Thunder And Lighting On The Swift

At noon it was close to 90 degrees and by 5:00 pm the temperature stayed steady with a spike in humidity. I wanted to fish but where to go. The forecast spelled t'storms which would cut out the longest drive to the Millers. I had a score to settle with those rising 'bows on the Swift and I figured that the hot weather would keep the swimming crowd on the EB longer than usual. The Swift was the choice. (55 degree water on THIS day had an influence on the decision).

What was the score that had to be settled? I was skunked on Saturday by trout that seemed to be cruising around picking sulphur emergers when they felt like it. I dreamed of seeing a steady rise. I got THAT and some scary weather.

5:45 found me below RT 9 ready to work some riffles as the skies began to darken to the west. The riffles showed some active surface working trout. The appropriate low lying dry was tied on and I was quickly on to a good fish. It got darker accompanied by the tell-tale booms of thunder but more 'bows were landed.

Don't believe the old saying that trout will stop rising when lightning is in the immediate area. I rose my last fish when the sky exploded above me with a bolt of lightning and that crackling sound that says "get out of here". I did. The skies opened up by 6:45 with buckets of rain with more lightning. I was on the way home.

I took eight rising bows in that short time. All casts were in the 15 to 20 foot range with a sulphur emerger fished on the surface. The score was settled.

This river is full of fish and when I say "this river" I mean below RT 9. It amazes me that so many people still fish only above RT 9 when downstream is so much more interesting. The bait boys have become a fading memory and in a week it will be catch & release. Besides, the hardware guys fish in only one place: the tree pool. The rest is ours!!!

Time to go check out the Millers. That will happen very soon!!

Ken

After The Flood - It's the Swift (Of Course)

A fellow named Brad sent me a photo of the Millers looking downstream at the Kempfield section while the flow was at 3700cfs!!!!!!! That was on June 13 and it's now down below 2000cfs which is in the right direction but still too high to do anything but kayaking. Let's give this river a dry week and then see what happens.

The Swift - It has been sublime even with it being the only major river that has been fishable over the weekend. The flow was in the 55cfs range which REALLY brought out the crowd at the Y Pool. I found an isolated spot or two and had wonderful fishing over a steady sulphur hatch. There are a few species that we now label as sulphurs. Basically any mayfly that's yellow or cream. Ephemerella Invaria and Ephemerella Dorothea are the species that we generally call "sulphurs" but now the cream cahill, a steady summer hatch on the Swift, is lumped into the sulphur group. I usually don't care too much because my flies are generic enough to represent a number of insects. What I care about is whether the trout like them and they do.

The EB - Checking the online gauge is misleading for this river. When we get pounded with rain the dam will hold back water and then release it when the downstream flood threat ends. The flow gauge is situated just downstream from the dam. The flow will look outrageous at that spot but the flow miles upstream in the Gorge may be hundreds of cfs lower. That was the case this afternoon when I drove to the Gorge to check it out. I would say the flow was somewhere around 800. Of course when I was there the skies opened up with a heavy downpour and we are supposed to have more storms tonight. I'll keep an eye on this river but my guess is that we will have good flows by Thursday.

I was reading a few posts of mine from June and July of 2009 just to recount the flooding of that year. The Swift ran over 500 cfs in July after running in the 50-60cfs range in June. Will 2013 be a repeat of 2009?? Hope not!!

Ken

The EB - Before The Rain

Two things had to be done this past Wednesday night: hit the EB before the monsoon blows the river out and watch the Bruins!!

We did both.

The upper sections had more than the usual number of anglers as it appeared that they wanted to take advantage of the flows. We went downstream a bit and had the place to ourselves.

The short hour and a half trip produced a half dozen browns and 'bows all taken on the surface. Water levels were great, caddis filled the air and the section that my friend and I fished had what appeared to be a steady grey fox spinner fall. I used stoneflies, caddis and a big, scary hair wing Adams. They all took trout with that aggressive, splashy rise of trout chasing caddis. Then it was time for the Bruins.

We made it to the tavern in Willimsburg to catch the end of the first period. This place has a Wednesday special of a glass of craft beer and a burger with fries for $5.00!!! We caught fish and our team won! A perfect night.


Anyway, the EB and the Millers will rise again starting today if this forecast is true BUT the EB will begin dropping by Sunday and be fishable by early Tuesday. I'll be there!!

Ken

The Swift Saves The Weekend

Which weekend is he talking about, Memorial Day Weekend or this one coming up? Actually you can take your pick. The Millers was blown out on the long weekend and will will be the same this Saturday/Sunday. Expect it to be UP well into next week rain or no rain.

The EB got tame by Memorial Day but now is running very high due to last nights (Wednesday) rain. If the rains hold off that water will drop like a rock. It should be fishable (500-700 cfs range) by later Saturday (if the rains hold off).

We fished the Swift last Saturday in the driving rain and under Memorial Days bluebird skies and we had fun landing and losing trout. The usual places had the usual number of anglers on both days. It alsp appears that the trout have found their way back to the "Bubbler Arm", a place that they seem to have avoided over the last few months!

Hot Spots were the fly of choice on this river.

For those of you who are dying to hit the Millers (me included) but will stay away because of the flow I have included two Bears Den section photos of clients taken two weeks ago when the flow was perfect and the browns were willing.


Go Fishing!!

Ken

Memorial Day Outlook - Millers, EB And The Swift

As I write this (Friday, May 24 at 6:30 pm) the Millers is racing along at 1560 cfs. The EB is RUNNING at 1270 cfs and the Swift is where it's been for months - the low 50 cfs range. Guess where most of the action will be!

The above comment is conventional wisdom. Freestones bear the brunt of heavy rains, tailwaters much less so. But one will have to keep an eye on the EB. This river rises like a rocket and drops like a rock as the rains stop. It peaked around midnight nudging 2000 cfs and then dropped 700 to where it is now. It will continue to drop if the rains hold off. Don't rule out 500 cfs by Sunday. 500 is very fishable on that river.

The Millers is in for a high water long haul. It will take the better part of a week to get this river down to the 500 range that I like to start at. If the rains continue it will stay high. In 2009 it hit 1500 around June 6 and didn't sink below 1000 for more than a month.

The Swift, in many minds, will be the only game in town but that's selling your chances of fly fishing this weekend short. If you don't want the crowds then hit the lower Swift in Bondsville. It's usually empty and is a different river than the Rt 9 area. Also, here's a chance to fish those smaller streams that you've always said you would fish. They will be the first to recede and you will be away from the crowd.


I'll be keeping an eye on the EB!!

Ken

An Update - The Swift And The EB

The rain came down hard Wednesday afternoon and I began to think that flotilla of Hendricksons would be hammered into submission by that downpour. Not a chance!! The section below the pipe was full of them and the trout were after them. I had to fish a suitable nymph (all of the appropriate flies were back in the car) and lost 3 before one came to the net. Then I lost that fly. My time to fish had also run out but I knew that if I had come prepared it would have been unforgettable. Those days will come again.

The EB - I hadn't been back to this old friend since late summer. I knew that this section would get its Trout Unlimited Fest stocking but I didn't know exactly when. A few casts into the Bliss Pool resulted in a bow. That's when I saw the rise. Not a feeding rise but a "gulping" rise, a sure sign of a recently stocked fish. I caught 3 more when I saw the stocking truck heading back up the road.

The thrill was gone. I discovered a pod of trout and took another 7 while testing new fly creations. Everything worked!! The usual large bows were there plus many large (12 - 14 inch) brookies. Looking down into the net one would feel like they were in Labrador but this is Massachusetts and we don't have brookies like that. Those fish will be gone by July.

I fished for an hour and a half before I began to get sloppy like one does when one gets bored. I began to think of two weeks from now when the bows will take a clue from the browns and wise up. I was also thinking of the Swift and its hendricksons!

The EB is full of fish. There you go!

Ken

Millers Update

The Millers is ready to fish. Water levels are great, the days have been perfect and the browns were scheduled to hit the Bears Den this week with the lower C&R getting its share next week. As you know by now I'm no fan of rainbows in the Millers and although I support the brown stocking I would rather like the browns to be stocked along with the bows throughout the stocking season instead of the "all at once" scenario.

Better then that, I'd like to see browns stocked ALL OVER THE RIVER, like other rivers, instead of just in the C&R sections. We know the old story about how browns, because they survive so well in the Millers, will accumulate toxins. Therefore they must be stocked in the C&R sections. WHY NOT MAKE BROWNS A CATCH AND RELEASE SPECIES and stock them everywhere on the Millers? One excuse I heard against this is that people will not know the difference between a brown and a bow (yes, I've heard that).

The Millers is a brown trout river, period! The VAST majority of it's anglers are flyfishers, period! Our anglers survey two seasons ago proved that. The browns draw the flyfishers, period, but miles of river have very few browns. The DFW should stock what we want, period!!!!

Have fun this week!

Ken