Big Bugs Of Autumn And This Weekend

"The last thing you change is your fly" The great Lee Wulff

One cannot go to a river like the EB or the Millers during late August to early October and not see them. Large, long, dark forms clinging to stream side stones will greet the angler during his early morning fishing. This is the exoskeleton of the of the Isonychia nymph, one of the largest mayflies around and an insect that emergers all Summer long but especially in the late Summer and Fall.

This mayfly takes it's cue from the stonefly when it comes to hatching and that is the habit of crawling or swimming to shore and then climbing a rock to hatch leaving the shell behind. This act is usually done under the cover of darkness (they would be easy pickings for shore birds if they hatched during bankers hours) although I've seen them at dusk on cloudy days. Needless to say, the nymph is what's important to us instead of the dun.

These are the fastest swimmers in the mayfly family and seem to like to dart around especially at hatch time. Thomas Ames, Jr., in his book Hatch Guide for New England has a number of nymph presentations but I have found that a possum nymph colored black with a sharpie captures form and color. All you have to do is present it correctly. This swimmer doesn't get lost in the drift but swims and darts around. Make it dart around! This nymph is bigger than the Hendrickson. This bug is also a good indicator or clean, well-oxygenated water. Keep a supply ready this Fall.

This weekend - Let's hope for a little rain to freshen up our freestones. The EB has been great this week and I've heard good reports about the Millers and not from the usual places like Orcutt. Seems like the "regulars" are spreading out and that's a very good thing!!

Ken

Play Hookey With Me And Fish The EB

What's the next step?  Instead of shelling out big bucks for a "high end fly rod", which will not improve your casting, you should take a casting lesson with a casting instructor. Notice that I said casting instructor and not a fly fishing lesson. One on One time to review your technique and to "retool" you will serve you very well in the future and keep you from being a "one trick pony" on a trout stream.  - Me on the importance of casting.

What a morning!!! Nothing on the possum nymphs because the flow, which was low, wouldn't support the drift. I spied the occasional surface rise and switched over to a size 16 partridge and orange and landed 8, all bows. More trout began to hit the surface so off came the SH and on went a tan size 16 parachute. End result - over 20 rose and 15 ended up in the net.

Make note of this: I'm not on the Swift or on the Farmington BUT ON THE EB fishing for god only knows how many trout in a river that hasn't been stocked since MAY.

Lots of fish and switching techniques to catch them is what's it's all about.

Do you want some of this??? Book a full or half day with me ANY day of the week. I saw only one other fly fisher in the 4 hours I was there = weekdays are great!!!!!

Book Me!!

Ken

Two Mornings, Two Rivers And Off The Beaten Path

The greatest enemy of "good" is "better" - Voltaire

Thursday morning found me hopscotching around the Millers and checking out some of my old haunts. I was also checking out how the trout weathered through the Summer and that answer is FINE!!

First stop was the Bridge Street Pool which looked enticing as usual but my hour there produced nice scenery and that was it. Next was the Erving Center Run that produced the star of the trip - a 6 inch brown with fins and a tail that showed no signs of hatchery markings. The pectoral fins really stand out on a fish like this. They are long and wide and look like a set of oars. A rainbow around 14 inches made its appearance before I moved upstream. Both fish fell for my possum nymph. The Center is a great place and is totally overlooked by fly fishers, fly fishing groups and the fly fishing media. It does have its "regulars" and I've been one for over 30 years. Orcutt will always draw the crowds which will keep the numbers down at the Center.

The last stop was to say hi to the Kempfield and that decision worked out fine as there were two browns working the surface and I got them both. They weren't bruisers but required careful casting under conditions that got windy.

The EB - I had to somehow make up for that T'Storm shortened trip of earlier in the week by putting in a good four hours working this river. The storms changed everything by bringing the water up considerably, knocking down the "rise" but not turning off the trout. The possum nymph, which actually looks like an insect instead of a day glow extraterrestrial ruled the day with 7 hits, 6 hooked and 5 landed.

The browns didn't make an appearance as the stage was occupied by rainbows and one gorgeous male brook trout, in full autumn colors, of about 13 inches long. It was a beautiful trout!!

Now some notes - This post and the previous post dealt with three trips totaling about 8 hours where 15 trout were landed. "What's so big about that?" you may ask. But wait a minute!! This is mid September and I was fishing over trout that were stocked over 4 months ago. And these trips were on the backwaters of freestones like the Millers and the EB and not on the popular tailwaters of our area. In short, why wait for the stocking trucks to roll in late September or roll the dice on some future date that could be rained out anyway. FISH NOW if you possibly can. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE EVENING to fish. We are in EARLY FALL (sun angle in the sky is the same as late March/early April) and the temperatures reflect that. The freestone trout did very well this Summer and they are active.

Check out my COMMENTS section for the last few posts. Some readers are gracious enough to tell you where they have done well and that is a very good thing!!!!!

My possum nymph was a size 12, tied on a wet fly hook, and it fooled those holdover trainees!

Ken

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A Storm Shortened EB Trip And This Weekend

"Controlling micro drag is far more important than reducing the diameter of your tippet, which can never be completely invisible. Fine as they are (tippet), their presence is magnified by surface tension in the same manner that the feet of insects create tiny lenses. Wetting agents, including saliva, make short work of this problem, but keep the last few inches of tippet dry, lest they counteract the buoyancy of your fly" Thomas Ames, Jr. - Hatch Guide For New England Streams

"Damn the forecast, I'll just chance it!" That was the start of my 1 hour trip to the EB. The weather wizards said a "good chance of thunderstorms for western Massachusetts" which I like to think of as a good chance of "nothing" happening. So the trip was on.

I was looking for ants because the weather was perfect for them: warm, humid and early September. I saw only one of those winged critters all day so it certainly wasn't what was driving the trout to the surface! Trout were at the head of the pools slashing away at something on the surface. From where they held in the stream I figured some sort of mayfly which certainly hadn't gone beyond the emerging insect stage. Time to experiment!

First, I used a partridge and orange SH thinking that it would be perfect during this early stage of the hatch. Nothing doing!! I then tied on a BWO parachute emerger and struck a good brown on the second or third cast and then took a bow right after that. It began to look like an epic session until I heard that distant drum roll of a turbulent atmosphere. I kept casting and catching trout while hoping that the storm would disappear. No such luck. I retreated to the safety of the car. In all, I fished from 3pm to 4pm and took 2 browns and 4 bows.

The Swift dropped like a rock yesterday and is now back to a civilized 50 cfs. It will be interesting to see if the high water of the past week moved any of the fish around like the last high water event.

The Millers and the EB - keep an eye on the flows! The EB is in the 300's and the Millers is in the 200's. These are good conditions but the forecasted T'Storms can blow them out quickly especially the EB. BTW, the Millers is fishing well.

My guiding calendar is starting to fill up. Don't get left out!!!!

Ken

Myths Of Autumn And Streamer Tips

We caught trout on stoneflies in fits and starts all morning, periodically switching out one fly pattern for another as the ones we'd been using went cold. Nobody knows why that happens. - John Gierach on Fall like conditions

In my not-so-humble-opinion the BEST fly fishing of the season is starting right now and will continue until we are tired of eating turkey and then with some weather luck, it will continue a bit further. Autumn fishing is great but some people get frustrated because of the lower (usually) flow conditions, fish that have wised up and the stubborn adherence to some disproven theories which will kill your success.

1. It's Autumn and trout will put on the feed bag because Winter is coming

Trout don't read calendars and don't anticipate ANYTHING! Their feeding is dictated by water temperature which controls their metabolism, period. Tom Rosenbaurer, from Orvis, once wrote that trout consume more calories in May and June then they do at any other time of the year. Sure, there's a lot of food available but water temperatures in the mid 50's will get them eating more than temperatures in the mid 40's or the mid 60's. Remember, water temperatures at mid day in mid September may be a bit high, mid day in mid October is usually perfect and mid day in mid November the temperatures are on the downturn. It's still fishable but things are slowing down.

2. All of the natural foods are smaller in the Fall

Not true!!! If your life revolves around mayflies then you will not have the bigger flies of Spring to deal with but you will have isonychia (size 14), Stoneflies (up to 3 year nymph life which means big nymphs in the Fall), Hellgramites (big nymphs that live in that stage for up to 5 years), October Caddis (a BIG October fly), ants, beetles, hoppers, crayfish (the EB is full of them) and young of the year fry that in some streams make up the largest protein source. Also remember that many rivers will get another dose of hatchery rookies that will take any day glow offering that you have.

Actually, I like casting a size 24 BWO on a cloudy October day as much as I like working over Hendricksons!!
                                                                            Isonychia Nymph

Yes, I do fish streamers but not often. But when I do it's been with the Thunder Creek series/style which works fine for me. In fact, my biggest trout this year was taken on the Ware with a Thunder Creek Marabou streamer on a rising river during a driving rain.

I also tie this style on short shank scud hooks and fish it quartering upstream like a nymph. When it gets below me I'm mending like I'm fishing a soft hackle. Fish it slowly like it's a wounded bait fish.

I don't add beads or barbell weights to this fly for fresh water use and you don't have to either or you may make the same mistake as one on-line fly tier did. He tied a small bait fish streamer with a light underbelly, a darker mid section and a dark back just as you should. Then he lashed in a barbell weight, AKA Clouser style, on the TOP of the Fly which means that when the fly hits water the barbell will sink first which means the poor fly will ride belly up (upside down) in the current.

Live and learn!

This weeks showers are only going to help our rivers. Backcast to my previous post and read the comment about the EB and the MB by Gary.

Ken

It's September And Fishing This Weekend

"It's hard to resist tying new flies for a trip. Day-to day life, with its death spiral of chores and errands, can make even a big fishing trip seem unreal right up to the moment you toss your duffel and rod case into the pickup and drive to the airport. But tying flies before a trip clears your mind and gives you something to do besides pacing, fretting and packing more gear than you'll ever use." - John Gierach

It's time to go fly fishing because it's September 1 and we will have all of this month and October AND November to do what we like best. The rivers are in good shape, the weather is cooling and the trout are becoming more active. We also don't have to wait our freestones out until evening because in a few weeks we will be catching trout at mid day under wonderful conditions. You also now have a guide who is now available ALL OF THE TIME. Book me up!!!!!

As you probably know the Swift went from 50 cfs to 128 this week and that's not a bad thing although I prefer the lower water and the tiny flies that I like. Bigger offerings will still work with terrestrials leading the way on rivers like the Swift and October Caddis and Isonychia making their presence seen on our freestones like the Millers and the EB.

The Swift - Thursday morning found me down by the Pipe adjusting to the heavier flow. I started off working pinheads and chironomid patterns with very limited success so I put on an old faithful - a size 16 partridge and orange with a light orange body. I picked up 2 bows and 2 brookies and then moved down to Caddy Lane. This place fishes well with the higher flows, allowing trout to get up next to the banks which were almost high and dry just a few days before. I got some brookies, missed a bow and then took a foot long brookie who was right up against the bank. It couldn't be better!!!

Time to fish!!

An EB Morning And The Seasons Change

"Tailwaters are what Thomas McGuane called "the great theme parks of American fly fishing," with their more or less stable water temperatures and artificially inflated populations of insects and fish. They are irresistible for all kinds of reasons, but all of those trout breed the peculiarly postmodern sense that anything short of a 20 fish day is a bust, so when things are slow there's the temptation to lie about numbers or to vaguely allow that you are "getting your share" - John Gierach

The car thermometer read 46 degrees when I pulled off to park just before the BIG gate at the Bend Run on the EB. Then came the 15 minute walk down to Les's Pool and then a morning of hopscotching upstream ending at the Bliss Pool. The EB has been a question mark this year. With the exception of 2016 (drought) this may be the slowest season I've experienced on this river in 20 years. There are fish there but not in the insane numbers that we have gotten accustomed to which is a good thing if you like to have a mile or so of river to yourself. I think it's a good thing!

My hope was to find some rising fish at Les's, 2 Mile Run and the Bend during the morning. Actually I haven't fished the EB in the morning since June which is a safe bet during the Summer but with the air temperatures of late it was time to change tactics.

There were rising trout but they were cruising around which makes targeting them difficult and others were simply beyond casting range. So I threw on a size 14 possum nymph with a weighted body (no bead) and began to slowly dredge the deepest parts of the pool. There is a quiet anticipation involved here as you wait for the "tap". The tap came and with a quick raising of the rod the fish was on!

Now, this is a DEEP pool with depths, I believe, that are in the 10 foot range and this bow headed to the bottom. My goal was not to let him run at will so he could wrap himself around a snag but to keep the rod high and force him up where he doesn't want to be and make him thrash and tire himself out on the surface which he doesn't want to do!! I won that battle but not after two reel screaming runs. It wasn't a giant trout but a bow of 14 inches who tried to use the depth to its advantage.

So did the next one!!

I then began to move upstream, landing one at 2 Mile on a large hairwing Adams and then getting one at Slant Rock (finally!! This pool has stumped me this year) All bows. I wanted to end this short adventure at the Bliss Pool but the sun was getting high so I decided to call it a morning

A few hours latter I got an email from friend and EB, MB and WB expert Gary who said he fished the EB over rising fish all morning and never saw a soul. I told him I was up by the Gorge and he said he was far below Indian Hollow. All I saw was a lone jogger which was perfect!

September 1 is almost here. We have lost a lot of daylight over the last month and the sun has the same strength and angle in the sky as it did in Mid April. The Summer doldrums are pretty much over and we are gearing up for the "Second Season" which is Fall. Book a trip now for the Swift, Millers, EB or the Ware. You will not regret it.

Ken