Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine - The West, Middle Branches Of The Westfield And The Farmington

"The solution to any problem - work, love, money, whatever - is to go fishing and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be".  John Gierach

Photo by C. Perez and Eastern Flyfishing Magazine

Writer Christophe Perez and Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine have hit the bullseye again with another splendid article about Western Ma. flyfishing, namely the West and Middle Branches of the Westfield River System.  These are two rivers that deserve your attention and will get you off of the beaten path.  I was honored to act as a guide for Christophe and I was honored to be given the cooks tour of the branches by Gary Cranson, the Wizard of the Westfield!!!

The article is in the September/October 2019 issue of Eastern Fly Fishing Magazine and it's on the news stands and was mailed last week.  BTW, there's a story on the Farmington River in the same issue.  I subscribe to this magazine and so should you!!!  And remember, check out Upcountry Fly Shop's  Website before you plan a Farmington trip.  It's like this site - you can trust what's in it!!!

The Rivers

The Millers, as I write, is at 152 cfs which is dead on average for the flow. Fish it in the evening!!!

 The EB is at 54 cfs. If you think that it's too low then check out the comments by Gary about the boney Middle Branch. It seems that the browns don't mind the flow at all.

The Swift keeps chugging along at 114 cfs which is close to double the historical flow and for good reason.  We are in a drought and Quabbin is higher in August than it's been in the last four years. It's at 95.5% capacity and will have to be drawn down before Fall I would assume.

Note: Get to the Swift EARLY or stay LATE.  You may be crying about the crowds if you don't!

I will tell you that I really miss that mid day sulphur hatch that we had on the Swift in June and July. So many mayflies, so many trout!!!  The one thing about fishing a tailwater is that the flows are fairly stable and so are the insect hatches.  The high Spring flows on the Swift probably pushed back the hatches about a week and that is nothing.  Same for the freestones.  One has to remember that trout and the insects that they feed on don't give a damn about OUR hatch charts.  Those are for our entertainment and are usually worthless anyway.

An Easy Trico

Size 20 to 24 standard dry fly hook

Black thread for the body, about two layers

The wing is your choice of either white snowshoe or fine synthetic post material. Lay it across the hook shank and crisscross it in. Then pull up the ends tightly and snip it. Then use very fine black synthetic dubbing to build a foundation to support the wing.

I use synthetic dubbing for tiny dries because, I believe it absorbs less water AND gives me the nice, tight body that I like.

8/21 - BTW, Upcountry Fly Shop is reporting good trico spinner action as of 8/20 in the C&R and upstream.



Ken

The Recent Rain, Tricos, And Flying Ants

"Tricos will be with us for the next couple of weeks. They are tiny and will average size 24 give or take a hook size. Tricos are normally an early to mid morning hatch/spinner fall.  FYI- spinner falls are normally the main event" - From Upcountry Fly Shop, On The Farmington, August 14, 2019

Flying ants are natures way of trying to duplicate the man made pellet hatch. You would be hard pressed to find more surface action than when these guys start falling on the water. I've seen this "swarm" on the EB, the Farmington, the Swift but strangely I can't recall one on the Millers but I'm sure there have been some.

I used to get elaborate with tying ants with adding hackle point wings and such but that is more of a waste of time.  I've reduced my ants to basic "trigger points" - an hour glass profile and and a blue dun hackle about one size smaller than the fly.

Blue Dun???  Why not black for a black ant and brown/red for a red ant?  Simple. The hackle doesn't represent the insect body or its legs BUT ITS WINGS which reflect sunlight like glass.  Blue dun will do that!

One more thing - use synthetic dubbing for this pattern.  You will be able to shape that hour glass profile and it doesn't like to absorb water.

Another thing - take a black sharpie and color the hackles on the underside of the ant near the waist.

Exaggerate the hour glass profile. Maybe we should call it the Kardashian Ant!!!!

Last Nights Rain

The skies opened up out in Western and Central Ma and some much needed rain was the result. The Millers went from 110 cfs to 229 cfs (very good) and the EB went from 30 to 80. I'd like to see one more storm on that river this week.


Tricos??

It came to my attention that someone is claiming that the Farmington Trico hatch is over and they just missed it. In response I posted the quote from Upcountry Fly Shop dated August 14 ( top of this post) stating that the tricos are just starting to appear and will be with us for the next couple of weeks. I don't know about you but I'd trust Upcountry's reports before anyone else's concerning the Farmie!!!!

Their river reports are updated twice a week all year long. Before you leave for that Farmie trip check out their site!!!

Ken

Break Out The Snow Shoes

"Most of the world is covered by water.  A fisherman's job is simple: pick out the best parts" - Charles Waterman

If you want your surface flies to have a good, natural profile with enough "trigger points" to drive trout crazy AND (most importantly) if you want your flies to float then introduce yourself to snowshoe hair flies!

Is it better than CDC? No contest! Does it beat deer hair? Yup!
Hackle? Forgetaboutit!!!

 It's one drawback is that it is tricky for the novice to work with.  One has to know that much of your standard snowshoe foot is unusable and has the feel of calf tail which truly sucks. The best fur is found between the "toes" and on the bottom of the foot.

How to tie - Size 12 through 24 (you can go smaller) emerger or scud hook

Thread body (or floss) from hook bend to thorax

A small clump of shoeshoe tied in at the thorax with the tips slightly forward.

Anchor the wing with your choice of dubbing.  You can force the wing back in a mayfly dun position if you like.

No paste floatants please. They gum things up.  Powder works fine.

The Weekend

The Millers and the Swift are very fishable right now so go hit them.  I'd like to see a rogue T'Storm hit the EB.  It could use it.

Ken

What A Difference A Day Makes

"Above all, observe the fish. Better yet, observe the trout as if you were a predator that needs to catch it, not just a participant in a game. Edited-for-action fly fishing videos won't prepare you for approaching big, spooky trout" - Bob Wyatt

We know that Saturdays and Sundays can test your patience on the Swift with the hordes of anglers that those days bring.  It has now spilled over to Friday and Monday. On Monday it was packed like I've never seen it. Both Y lots were full and the Pipe lot had about a dozen cars in it and it was only 10 am.  What do you do?  Answer - take a short walk AWAY from the crowds, find your spot and fish it!  That's what I did and I had a great day of fishing dries to some good sized brookies.


As you know, I rail against the crowds on the Swift but at the same time I appreciate them. Without crowded spots we would not have empty spots.  It seems that fly fishers seem to like the safety of the flock which explains the Y Pool.  It gives one a chance to talk rods, reels, flies, trips and so on. "That's all they do is talk" was the response of one well known regional fly fisher.  I'm friendly on the stream BUT I don't search people out.

ONE DAY LATER - At 8am the Pipe Lot was empty, the Pipe was empty and the Tree Pool was empty. I spent the next two hours in Cady Lane and saw NOBODY!!!  I caught trout!

A Generic Emerger

Size 24 wide gap hook a small fly on a big hook

Olive thread for the body

Fine grey post wing synthetic material

brown or olive dubbing for the thorax.

Regardless of the species of mayfly ALL mayflies start to look the same in the small sizes. You can match up the colors but I think it doesn't make a difference.  You will want plenty of these for this Fall on the Millers and the Swift when BWO arrive!!!

We Need Rain

The EB is  low but still holds trout in certain places. The Millers, as I write, appears to be all screwed up with a massive release yesterday and an 87 cfs trickle so far today.  If anyone knows what's going on I would appreciate knowing about it.

Ken

"Reduced" Flies Low Water And Book Me

Snazzy coffee joints are popping up in some strange places here in Colorado as well as Montana, and although I'm an old caffeine addict from way back and dearly love the good stuff, I know that gourmet coffee is one of the first two signs that a place is about to go in the crapper. The other sign is a fly shop. - John Gierach

No, I'm not having a fly sale but would like to write about an old British Isle salmon style of fly tying. Wherever trout or salmon swim anglers may have to deal with low water conditions. Trout fishermen use smaller hooks to fashion smaller flies but salmon anglers had a bit of a problem with this. Their quarry was BIG and smallish flies tied on smallish hooks did not have the hook gape to secure a large fish.


What to do?  Well, someone decided to tie a small fly to a larger hook and the family of low water or "Reduced" salmon flies was born. The flies were large enough to entice salmo salar and the hooks worked. Now, some might ask why a tiny fly tied on a large hook would not scare the fish. Most of the hook is left bare (imagine a size sixteen wet fly tied onto a size 12 hook) and that should scare them. Well, it doesn't in the same way that a trout isn't scared of that pointed end of the hook, the end that gets him every time! Trout don't seem to give a damn about the sharp point or the exposed shank of the hook, just the junk that we lash onto it.

Check out the reduced black spider above.  The body is black thread that covers only the top third of the fly with only one turn of startling. The hook is a size 18 but the "fly" part is a size 22 and it catches fish.  "Why don't you just use a size 22 hook" one might ask?  I do but there are many who can't tie on a size 22 but can tie on a size 18 hook. Some can only go as small as a 24 hook but can tie on a size 20 hook with a size 24 fly attached. Do you get it?? 

A few years ago I wrote of catching some Swift browns and brookies with nothing but a bare hook with a brass bead glued to it. I was trying to prove that the bead was everything.  Now, I just read  an article in a fly fishing catalog of an angler that caught dozens of Christmas Island Bonefish on a bare hook!!!!!

Tie smaller flies on larger hooks.  It works!

August

August is cool!!  Maybe not at mid day but certainly in the early morning and in the evening. (I'm writing this at 5:45 am and it's 55 degrees). Darkness comes earlier now which speeds up the evening rise which is what real fly fishers want. The Millers is flowing at about 180 cfs which is fine with me.  The Swift is at 112cfs but may have additional water released if we don't some rain.  At 36 cfs the EB needs some rain. One can still find trout but the spots are becoming few.

It's been a good August fishing wise so far. Weddings, funerals and grandchildren have taken me off the water for a little bit but things look good now.

Book me for August, September, October and November. The last two months are prime brookie months on the Swift, New Englands prime brookie stream!!!

Ken

The Swift And It's Browns And Brookies

I asked the DFW guy a simple question: are there more pounds of native brook trout per cubic foot of water in the Swift than any other stream in New England? His answer was quick - "Yes".

It makes sense! Clear cold water and with the exception of this past winter, a stable environment.  In case anyone is wondering the brook trout survived the flood and are all over the place!!!!

The Swift has always had a native brookie population but not like it is now. One good reason for the obvious population explosion is that this river has accumulated tons of woody debris which adds nutrients to the flow, provides home for insects which trout eat and provides safety from predators (even brown trout).

Brown Trout

Monster brown trout become monster brown trout because of the special predator/prey relationship that they have with something that they like to eat and in the case of the Swift that food is brook trout.  It is a very plentiful food source and that is why we have browns that weight in the double digits.

Now these browns are not going to swim between your boots like the rainbows do. They are normally shy and secretive preferring log jams and brush piles to wide open areas of the river. And they love the cover of darkness.  Targeting browns is not so much fishing but TROUT HUNTING!!!!!  We did just that yesterday!!!  In fact, instead of studying the comings and goings of clonebows maybe we should be studying the successful brown trout.!!!

Goodbye Sulphurs

The last month has had some great fishing below RT 9 during what seemed to be a never ending sulphur hatch that started at mid day and then went on until dark.  You knew that it would start when the cedar waxwings would take to the air in mass starting over the riffles and then spreading up and down the stream. Those birds were so intent on eating those mayflies that they came close to flying into people!!!  Now it appears that this hatch is on the wane although it could sputter on for a while.

The Rain And The Other Rivers

The EB - 78 cfs (low but good)

Millers - 254 cfs (very good)

Yesterdays cloudbursts brought the rivers up and with cool temperatures for the weekend it would make sense to make a trip to the EB and/or the Millers.

They are still in that morning/evening mode and will be into September.  Three hour trips can work very well on these rivers.  Contact me for a trip!!!

This Blog is your only source of up to date fly fishing information for Massachusetts.  I write about the rivers, the flies and the trout and as an added feature that you will not find anywhere else I NAME THE RIVERS AND THE LOCATIONS ON THOSE RIVERS WHERE I FISH. Although thousands read this blog on a monthly basis I still find a quiet place when I fish my rivers!!

Ken

A Great July

There's an awful lot of water within day trip range of my house- many miles of it-and, although none of it is exactly unknown or un-fished, there's a lot of it that's overlooked and gets damned little pressure. I try to remind myself of that whenever I get to complaining about our declining and overcrowded fisheries. After all, most are declining because they're crowded, and they're crowded because they're on the short list of places where everyone goes. You know, the spots they'll tell you about down at the fly shop even if you haven't just spent five hundred dollars.
- John Gierach
                                                 
Soft Hackle Sulphur               

July was great on the Swift or maybe it was the pent up frustration of having that river spill its banks from November to mid May to the point of being unfishable except for the Y Pool area which got B O R I N G by December. Hell, I actually got used to fishing at 150 cfs instead of the historical 55!!!

I've noticed that some folks took my advice and have spread out and are doing some "far and fine" jungle fishing and from what I've heard (and experienced) those are the anglers who are running into browns!!! I've taken browns in skinny, bank side water that I thought were tiny brook trout by the size of the rise form.

The chunkbows are still getting it done and it appears that the brook trout are everywhere.  In short, we are lucky to have this river in our backyards.



August Bookings

The days are getting shorter and will get cooler and the EB and the Millers will be entertaining us again. Regulars like Gary on the EB and Bill on the Millers never left their home rivers this Summer and did well.  This is a good time to really get to know these rivers and not just the popular stocking spots.  Email me and we will set up a time.

Your Comments

Thank you for your great comments about local conditions and experiences.  I have called the Comments Section the "blog within a blog" and for good reason. Keep it coming!!!

Ken