Fly Fishing Information On The Millers, Swift, Middle, West and East Branches Of the Westfield River and the Ware, and Mill rivers. YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR MA. FLY FISHING INFORMATION, the top ranked fly fishing blog in Massachusetts! WHAT FLY FISHERS READ!!
"So with time on my hands I stopped for lunch at a roadhouse straight out of my idyllic youth, with deer and fish mounts on the walls and Formica booths with cracked plastic seats patched with duct tape. I ordered the regulation hot pork sandwich on white bread with a pound of mashed potatoes on the side (no vegetables), the whole thing slathered with industrial strength brown gravy. The waitress who delivered this feast was a cheerful three-hundred-pounder, in case there was any doubt about the dangers inherent in a steady diet of rural comfort food." John Gierach (don't laugh. We've all been there and probably liked it!!)
Columbus Day Weekend - the last hurrah for many who do not have the luxury of TIME on their hands to fish when they want. Many think that the fishing ends right about now but they are dead wrong. The rest of October and November have days that are as comfortable as April and even early May and the water levels are almost perfect.
All the rivers covered on this blog have gotten their Fall stocking EXCEPT THE EB which may get something today. (Note there are STILL fish to be caught in that river). The Ware, chugging along at 14 cfs, actually got stocked. The Millers is at a perfect Autumn flow of 160 cfs, exactly where it was two years ago when I had the best BWO action that I ever had on that river. Arch Street in Erving was ground zero for that action as it is every year at this time.
The Swift is at it's low flow (my favorite flow) which means that euro nymphers have retreated to more forgiving venues and the Swift is left for the TINY FLY GUYS and for those who slowly work streamers. We will have fishing well into late November when Winter says hello and tactics change.
BTW - get your tiny flies here!!!!! The Turkey Top
I've always liked flies that have that certain trigger to them which is one of the reasons I've fished the Hot Spot for 15 or so years. That contrasting color in the middle makes all the difference. This was a killer fly on the Squannacook River in the big pool above the Arched Bridge in West Townsend. That pool became history when the dam broke and drained it over 30 years ago but back in the day it was the best Springtime spot on the river and this fly beat all others. It was the light colored turkey wing pad that did it.
"There's no such thing as a "best fly" or a "guide fly". After the hatchery truck rolls away just about ANY fly will work and everyone is an expert. Give it a month and you will see that presentation is King. The well placed fly wins every time. Remember, there are some fish hawks out there who only fish a few patterns but they catch the most fish." -Me
The Painted Brookie
I have a love/hate relationship with streamers. Standards like the mickey finn, with it's body of yellow and red, just don't seem natural to me because they are not natural (it's an attractor). Also, the wing material be it bucktail, fixed hackle wing (becoming rare these days), or even craft fur is usually too stiff and lifeless for my taste. That is why my freshwater (trout) streamers went over to Marabou about 30 years ago. It's action in the water can't be beat, period!!! But there is a problem. Marabou comes in solid colors and not too many of them either. I wanted to blend colors and that's where the use of sharpies come in.
The fly above has an orange dubbed body with mylar for the rib. The wing is WHITE marabou that I colored in sections.
First, a thin bunch of white marabou is tied to the top of the hook.
Second, a thin strip of white marabou is cut and then colored with a reddish brown sharpie (hold the marabou in one hand placing the feathers on a piece of paper to color it). Then tie it to the fly.
Third, Do the same thing with a purple sharpie and then finish the fly. I think it has some important brookie colors. A size 10 or 12 standard streamer hook will work.
Did I mention that I don't like the traditional way of fishing a streamer? Well I don't. I like fishing streamers like a nymph - upstream and then a high stick drift downstream on a short line. Most streamers are fished too high in the water column and too fast in the water. Little bait fish don't swim that fast. The great Catskill legend Harry Darbee used to imitate large stonefly nymphs with a streamer called a Dark Edson Tiger.
Go figure!!!!
Rain
From today (10/7) through Friday (10/11) we can expect an inch of rain. That inch of rain goes a lot further than an inch of rain in July because evaporation is low, temperatures are low AND the biomass (trees and such) is not sucking up all the water because the biomass is going dormant. October and November are great months to fish. Days are pleasantly cool and the weather is historically dry.
Go fish!! Need some flies. Look no further than here.
Attention To Detail: Maybe I'm nit picking BUT something was amiss in EASTERN FLY FISHING Magazine's Sept/Oct article on the Farmington River this month. It talked about the barbless only regulations in the TMA, " There is no limit to the number of flies you can use, but within the permanent TMA, all hooks must be barbless". This statement is right next to a photo of a midge that is BARBED!!!!!! - Ken
Micro Eggs
As of 4:30 this morning the flow rates are as follows:
Millers River - 77 cfs
EB - 20 cfs
Ware - 16 cfs
Swift - 114 cfs
And there's no rain to speak of in the forecast. We need rain because it appears that the DFW will still stock the Millers but the idea of fishing over freshly stocked clonebows who
will snap at anything (circa Fall of 2016) doesn't seem too appealing). BTW, read the comments section on the previous post if you want to help the Millers stocking TODAY or just to witness it. Times and directions are in the comment by Bill/Tully.
Micro Eggs are size 16 and 18 and are close to the right size to represent brook trout eggs. Fish about 5 inches below a micro shot. Last Fall I used these to fool big landlocks in the Swift.
The brookies are on the move and it may be almost impossible NOT to catch one in the 10 ich+ range and you don't really have to know where to go on the Swift. They are starting to show up everywhere. Be on the lookout for oversized browns as they are starting to make an appearance too. The browns will be chasing the brookies (I've seen this happen, it's wild) so bring along some streamers. The darker the streamer the better.
The brown in the net was taken about three years ago on the Swift. Notice the FAT body and what appears to be a tiny head. That's the sign of a well fed fish. You don't see eel-like big fish coming out of the Swift.
Here's another one below!!!
Stop reading and go fly fish!!!
More Flies For Sale
I'm adding more flies for sale on this blog. Many of the small ones (size 18 and smaller) are proven veterans of the Swift and the soft hackles work anywhere regardless of the size.
Ken, Based on your blog, I finally purchased a starling skin. What a difference tying the smaller soft hackles. Loving it, and I think the fish will too! Thank you for your advice. Truly appreciate this column. There's always a tidbit to be read that makes my fishing adventure enjoyable. - Bob O Scuds - to bead or not to bead
A funny thing happened over the last few years- I pretty much stopped using beadhead flies except for a small stash of bead head buggers that I seldom use. I moved over to using split shot, especially mico shot when I needed to get the required depth and velocity I wanted on that fly.
A new technique?? Hardly!! Let's explore some fly fishing history. Backcast to the 1970's into the 80's. There were basically two ways to get a fly down. One was to wrap lead around the the hook when tying the fly. It was effective in doing that and it was also effective in adding a real harmful toxin into the environment that also includes your tying bench. It also, because of its bulk, distorted the shape of some flies.
Lead stayed around until beads, of all sorts, stole the thunder. Lead is still out there but not like before. Split shot was in use for those of us who would HIGH STICK without knowing that we were high sticking. We were just fishing nymphs on a short line, with a split shot about 5 inches above an unweighted fly and we caught a lot of trout. Most of the time we were fishing at a 15 foot distance and many times even closer. In short, split shot worked great. Why was that?
An unweighted fly, 5 or so inches below the right amount of shot, is a very active critter, much more than a bead head which because of it's weight has only a jig like, up and down motion. The unweighted fly below a split shot darts, sinks, dips and glides around. Trout like that!!
Don't buy the story that it's harder to hook trout with split shot. It's not true. You will get subtle hits and vicious hits and you will feel them all and since you will be fishing a shorter line you will put more fish in the net.
The neat thing is that changing your strategy is a snap with split shot. Let's say that you are fishing a nymph under shot when you think that putting the fly higher in the water column would be good. Just dump the split shot and fish the fly unweighted. No changing flies AND you may not have the reason to carry so many flies any longer (you don't need as many bead heads)
Back in the 80's my buggers were unweighted but I had plenty of split shot.
Stocking Update
As of early this Tuesday morning (10/1) the only river stocked in the State has been the Squannacook River in Townsend, Groton and Shirley. The flow rate for the Squannacook is a whopping 8.6 cfs (just kidding, 8.6 is LOW) while the decades long average for today is about 20 cfs. There are other rivers with comparable numbers so maybe they will get fish too.
We have been hit with bone dry Autumns of three of the last four years. I've never seen this condition in so many back to back seasons as I have lately. Still denying climate change????
Your Comments
The quote at the top is from Bob O, a longtime reader of this blog. He, like many, will dispense timely advice and it is well appreciated. As I've said before the Comments Section of this blog is a "blog within a blog".
Not all comments are legitimate. I had one individual who would try to bury me in comments about the big fish he would catch in the Swift and how he would feel threatened by other fly fishers. He seemed phony so he got banned from this blog. Back he comes with a new alias and the same writing style that included some very strong words about some good Swift regulars. Banned again. Another alias with some strong words followed. He even tried to start his own blog (it sank without a trace), I don't know where he is because I haven't heard from him since late last winter. Maybe he's infected another blog.
"Elmer's most favored flies are uncomplicated and impressionistic: a few turns of thread or dubbing can go a long way. Hot Spot Nymphs in particular, whose colored thoraxes contrast with sharply dark bodies, have proven to be very effective". Christophe Perez as seen in EASTERN FLY FISHING
The Hot Spot - A Proven Midge
I first tied this fly up to fool those finicky bows on the Swift over 15 years ago. First, I wanted something that was dirt simple, just some dark dubbing with an eye catching light color for contrast. I like to work this fly about 4 to 6 inches under a micro shot (or larger depending on the flow) and high sticking places like the Bubbler, the Tree Pool and the Gauge run.
Also, and I don't know why, this fly works best in size 24 and that's how I offer it. It doesn't work as well with any bright, flashy colors but just a dark and light contrast.
Available on this sight along with other great flies.
State Of The Rivers Well, the Nissitissit River got stocked late this week so try not to stampede the place! The other rivers are running extremely low and I heard through a semi-official grape line that some rivers MAY NOT get stocked this Fall. The EB is running at 18 cfs, the Millers is at 59 cfs (they are even playing with this low flow) and the Ware is at 15 cfs. It doesn't look good except for the Swift which is chugging along at 114cfs week after week. This will be the spot this weekend. From today (9/28) through Friday 10/4 there is a forecast of approximately .85 inches of rain. That will help the EB and the Ware. The Millers?? Not so much.
Just Asking
It would be nice to know when the Swift River Rainbow Study (I think that's what they call it) will be completed and will the general public get a chance to study it??? I was also told that more electro shocking is scheduled for this Fall. Please stay away from the brookie spawning grounds or best yet postpone it until February or March to see where the bows go.
I Love Breakfast
Eggs scrambled with onions and peppers with a side of sweet Italian sausage does it for me. Don't forget the black pepper, lots of black pepper!!
A trout is a moment of beauty known only to those who seek it. - Arnold Gingrich
Scuds
We have at least two good months of fly fishing left before winter sets in. October and November are classic New England trout fishing months and having the right flies is important.
My must have flies are as follows:
Scuds - always a great Fall and Winter fly. Tied less bushy than the traditional scuds Sizes 12 and 14.
Pinheads A great midge fly. My top Midge fly below the Gauge.
One October afternoon a few years ago I took about 30 bows and brookies from the Pipe to the middle of the Tree Pool and it only took 2 hours to do it. Like I said, a great fly. Sizes 20, 22, 24
Soft Hackles The Partridge and Orange and the Partridge and Olive will give you what you need. Brookies love the Orange. All sizes work! Partridge and Orange are in sizes 12, 14 and 16. Same with the Partridge and Olive with the addition of a size 18 in olive. This fly works on all rivers and has been my top Autumn fly for the EB. Check out the video clip on my site called the EB and Me to see what I mean.
Swift Serendipity
Another great midge pattern that works the best in the Fall and Winter. I tested this fly about 15 years ago and took a 16 inch brookie with it. It's been with me ever since. Sizes 18, 20 and 22
You can order these flies on this site using the convenient PayPal feature. Minimum order is $20.
The Rivers It's beginning to look like 2017 all over again - a bone crushing drought that leaves only the tailwaters like the Swift and the Farmie actually looking like trout streams. There are some local fish hawks who can still work their magic on this skinny water (that's Gary) but even they would like to see some rain to get us back to normal. I would hate to see us enter early winter with low water because that's a recipe for winter kill!!!
The forecast calls for some rain today 9/26, Tuesday 10/1 and Thursday 10/3 for a grand total of .27 inches! That's not enough but maybe the weather folks will be wrong. What a difference a year makes!!!
Then in the mid-70s my interests began to shift back to simpler, more impressionistic patterns; flies that suggested insects or baitfish in general, flies tied with soft fibers that would move in the current like a living insect or baitfish. It was at this time that I tied the first Sparrow and other flies utilizing the soft aftershaft feathers found on a pheasant; also the Soft Hackle Streamer which (when you look at it closely) is simply a traditional soft hackle wet fly tied with a much longer marabou hackle thus allowing it to suggest a baitfish. About this time that I became friends with Sylvester Nemes, whose book rekindled my interest in the traditional soft-hackle wet fly. Since then I always carry a selection of traditional (and some not-so-traditional) soft-hackle wet flies with me wherever I fish. The late, great Jack Gartside
When you've been writing a fly fishing blog for 12 years and fly fishing for going on a half century (yikes) you see a lot of things come and go. Some things earn a place in our arsenal of equipment and others pop back up every decade or so. Here's a sample:
Junk Flies Mops, worms, green Weenies, rainbow warriors, - Upcountry Fly Shop and others call them junk flies because that's what they are - a concoction to fool freshly stocked trout. They are attractor flies that represent NOTHING alive in a trout stream and are about one step above fishing an Al's Goldfish! If you're still at the level where a good day depends on the number of fish you catch then go for it. If a good day depends on HOW you caught those fish then you have successfully evolved as a fly fisher.
(Note - a Mop Fly makes a great hellgrammite fly if tied with a gray body with the back colored brown with a sharpie. Chartreuse makes it a junk fly.)
Competitive Fly Fishing Is it my imagination or has this activity begun to fade away? It should fade away because fly fishing is NOT a competitive exercise. I would guess that a fly fisher would want to get away from the competitive world of making a living and enjoy an activity where the "trophy" is a trout and NOT A Medal around your neck. Is it true that they stock these rivers before the event???
Gastric Lavage (stomach pumping) Imagine a 16 inch trout sipping size 28 emergers from the film and it's been doing that for an hour. This fish has to swallow a lot of tiny insects to get what is called his caloric ration which is the amount of calories needed to maintain growth or it dies (trout don't go on diets). Now, Mr. Flyfisher puts on a size 28 and catches that trout and then goes and empties it's stomach to see what's there. WHY? First, youprobably already know what's there because you caught the trout. Second, you stole a good portion of that trout's calories for the day AND you risked injuring the fish.
Now for a thing I'm glad to see
No, I don't mean fishing "built wing" wets that dominated the scene a hundred years ago. They are a good exercise to hone your tying skills but in truth they basically represent nothing. What I'm happy to see is the surge in two things: simple wet flies as in soft hackles AND (more importantly) the growing popularity in WET FLY TECHNIQUES. Swinging a soft hackle that flows and moves in the current is what Jack Gartside means in the quote at the top of the post. It's what Sylvester Nemes preached in his groundbreaking book The Soft Hackle Fly. It is the most effective method of fly fishing because it works under any conditions. I've been beating the drum for this technique for years. I think it's starting to catch on.
A Traditional Wet Not a built up quill wing but just a few wisps of bronze mallard for the wing, a tan rabbit body with ultra fine copper wire and a soft blue dun hackle. Not a crazy colored old brookie fly but a somber and subtle brown trout fly. It will catch trout!
