Welcome To The Jungle - Below The Pipe

This past week I introduced a guy to the Gauge and the Pipe sections of the Swift. He had been fishing the Swift for a few years but ONLY in the CR section above Route 9. He was amazed that the place existed and that the water was so inviting. The next day he went right back and caught a monster bow. Today he brings his son back.

He was the second Y Pool refugee in two weeks who got to expand his knowledge about this great tailwater. If you find that you spend most or ALL of your time above route 9 then FORCE yourself downstream. The Swift is a more fertile stream down by the gauge, a natural occurrence the further downstream that you go and even MORE fertile below the pipe, an unnatural occurrence. That nutrient load is what gives the Tree Pool it's midge heaven reputation.

Now, what about the fly fishers who found the Pipe and never left? The answer = Visit "The Jungle" (aka Cady Lane) First, you will not have trout running between your boots as you do far upstream. Instead you will have classic upstream spring creek fishing. The place just looks fishy and has plenty of brookies and browns to keep you happy. Lots of overhanging trees insure plenty of ants, beetles, jassids and whatever landing on the water all day. And the Water - It's still cold!!

Now, have I messed up anyone's life by talking about this spot? No, because I've talked about this place before and NOTHING CHANGED!
Maybe someone will get adventurous and break their habit.

The EB came down as expected. Very early morning and the evening is the time to go.

Ken

This Weekend

Thursday nights rains pelted Western Massachusetts and much of central Massachusetts too. The Millers is at 1000cfs and the EB is at 1080. The latter will drop quickly and should be in good form this Sunday. The Millers?????? I say two weeks of reasonable dry weather will get this flow down to enjoyable fly fishing levels. Some may suggest that these high flows can be fished but there is enough online evidence about how this river is a bear to wade even when it seems tame. In 2009 someone fell in and drowned in similar flows. I don't guide in water like this. We can wait or maybe it's time to check out the smaller flows that you always wanted to hit. Go do it!

Good comments and emails on the "Conventional Wisdom" post. We will keep this going along with the usual river reports.

Away to Plum Island for a week starting tomorrow to play with stipers and blues. By Wednesday I'll be thinking about trout and writing about them too.

Lobsters and Beer!!!

Ken

P.S. Lenny smokes another Swift bow in the photo above

Debunking Conventional Wisdom - The Leader Myth And Leader Shy Trout

Let's look back to this past May. I saw this guy net a brown as I got there and asked what he was using. "a size 14 caddis emerger". Good enough. Then he goes about a half hour without a fish and then asks me if I have any 7x TIPPET. I asked "what for?" He said that he believed that the trout had become "leader shy". I said that I didn't have any 7x (we were on the Millers for Christ sake) and we DON"T need that). We continued to catch trout on 5X! He caught none.

Back cast 5 years ago when I met this young guy on the EB. He said that he was using a size 12 stimulator on 7X!! Why? "Because the water is so clear". The time frame between these events is full of the same excuse.

Lefty Kreh is credited with the statement:"there is more bullshit in fly fishing than in a Texas cattle yard". This is an example of it!!

Point 1 - leaders are matched to the size of the fly that you are using, not the clarity or depth of the water that you are fishing!

Point 2- If leaders are fished behind a SUNKEN FLY then the leader visibility is a moot point. Modern leaders, if they are below the surface, are practically invisible especially the fluoro variety. Mono has made great strides to reduce light refraction over the past decade to where it's almost a "no decision" between mono and fluoro. (Note: my sources are not retail outlets which have another agenda)

Point 3 - Our "leader spooked trout" are not the the cause of "heavy" leaders but THE CAUSE OF BAD PRESENTATION. "Lining" trout (dumping your fly line on top of the fish) or slapping your fly down on the water are some of the causes. You see this when fishing dry flies for rising trout.

"Conventional Wisdom" and it's goofy step brother "Common Sense" say that the clearer the water and the spookier the trout equals tiny tippets. Tying larger flies to tiny tippetts mean more lost flies and longer battles to bring a trout to the net. That last statement is especially true if you are not into harming trout. Find a "fly to tippet chart" and stay with it.

If you think that I'm working on impractical theory then absorb this fact: I do a good amount of Tenkara fishing on the Swift and instruct even more clients on this technique. We ALL hook into MANY trout while using the occasional size 14 but mostly size 16 through 20 AND they are ALL HOOKED ON 5X!!!!! The funny thing is that we are fishing next to people who are fishing for the same trout but would NEVER fish a size 18 on a 5X. Go figure!!!

Lefty Kreh, George Harvey and Charlie Brooks, among others, questioned this "conventional wisdom" and found that it came up lacking. Don't blame the equipment. Maybe blame yourself.

Note: The Swift Trout are wising up.

Ken

An EB Summer Evening

Short Story - Dorrie and I were going to hike the lower section of the Wapack Trail today but an early morning workout ankle injury to her killed those plans. Nothing really serious but doing that trail was out of the question. We had a long drive on RT 112 into Vermont to checkout the North River (nice stream), went back to Northampton to put things on the grill, build a nice salad and read the Times. In a few hours she said "maybe you should go fly fishing". Maybe it was the far away look that I had in my eyes that made her say that but I was ready like a Navy Seal!

I was a bit tired of the Swift and all the stories about how to catch freshly stocked trout. Let's face it. Anything dumb works except my guys caught trout on flies that they will take 2 months from now. We caught lots of trout. Now it was time for the EB!

In short, I fished from 5:30 to 8:30 pm and took 8 on DRY FLIES missing two others. The bows were the size of the bows dumped into the Swift last week BUT these guys had been in the river for two months. They were conditioned to this river! So were the Brookies!! All fought hard and ran away when released. Another EB regular had a great day starting at 3pm and continued after I left. I saw him fight and lose a bow that exited the water like an explosion. I was 200 yards away when I saw that!

Fish this river and the Millers in the evening until mid September for best results. "But I have only one day to fish and I can't wait till 5pm to start". Understood - Try this. Get up early in the morning and fish the Swift. Have a good day and then at 4pm drive up RT202 to Wendell Depot and do the Millers or head out on RT 9 and do the EB. Switch the 2 wt for a 4 or 5 wt and do the evening rise. You will have a full day at prime time for these locations. The EB has a special attraction: The Williamsburg Tavern. On Wednesday you get a cheeseburger, fries and one of their CRAFT beers for $5.00. Nice bar and inexpensive prices.

Ken

Fish The Swift And Watch For Poachers And The Millers/EB

This river has been stocked from the Y Pool down through the Pipe. There are plenty of fish and they are LARGE fish as well they should be considering that the Swift is our premier trout fishery. We had to wait long but it was worth it.

The 7/1 stocking has brought the fish baggers back. While guiding yesterday I saw a father with two sons coming down the path with a trout on a stringer. I read them the riot act and they took off. There will be plenty of people playing dumb about this over the next few weeks. Call the DFW law enforcement as I did.

The Millers is blown out. The EB at 302 is perfect. Remember, best results here are going to be in the evening going through into September. If the Millers comes down it will be the same story there also.


Ken

Make Reservations For The Swift

As predicted the DFW came through and stocked the Swift on July 1. I saw a couple of double digit days yesterday but we must remember that these are freshly minted fish and are dumb as stumps. In two weeks they'll wise up and will be sipping 28's and not playing with WB's and streamers like now. Also, they seem to be podded up. Maybe we'll get a spike in the flow or maybe someone will wade through the school and scatter them.

If the crowds are too much then go exploring. I have a spot I like to call the Spring Creek because it looks like one. Wide, slow and shallow it is the home of brookies,browns and bows and not in the concentrations found in the usual places. It is dry fly land where ants and beetles rule. At least yesterday morning it did.

Happy 4th!!

Ken

So,

Swift Second Season And Dave D. - Rod & Flies Found!!

First off - Dave - your rod, case and flies have been found. Mike at Deerfield Fly Shop has the info. Check my link to him on this site or look at the comments for my June 28, 2015 post for contact info.

Second, the bait boys are GONE from below RT 9 on the Swift. We have been having good results to some sulphur hatches and if we get the expected early July stocking we will have fishing till Christmas! Lenny, my Swift River spy (when I'm not there), has been fooling them on size 16 pheasant tails. It's the perfect generic nymph and works well in any size. I worked PT's last week from size 14 through 20. Scored on all sizes!!

Get out and fish this river during the heat of summer. It's cool, refreshing and the fishing is good. Book a trip, day long or evening and have a ball!!!

Happy July 4th to you!!

Ken