 130 cfs = A good flow!!

The Millers

Read the comments on this blog for the last two weeks. Some say that it's all smallies and fallfish and others say that browns are in play. I'll say that the rainbows are still with us and when this damn heat finally breaks we will have even better fishing. The flow, as I write, is at 267 cfs = PERFECT!

Ken