The East Branch of the Westfield - first trip in '09

Finally my first day out, without snow and ice and not on the Farmington down in CT. It has been a strange Spring to say the least. It has been dry but two of my "go to" rivers have been high and cold. One is the Millers (to be expected) and the Swift (not to be expected). So I went to my local gem - the East Branch of the Westfield. 8am found me at Chesterfield Gorge with the access road blocked by the Town of Chesterfield. This better be a short-lived condition!! I was able to walk my way down to say hello to some pools and runs that I've been dreaming about since last Fall. Quickly I found myself landing a very dark rainbow, a holdover from last year. The next two hours found me fishless. I saw only two other anglers through this stretch. I spent time casting and turning over rocks which revealed LOTS of the large stoneflies that this river is famous for. I then headed upstream into Cummington basically scouting out the area. Over the miles of river that I fished and scouted I saw only those two anglers (flyfishers) that I mentioned earlier. The DFW stated that the East Branch was stocked over the last two weeks. Where is everyone, including the bait boys??

Spring is a bittersweet time for me this year. I need to get out and flyfish. Usually the Swift is perfect with it's highly educated holdovers but with its 500cfs flow this Spring it's been a chore that I will skip until things level out. The Millers is the domain of the heavily weighted bugger until mid May (I don't fish buggers unless I'm REALLY over the edge!!) In the depths of Winter, when I dream of flyfishing, it is always a late Spring/Summer evening, rising trout sipping in hatching mayflies and me catching them all!! Spring means freshly stocked trout, dumbells for sure, smashing every oddball, sunken glitzy fly thrown at them. That didn't happen today. Maybe the East Branch didn't have any stockers to play the game. But it will and those stocked fish will survive, get educated, and give us the memories that will keep us going back. The East Branch of the Westfield, through Chesterfield Gorge, is utterly beautiful!!

The rest of the day was spent working the garden, peas and onions are in, the tomatoes and peppers are living it up in that sunny southern window. I'll tie some stones tonight. Not a bad day when you look at it. The Swift is coming down which may require a late afternoon trip this week. And the Millers......maybe soon.

Catch Some Trout!!

Ken

The "Gorge Pool" of the Millers River

The "Gorge Pool" on the Bears Den section of the Millers River can be considered "storied", a place on this river that has a history that goes back beyond the pre-war years (that's world war 2). If you pay a visit to it now you will see a recent sign on a tree that calls the pool by another name. This is a well meaning but sad attempt to erase some local lore. Just ask Rodney Flagg of Flagg's Flies in Orange. He will tell you that this wonderful pool was known as the Gorge Pool a full 60 years ago when he first fished it. Diddo for Bob Rouleau who passed away in March of '08. He told me that this pool was called the Gorge Pool back in the '30's. Enough said. It's the Gorge Pool regardless of what some newbies say.

Actually it's really two pools, one after the other. Both have turbulent water at their heads and then slow deep water through the rest of the run. I lost my biggest Millers trout on the upper pool a few years ago. It broke a 3 or 4x tippet in a flash!! It has always been productive especially last year when one brown after another came to the net at dusk on a number of summer evenings. I can also say that unless I guided someone here I have had the place to myself!! That's the magic of the Gorge Pool. It's a bit of a walk from where you may park your car but it is well worth it.

See You There!!

Ken

Millers River Snapshot - Holtshire Bridge

I thought I'd spend a little time talking about the Millers River as we endure the long wait until the river is at a decent level to fish. One of the first places that receives attention in the Spring is the Holtshire Bridge Run.

Now, some may refer to it as "Orcutt Run" or "Orcutt Pool" from the name of the brook that enters just above the bridge. The Orcutt label is fairly new. I like the name that we used 20 years ago which is Holtshire Bridge named for the bridge that spans the river on Holtshire Road. Anyway, it's a popular place by any name.

If one is new to flyfishing or is a little unsteady while wading this is a very good spot for you. First, it has an even, almost glass-like flow for almost 200 yards which insures good lines of drift. Second, it's sandy, cobblestone bottom insures easy wading when compared to most of the river. Third, it is heavily stocked with rainbows and some browns. That's the upside. Here's the downside. It can be VERY CROWDED!! It is also somewhat shallow and even though it has ample aquatic weeds to shade the trout it is wide open to the summer sun without any needed shade from trees. The bottom line is that it is one of the few places that is unreliable for mid summer evening fishing because the trout have left for cooler quarters. One would think that the mouth of Orcutt Brook or the brook itself would provide refuge and that may be true but your best bet is the very tail of the pool. Trout hang out in the fast water below and then work their way up to the pool at dusk. It's your best bet for summer fishing on this section.

The photo above was taken on Holtshire Bridge looking downstream. To reach the tail of the pool just follow the railroad tracks which run on the north side of the river.

If you don't mind the crowds then check this place out starting this month through June.

Ken

The Farmington - Trip Number 2

Saturday, March 21, found me working the Church Pool of the Farmington River again. Things started off great with a 14 inch brown falling for an olive emerger on about the fifth cast. It was just like I had been dreaming about all week.

AND THAT WAS IT!! The cold and the wind kept the insects down and that kept the trout down. It also kept the flyfishers down too. The three longrodders that you see in this photo represented the bulk of humanity that I saw on the river. Two of these gents were tossing big, weighted nymphs (?) under even bigger indicators. I saw three fish taken between them in the four or so hours. I just couldn't bring myself to work that set up. I wanted to FLYFISH in a traditional way.

Time for a break. I'll be heading out very early Friday morning for a short trip to the Dominican Republic. Some sun, some fun, some cigars and maybe some fishing. I'll be back late on 4/1 and fully expect the Swift and the Millers to be totally fishable and the air full of Hendricksons!!!

See ya later,

Ken

A Good Dark Caddis

First, sorry for the less then perfect photo. Second, this is a good dark caddis that solves the problem of split wings on tent style caddis while using good old "throw out" material. Take some used "dryer sheets", mark it up with brown or black sharpees, back it with some clear tape and then cut it to shape. Take a hook between size 14 through 20, dub on a grey or olive body, wrap a brown hackle over the first third of the body, trim the hackle off the top and then tie on the taped wing. Dub on some black (or your color) material for the head and then you have it. The dryer material gives a great impression of the veined wing. Tape on one side only and have the taped side so it's on the top of the fly. It will last forever and trout love it.

Try it out!

Ken

P.S. Double click the photo to get a better look.

A Visit To The Farmington

Trout Fever is driving me crazy!!! The Millers is weeks away from being fishable and the Swift is running close to 600 cfs. What's a flyfisher to do? HIT THE FARMINGTON RIVER!!! I took a drive with my girlfriend to the village of Pleasant Valley, Ct. on Saturday, March 7 to check the place out, namely the fabled Church Pool. That was all that it took. I spent the next week waiting for Saturday to roll around, tying early black caddis and BWO emergers to add to the arsenal. Finally, I found myself waist deep in the slow water of the lower Church Pool yesterday morning at 9am. There were probably a dozen flyfishers spotted in the three hours that I was there with only four trout caught between them during that time. Most were working the surface imitating the dark winter caddis or the occasional BWO that floated by. I had one trout chase my caddis and it must of been my winter slowed reflexes that let it get away.

The Farmington is a great river and although I've had better results on this stream in the past it was just nice to be basking in the early Spring sun while working my fly rod.

Waiting for Spring

T.S. Elliot said that "April is the cruelest month". He's wrong. It's February!!! For the flyfisher it's the longest month even though it has the fewest days. A 30 degree day in February is colder than a 20 degree day in January. It has the most snow. It's the month where cabin fever rages across the flyfishing land. I'm glad that month is over.

It was a bad month. First, the flu knocked me out for a week. Second, the Swift has let me down. Last year February wasn't that bad on this river. My records show low flows and enough trout to keep my mind off the calendar. But this year, except for a two day period, the Swift has been 300+cfs since the first of the year. I like the Swift for it's light line fishing over low water, spooky trout. Slugging away with weighted flies is not what I want to do. So I'll just wait and tie more flies.

The above photo is of the lower, lower Swift at the second Bondsville dam. More on that in the future.

Ken