Tying Flies

You're supposed to go through a series of transitions. At first you just want a fish, and since this is a complicated sport requiring some skill, landing the first one isn't always a snap. Once you're past that, you'll want lots of fish, then big ones, and then you'll want something like the difficult or the interesting or the beautiful fish, or maybe the fish that swim on the other side of the world.

Finally, you're supposed to see that the goal of wanting is to STOP wanting altogether, so you just go to the water out of curiosity and gratefully take whatever it gives you. John Gierach

As I've told many clients over the years I if couldn't fish I'd still tie flies.  It's creative as is sculpture and painting and it's therapeutic as was Ganhdi and his spinning wheel.

One gets a real sense of satisfaction in creating something that fools a trout!!

 

There is only one time in the last 40 years where I purchased trout flies and that was on the Farmington two summers ago when I left my box of freshly minted Needhami's at home and I JUST HAD TO FISH THEM.  That necessitated a quick trip to UpCountry to fill that hole!!!

Late Season Hatches

The nymph shown above is an Isonychia and it is very common on many of our pocket water rivers. This fly will hatch throughout the Summer but it appears to like that late August  through September season.

And it's a weird one because it likes to act like a stonefly by  crawling up on exposed rocks and hatching mainly under the cover of darkness.  Thomas Ames has seen these critters hatching at noon in the Fall but I haven't. The photo below shows the spent casings for this fly.

Your standard size 14 pheasant tail nymph will do the trick. Also be aware that this nymph is a quick swimmer with short, darting moves.  Also be aware that there is no logical reason why trout will rise to a Isonychia dry but they do. I've seen it on the Millers - size 14 grey sailboats just barely visible at dark. A traditional Adams will work here.

We still have the general misconception out there that Fall is the time for tiny flies.  It is if you frequent tailwaters but that's not the case with freestones. The biggest stoneflies of the year are on the EB in September and October.

Buy Some Flies

Need some soft hackles for this Fall?  Look no further. I have what you need for the Swift and the other rivers that I write about.

Browns Of The Swift, Book Me And A Big Dead Brown

Note: this is the big brown found dead on the Swift within the last few hours this Sunday morning 9/8/19

I was up by the Duck Pond when it flew by, a large osprey with a brown of at least 16 inches stuck in its talons. Later on that day a regular spies a brown of at least 28 inches above Cady Lane. I've taken more browns this Summer from the Swift than in any other Summer. A DFW employee involved in this past Summer's electroshocking said what is now becoming obvious - the Swift is becoming a brown trout river!!

It wasn't always like this. We had some outsized browns years ago but not like today. A 21 lb brown (there are many in the 5 to 10lb range also) isn't an accident but the result of the stars being aligned just so. That alignment involves a stable cold water environment (thank you Quabbin) and an ample food supply in the form of a gazillion brook trout.

That ample food supply grows big brown trout quickly and they are fat, healthy fish. (Have you noticed that many photos of Farmington browns show a bunch of skinny, eel-like fish while Swift browns look like weight lifters?)


A BIG Swift Brown

You will begin to see more of these giants as we get into October. They will follow the brookie spawning run upstream picking off as many as they can. Two years ago I was about 20 yards downstream from the gauge watching a pod of brookies when a monster brown charged through the pack. I knew he wasn't interested in my #16 partridge and orange but wanted real calories. I think I may have a good brookie imitation worked up and ready to go but that's for the next post!!

I'm starting to book up for October and November.  The Millers, Swift, EB and the Ware can be yours at the best time of the year. Because the days are already shorter my evening trips will go from 4 to 7pm instead of the summertime 5 to 8 schedule.

BOOK ME!!!

Ken

Notes On The Dry Fly

"When I die I want to come back as a Montana fly fishing guide" - Jane Fonda

(The above quote would keep me from going back to Montana)

Much of my instruction time is devoted to explaining and demonstrating dry fly strategy. There are those in this sport who have turned dry fly fishing into a form of rocket science which it shouldn't be. Let's examine the basics:

1. We either cast a dry fly to a rising fish or to a spot where we believe a trout may be. Let's concern ourselves with that rising trout.

2. It is a rare occasion where we see a steady parade of newly hatched mayfly duns floating down a river and being picked off by a trout. Most of the rises that we see are rises to the emerging insect that is in or just under the surface film. That is why comparaduns (my favorite dry fly pattern) and parachutes do so well. The body is in the surface film looking just like an emerging insect. That is why the two above tying styles have somewhat replaced the classic hackled dry fly. More on that later.

3. Always try to position yourself downstream from a rising fish or a place that you want to cast to when fishing a dry. Imagine a large clock surface and a trout steadily rising at the 12 o'clock position. You want to be below him at the 4 or 8 o'clock position. Why not 6 o'clock? Actually that's the worst place to be. Your leader or your line will land on top of him. At the 4 or 8 position only the tippet will be in play.

4. Fishing a dry downstream or down and across will limit your presentation window because of leader drag. Remember, drag occurs when the leader is traveling faster than the fly. You avoid this with an upstream cast but there are times when you have to fish at a downward angle. This is where you lengthen your leader with extra tippet length and throw a Check Cast above the rise. A Check Cast is nothing more than suddenly stopping, or "checking" your fly in mid cast so the fly falls to the surface amid some loose, uncoiled leader. Your leader needs to be pretty straightened out for drag to set in. This will avoid it.

5. Manage your line when fishing upstream with a dry. The line is floating back to you and you must constantly strip in this slack or hook set will be impossible. Resist the urge to throw a mend into the line a second after it hits the water. You don't need the surface disturbance and you will sink your dry fly.

6. Forget nonsense like "parallel drag" or "diagonal drag". Drag is Drag and the remedy is the same.

7. 90% of your dry fly fishing will be done with size 14 through size 20 flies which means you will be using 5x and 6x tippet. Don't believe that you need 7x on a size 14 or 16 dry unless you like leader twist.

8. Hackled dries still have a home in riffles and pocket water where they float well and are visible.

In 2009 I fished the EB from Memorial Day through September with nothing but dries and I caught a lot of trout. It is my favorite style of fishing followed closely by the swing of a soft hackle. Both styles represent a stage of insect life and I believe is a higher stage of fly fishing. A Millers regular once described what we now call straight line nymphing as "bait fishing with artificial bait". To each his own.

Ken

12 Biggies And Summer Is Not Over Yet And A Lost Rod

"Never Leave fish to find fish" - Moses 1200 BC
                                                                                   

12 Biggies??? That means one thing and that this month marks the 12th anniversary of this blog. It was September of 2007 when the first post hit the electronic streets, so to speak, and it's been going strong ever since. It, at first, was designed to showcase the Millers River but has now expanded to also cover the Westfield system, the Swift River and the Ware River among others. It spawned a lot of knockoffs over the years, most of which have sunk without a trace. Meanwhile, the blog and I have made it onto regional TV and national flyfishing publications. This blog has the combination of an extremely high page view count AND an extremely high number of READER COMMENTS. Without READER COMMENTS you are talking to yourself!!!!

How long will this continue? As long as it is fun to do I will continue. I can do another 12 years easy!!!

End of Summer????
I hate it when people refer to Labor Day as the end of Summer. If anything it's the zenith of Summer for all these reasons:

1. Daytime temperatures will be mostly in the 70's instead of the 80's or more.

2. Cooler days and nights mean cooler water and less evaporation.

3. Dusk comes earlier and for those who live for the evening hatch this is a bonus.

4. Water levels lend themselves to angling that requires more finesse and "trout hunting skills" than launching weighted springtime depth charges at freshly stocked trout.  This is the time of year for light rods, L O N G leaders and small flies. (exception: hoppers, beetles and ants and the great stonefly and Isonchyia hatches on the EB).  There's a lot of trout food out there but you have to be able to present it!!

In short, some of my BEST days on the Millers, Swift, EB and Ware Rivers have been in September.  Last year the BWO action on the Swift was some of the best I've ever seen!!!  So, get out and fish.

A Lost Rod

Backcast to my previous post and you will see a comment by reader BobO on a rod that was left by Route 9.  Just go to the Quabbin Park Ranger office.  They have the rod.


Ratatouille

What to do with all of the zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant that you've grown or have been gifted by generous neighbors?  Add some garlic (lots of garlic), oregano, basil, salt and pepper and cook it all down to that great Italian vegetable stew - Ratatouille!!!!  Make a lot of it, put it in freezer bags and use it in the Fall and Winter as the base for stews, sauces or all by itself.

Don't have a garden or farmer friends?  Go to the store or a farm stand. They're giving it away.

Sometimes I  add sausage to it or large chucks of a white fish such as cod and I've been known to throw in chicken.

I'll be doing some more of this before I hit the Millers tonight!!!


Ken

This Weekend - Where To Go And A Lost Fly Rod (See Comments)

"If people don't occasionally walk away from you shaking their heads, you're doing something wrong" - John Gierach

Here's where we stand for the upcoming weekend on our rivers:

The Millers - 145 cfs as I write. I would think that it's still in a summer mode. I've had good reports of every good evening fishing and one doesn't have to wait until 9 pm for things to pick up. Darkness comes early now and 7:30 is perfect. It seems that the length of the river is loaded with grasshoppers (hint).

The EB - 58 CFS  which is it's 70+ year average flow for this date. Look for good holding water.

This will be the last weekend of summer fun on this river as the swimmers and wading dogs will have their last fling (they seem to be gone after Labor Day. I would fish very early or from the late afternoon onward. We should be getting into the Isonychia season shortly so have some of those nymphs in about a size 14.

The Swift - There are brook trout everywhere on this river with many in the 8 to 12 inch class. They haven't started spawning yet as that is two months away so fish for them and keep an eye out for for the browns.  My best in August was about 18 inches.  I've seen bigger!!




Swinging A Fly

The rod was a 7.5 foot bamboo loaded with a 3wt double taper. The leader stretched out to 10 to 12 feet with a business end of 5X. The fly was a partridge and olive and dressed sparsely.  The cast was down and across using a gentle mend, letting that fly drift and rise in the current - the perfect imitation of an aquatic insect.

Euro nymphing fishing would never work here.  The current isn't strong enough and there's too many weeds to foul a weighted nymph. (I'm not making this up. The Euro guys have told me this)  This is a finesse game we play with soft hackles and it can pay off.

Cast across and down, mending the line as needed, and pay attention to the end of the drift as the SH rises in the current. The hit will not be subtle but more like vicious.

Sizes 14 through 18 make up the bulk of my soft hackles. I tie some up to size 8 that seem to work on the EB and an occasional size 20 although the tiny ones have that "squashed bug" look to them.

In theory any color combination should work as well as the next BUT the Partridge and Olive is my Summertime fly and the venerable Partridge and Orange will hold court this Fall.

Happy Labor Day

Ken

Back In Time And A Connection To The Past

I received an interesting email this weekend from a woman  who took special interest in a blog post of mine from December 4, 2017.  In it I reviewed the history of the parachute dry fly and of a novel hook design for the parachute fly by one William Brush of Detroit Michigan.  Well, it appears that Mr. Brush is the great, grandfather of of this woman.  Her comments are below.

It's good to see that folks are reading this from far away!!!  I think we all know more about the parachute fly than anyone!!!!!

Her comments:

 Unknown said...

My grandfather is William Avery Brush. I'm actually holding his patent for this from 1934 in my hand. Just ran into it while cleaning out some of my parents things. Knew of course about the Brush Runabout and his auto ventures but wasn't aware of this area of endeavors.

Kate

August 24, 2019 at 6:54 PM

 

 Unknown said...

Whoops, typo on my recent post. Make that "Great" Grandfather. My Dad's, Mom's Dad.

August 24, 2019 at 7:00 PM

Monday, December 4, 2017

The Parachute Fly - A Brief History

"I hate to admit this, but fishermen (yes,even fly fishermen) are basically lazy. They want huge trout and lots of them, within sight of the car. The tougher the access to a stretch of stream, the less it's fished, and the less it's fished, the better the fishing will be, all things being equal." - John Gierach

One of the most popular styles of dry flies today is the parachute style. This fly, developed in the 1930's, has been in and out of favor for decades and right now is riding a crest of popularity. Let's look at it's beginnings and why it's such a good style of fly.

Credit a young tyer from Scotland named Helen Todd who had become employed as a tyer at a commercial tackle house. In 1932 she became interested in an American theory that if hackles could be tied "spent" one would have a more effective dry fly. She accomplished this by tying in a "mast" (what we call a post) of stiff pig bristles and the style was born. Her company began selling the flies in 1933.
                                                        Photo from Ernest Schwiebert's Trout

Wait, there's more!! Enter William Brush from Detroit Michigan with his patented parachute hook in 1934. This brainchild seems straightforward enough. When forming the hook just leave some extra wire and then bend it up at a 90 degree angle to the hook shank. Now you have a stiff wire post to wrap hackles on. You also have a much heavier hook which will take the DRY out of dry fly. I actually was given some of these back in the early 1970's. I still think that hook would work with todays genetic hackles and fine wire hooks, something that was in short supply years ago.

Why It Works

Parachutes work because they suspend the body of the fly in the surface film instead of on or above the surface like a traditional dry fly. That's where the insects are, in the film!  Follow me here: You're standing in a stream during a good hendrickson, sulphur or BWO hatch, you name it.  Insects are in the air and on the water and trout are breaking the surface. Now, look hard at the rise forms. One would think that you would constantly see the adult mayflies disappearing in those swirls but you see very few. That's because the most insects that are the easiest for the trout to grab are trying to break through the surface tension of the water. Some get through, many don't and it's easy pickings for the trout. This is  the emerger or subimago stage.

A Better Parachute

Conventional Wisdom dies hard. We have been tying dry flies for close to 150 years and most of our mayfly imitations are our attempts to copy the ADULT stage of the mayfly which is not the choice stage for the trout. (Yes, I know that your traditional Adams catches trout but I bet you've witnessed some nerve wracking refusals as your traditional dry drifted over a feeding fish time and time again). It's time to change things up! If the most prevalent stage of a mayfly is the subimago stage then your fly should imitate it. If the Parachute Dry does this find the style of Parachute that does it best. Enter the Best Parachute: The Klinkhammer Style!

Why is it the best? It's as close to imitating that Mayfly stage as we are going to get. The "head" of the fly is poking through the water surface while the body is suspended below, just like the natural. That's why it's silly to tie parachutes with TAILS. You don't need or want them. Get that rear end of the fly down below the surface.

When tying Klinkhammer Parachutes don't get too dainty. Besides a post and hackle I use some buggy thorax material to give the impression of life and movement. (remember, the mayfly is busting through its nymphal shell. There's a lot of action going on there!!)

For those who don't want to tie parachutes but want the same effect I would suggest Bob Wyatts' DHE Emerger. The same principle as the Klinkhammer but deer hair is the secret sauce with this pattern. All of this is found in the Wyatt book What Trout Want, The Educated Trout and Other Myths.. Good winter reading!

P.S. Give yourself a break when tying drys by using the genetic pre-sized saddle hackles. Until they breed a rooster to grow one size of feather these saddles are your best bet.

Ken

Back To Normal And Book A Fall Trip

"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" - Bob Dylan

Well, they turned the tap off at the Quabbin Dam last Thursday dropping the flow from 110 cfs to 46 cfs.  Now, that may seem low (very low) to many of you but it's not that far from the historical average. Usually the Summer flow, without the high water "spikes", is around 69 cfs. This is close enough and it gives us a chance to do some "trout hunting", also known as sight fishing.  And I don't mean standing in the Y Pool staring at fish but going to "parts unknown" and studying the water.  Now is the time to explore!!!

I seldom fish above Route 9 except in the Winter because Summer and Fall fishing below Route 9 is exceptional and I mean all the water from Route 9 down deep into Cady Lane.

There are plenty of rainbows to be had either by drifting a wet fly or finding an active surface feeder and using a dry. My sulphur imitation failed me this week but the ants came to the rescue!!

It seems to me  that the brookies are beginning to stage up.  And they also appear to be bigger this year with a good number topping 10 inches. I can hardly wait until November for the real action.

The browns seem to be taking over this river below Route 9 with a number over 15 inches coming to the net AND some browns spied that are are measured in pounds.

I have been able to fool these guys all summer with soft hackles but that trusted fly will play second fiddle to terrestrials (your choice) until the first frost and then it's back to soft hackles again.




Booking Fall Trips 

I am booking already so don't get left out.  By the first week of October the Millers and the EB will be stocked and so will the Swift.  Fall is the best time of the year to fly fish in Central Ma with cool temperatures and good flows (except for last year).  Fall is the BEST time for tossing dry flies!!!!

Book Me

Ken