Don't Trust The Gauge!!

I hit the "Pipe" at 7:15am just like a week ago. Water was just barely covering that metal tube, again, just like a week ago but the gauge is reading a flow in the HIGH 400's today while last week it was in the mid 300 cfs range. The electronic gauge must be off. The Pipe will be my gauge going forward. That high reading may be the reason why I fished alone for two hours before the next guy showed up.

That high reading was the reason that I took along two size 12 marabou streamers to try out. The tiny marabou streamers did the early morning trick. Six bows smashed them on the drift with four landed. Next came the reliable Hot Spot which took another six with a few throwing the hook.

There is a lot of action above RT 9 dealing with the "spillway salmon". I'll fish for them but not during the weekend. Too many people. Maybe that's why the Pipe was all mine this morning.

To all of you - Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Ken

A November Morning On The Swift

It's that time of year again. The Dark Season is upon us, all five months of it but there are a few golden days in November where the sun shines and the temperature nudges past 60 degrees. This is the real Indian Summer of New England lore, when the color has left the trees and it gets unseasonably warm. We had a few days of that as the weekend approached and it killed me not to be on a trout stream but Sunday dawned with the promise of a good day as I headed down Rt. 9 towards the Swift.

The flow at the "Pipe" was high, very high, although the gauge that morning read 180cfs. Two weeks before, at 209cfs, one could still see six inches of the pipe. Now it was totally underwater. They fixed the gauge after the snowstorm but it still needs an adjustment. Keep that in mind.

The fly fishing - I first tied on a hot pink SJW 18 inches below a split shot to just wake those guys up. One came to the net, one got away as they have been doing in this high water. I switched to a Swift Serendipity and got another hit but couldn't fool another. Next came a #16 Hot Spot and that's when the game changed. 18 bows took the fly, 10 where landed. I will remember one large bow that hit, jumped and then ran to the top of top of the Tree Pool (I was at the Pipe!!) before jumping again and throwing the hook.

Fall is wonderful on the Swift. One has the opportunity to fish for actively feeding trout, with surface action thrown in, while most of our other rivers are really winding down. Get out there if you can especially if the temperature on these last golden days nudges past 60 degrees!!!!

Ken

After The Snow Storm And The Top River For The Year

Driving down the turn off to the Pipe this morning was like driving through a clear cut zone. Lots of trees and branches down, lots of chain saw work. If you wondered why you can't get a flow reading for the Swift the simple reason is that the antenna at the gauge is resting on the ground. Who knows when that will get fixed. The flow is high with just the tip of the pipe showing. That is a +250cfs flow if my memory serves me.

The flow is one thing but the tree debris in the river is another. I with I had taken my camera to record this although I believe the trees and limbs will be there for a while. The short pipe stretch is graced with a large tree that broke in two. There are other "new arrivals" up and down the river and I would just as soon leave them there. This river can stand more trout cover and more woody debris (bug food), especially the former and certainly the latter. Lets hope no well intentioned soul decides he's going to spend a day doing "stream improvements".

Over the last two years I've rated my three rivers, the Millers, EB and the Swift for their yearly performance. In 2009 the EB was the best, followed by the high water Millers and the flooded out Swift. In 2010 the order was reversed. The Swift won by being a refuge during the worst heat wave/drought that I can remember. 2011??? It's the SWIFT. It was not a runaway decision.. The Millers and the EB fished well up through early July but fell victim to another drought and heat wave for most of July and August. Then came Irene!! The Millers hasn't seen a 400cfs day since August 28 and Irene killed the access to the EB and it's Fall stocking. Meanwhile, the Swift just purred along from 45 to 120 cfs all Summer and provided great fishing. Ok, it has an unfair advantage being a tailwater but ......who cares!! It's just a great place to spend a Summer day working over highly educated trout!!!!

I'll be there this winter, half frozen and thinking of sulphurs and short sleeves!!

A Fall Day On The Swift

It was a good day on the Swift. Cloudy, cool October weather and eager trout. It seems like nobody fishes the "Pipe" this season. That's a mistake. There are plenty of fish there but few fly fishers. Lots of hooked trout and some landed.
That's the case for the last month.

The "bubbler arm" or the "brook" has been working well with anything that resembles anything that is tiny and dark. We even found a lot of room at the Y Pool to work over a sparse hatch of small BWO's.

It's snowing as I write this. There will be some warm November days where everything will connect, maybe even on the Millers if the flow keeps dropping. BUT the "Dark Season" is almost upon us. The freestones will freeze up. That will leave the Swift for the wading Massachusetts fly fisher to ply their trade. We will fish through the Winter dreaming of Hendericksons on some beautiful Spring day.

Here we go!!

Ken

The Upper, Upper Swift River

The West Branch of the Swift River rises in the highlands of Shutesbury and flows southeast into the Quabbin. It is a small woodland stream that has one important feature: It is the spawning ground and nursery for Quabbin's landlocked salmon population or at least a great portion of it. In a good year (good flows) hundreds of BIG salmon work their way upstream through many obstacles to spawn in it's upper reaches.

Now, I don't want to be accused of spilling the beans on some secret spot. This stream and it's Fall run are well known. There is some fly fishing done, most of it catch and release. There's also some snagging done by a few locals and that's why I'm writing this. I've fished this run on occasion, caught a few, but mostly I've just walked this section just to look at the spawning salmon and to look for snaggers. I've got the DFW law enforcement number in my cell phone and will use it and so should you.

I would not mind seeing this stream placed off limits during the Fall. That would make it hard for the snaggers to get away with what they do. This stream is just too valuable as a resource and placing it off limits would not put a dent in anyone's yearly fishing hours.

So, take a walk with a good camera within the next few weeks on the West Branch. It's really a great sight!!

Ken

Columbus Weekend On The Swift

Sunday morning was strange. I thought that maybe I should of made reservations for the "Pipe" section. At 8:15am I was the only one there and for the next 4 plus hours I had ONE fishing companion named John. We took turns turning trout that slept in until 10am. A sparse hatch of BWO's turned these fish on and we got takes. I hooked 10 and landed only 4 but it was a ball. Monday morning my two clients hooked fish. The landing was another story with the same batting average that I had the day before. Then we went to the bubbler arm and hooked, landed and lost more fish. The 'bows in this river are full of fight and have seemed to have learned how to throw the hook!! BTW, even with 20 cars at the Y Pool parking area we had plenty of room on that Bubbler Arm. Everyone was at the Y and downstream. The Bubbler has about 100+ yards of water with plenty of water to fish.

I'm back on Wednesday (today) to revisit the Bubbler. Three fish in an hour with #18 hotspots and then nothing for the next two hours. Such is life!!

Fall fishing for me means low water and smart trout. The Swift has it.

Ken

Miller/EB Season Wrap Up

Yes, that's right. I'm wrapping up the Millers for the season. At 1500cfs it is pretty safe to say that the flows will not get down to the flows that we have normally had at this time of the year. I looked back on my October posts from 2007 and 2008 and read about evenings with normal flows and rising browns. Not this year. And the idea of chasing freshly stocked rainbows does nothing for me.

Ditto for the EB. It's flows drop quicker than the Millers BUT Hurricane Irene hurt this river and closed the access road. Jack, a contributor to this blog, found out that the DFW will not stock the EB this Fall because of access problems. I think that this will not bode well for the Spring. Roads are not repaired in the Winter so the same excuse might hold up next May. Lets hope not.

So that leaves the Swift which seems to be slowly rising. It's always a delayed reaction behind that dam. It takes a while for that "pond" to fill up. Let's hope that we don't get into an overflow situation. That could last for months!!!!

It's been a strange season!!!

Ken