Browns are in at the lower C&R

800 browns, some of them very large, were stocked in the Wendell Depot section (lower C&R) of the Millers today. They went in from Holtshire Bridge to Erving Center and were float stocked by the Harrison brothers and their crew. Many thanks to them.

These fish, along with the holdovers, will set us up nicely for this Spring and Summer. The water level is still high (750cfs) as of this post but the section is still very fishable. Let's hope that this rain event for Sunday night/Monday is a light one!!

I'll keep you posted.

Ken

Millers Report - Bears Den

Well, I had two hours to kill so I decided to check on the browns that were stocked yesterday. The water was still very high (1000cfs) and the people that were there didn't seem to be catching much. My rig was a bit different. A 5wt full sinking line was attached to 5 feet of 3x leader material. The fly was a WB in size 8. A small bit of sink putty was attached a foot above the fly. I "nymphed" this set up on a short line in the eddies and slack water along the shoreline and would then retrieve in short, quick strokes. I caught 19 browns and missed a few more in the 100 or so yards that I fished. This is a great rig for getting down DEEP which will cause me to spend some time later today replenishing my bugger supply.

The browns were all between 12 and 14 inches. Lots of fun in heavy water.

Ken

Browns in the Millers

Today we stocked, with the help of a lot of friends, about 800 good sized browns into the Bears Den section of the Millers River. The river was running about 1100cfs which made it great for our float stocking efforts which will insure good distribution of these fish. Six miles of remote river was stocked. With the holdover population we should have a great Spring and Summer on this great river.

Special thanks to Dan and Tom and their crew from Harrison Anglers which made the float stocking possible.

The river is beginning to drop after the heavy rains of earlier this week. Look for great fishing next week. Also, the lower C&R (Wendell Depot) will be float stocked next Friday. BTW, there are reliable reports of very heavy hendrickson hatches on the lower river. With the seasonal caddis blizzards we could be into heavy dry fly fishing over the next week.

Hopefully I'll brave the currents on Sunday and give you a report. If you head out to the Millers bring some heavy black WB's. They work in this high water.

Ken

A Great Evening on the Millers

The daytime hours were spent doing some interior painting (should have been done during the winter) and finding myself doing some patching on the roof section of a bay window. I did my penance. Time to go after trout on the Millers! At five o'clock I was thigh deep in the section that I visited just this Thursday. I'd tell you exactly where except that my friend Charlie would put a hex (not the insect) curse on me. I'll try not to disclose the location. Bear with me on this.

I was surprised that I was the only one there since there were four of us there just this Thursday. Ok, guess I'll have to do it all by myself! This section has all the kinds of water that one can dream about - fast riffles, a long, slow glide ending in a deep pool section. The riffles start in two distinct sections. That narrows it down a bit. I headed for the riffles on the north side of the river below the pipe (ok, I've gone too far!! The curse is on me!!!!!) I dead drifted a wooley bugger on a short line and took five 'bows. A word on these rainbows - I'm not a fan of rainbows in the Millers. They last until early July and then head south. Browns are the season long fish for this river but these rainbows are the equivalent of NFL linebackers!! They were all big, mean and strong. Five fish between 14 and 16 inches is good anywhere!

There was a strong wind which blew caddis all over the river but there was very little surface activity. I saw one lonely mayfly dun which I couldn't identify. I watched it float down the river without it disappearing in a sipping rise. Still a good evening all the same.

Fish The Millers. Schedule a trip and I'll show you some fish!!!!!

Ken

The Millers Season Starts NOW!!!!

I cast my first fly of '08 on the Millers tonight. Very windy conditions which made casting difficult but didn't stop the trout, all rainbows, from acting like browns as to their selectivity. Rising fish were chasing a small, dark caddis. It was a very random rise centered around the slack water on this part of the river. The first fish came to a #14 olive caddis, a chunky 'bow around 16 inches. There were a few missed hook ups before and after this fish. A fair flight of caddis began to show with a henderickson spinner or three in the mix. I had to leave early (7:30) so I decided to push the envelope and tied on a small, dark marabou streamer. This fly was allowed to simply drift in the current. The first streamer was broken off by a strong hit. The second streamer caught two good sized 'bows with two short hits mixed in. I shared this section with three other fly fishers - big water with plenty of room for everyone. Everyone caught fish!!

I was the first to leave (amasing). Two others (one was of the Harrison Team) went after rising fish in some great looking fast water. My friend Charlie was looking to equal his previous night's success which I was a witness to, standing on the shore without a rod or waders! I'm sure he did.

The water levels have dropped. I have reports of hendericksons just a mile or so below where we fished. Then there are the caddis - zillions of them. The browns go in over the next two weeks!!

It's time to fish the Millers!!!

Ken

Rites of Spring

It was cool this morning, around 40 degrees, which seemed cool after the 80 degree day we had yesterday. Our April heat wave has set things in motion such as raking the lawn, picking up dead falls from the maples which accumulated during the winter and doing a little outside painting. But that was yesterday. Other things are in motion on this cool morning like the urge to pay my annual visit to my secret stream. I say "secret" because I am the only one you fishes it. I'm sure of it! I really think that the days are long gone where a fly fisher, or any fisher, would hike a few miles on a wooded, rock strewn path to have the chance of fishing for the Real McCoy, the Last of the Mohicans, that relic of another time - "real" brook trout. I say "real" because this little rill has NEVER seen a hatchery truck. It's not even on the state's map of native trout streams which is ok with me.

Now some fly fishers will catch a native or two but it's usually in pursuit of larger stocked trout in the same water. No chance of that here. Everything is stream bred and at best about 8 inches long, a real giant on this stream.

My "fly" was a tiny San Juan Worm, hot red and only a 1/2 inch long tied on a #16 hook. I hate this fly but it may be the only way to fish here without bait. A tiny ball of tungstun weight was attached about 6 inches above the fly. I let it drift through pools and runs. The brookies saw that hot red fly and attacked it.

I'm lucky to have this secret place and each Spring I hike in to check on these little guys. They're doing ok. They remind me of a passage in an old book of mine that stated that the Chinese refer to their tiny trout (yup, there are trout in China) as "Water Angels". Hmm...I like that!

Ken

What a difference a week makes

Things have changed on the Swift. Last Wednesday (April 9th) the lower river was flowing at around 230 cfs. Everything had changed but the fishing was still good with 16 'bows landed on a weighted scud pattern. Lots of rising fish to a caddis fall around dark. Now it is different. Tonight the river was blowing by at around 280 cfs. Lots of surface water from the lake was now in the river, scattering the trout. There were caddis buzzing around and a good spinner fall of some mayfly (olive colored and around a size 20) but nothing coming up to feed on them. I fished slow and deep with scuds and jailbirds but took only two rainbows in an hour and a half. I fished HARD!! Maybe I should carry some S.J. worms, something bright to get the attention of those trout but I've seen this happen before. Overflow from Quabbin changes things in a major way. I'm afraid that this high water condition may last a while. Check the flow for the Swift on this site. Below 250cfs should be the start of something good.

The Millers - still bloated from the post Rat Race/heavy rain/snow melt condition. Waiting for MAY!!!!!!!!!!

Ken