The Fall So Far, A Word About The Swift And Midges

 

I don't fish the really famous Montana rivers much anymore and when I do I usually hit them at off times - between the major hatches when, as a guide once told me, "there are fewer rising trout but more rising trout per fisherman" - John Gierach

EVERYTHING IS FINE!  The Millers was at 1100 cfs on Friday and is now down to 838.  That's high but if you pick your spots (Bridge Street and the RT 2 rest area) you should do well with weighted ANYTHING.  By mid week the flow should be down in the 400-500 range which is very good.

The EB went from 1500 cfs on Thursday to 162 as I write (early Sunday morning). It can't get any better than that!!!  I've gotten good reports of great catches on this river with very little angling traffic. Now, the fish were ponded up two weeks ago during the low water and the deluge of last Thursday will scatter them but they are still there.  Fish the EB!!!

The Ware

This river is producing and I heard one story of
someone with a 20 fish day.  That can happen but it happened after the stocking and before the deluge which means we will now have to work for our fish.  That's not a bad thing.




The Swift

Our Crown Jewell is living up to it's reputation and if you don't believe me just read the comments section of the last three posts.  It seems we are "dancing with brook trout" again  on New England's BEST brookie stream (stream born fish!!!). This river  is producing from top to bottom.  Sam, the "Boss of Bondsville", is getting it done on the lower end of the river.  BTW, if your "Swift Experience" is confined to the Y Pool and the Pipe you are missing EVERYTHING.  Again, don't do the same old routine.  EXPLORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another fact about the Swift - many if not most of our "flowing waters" that are large enough to wear the label "river" are saddled with Wastewater Treatment Plants and sometimes bad things happen.  Back in the 90's some company tried to "treat" an untreatable substance at a WWTP on the Millers.  It was a stinking disaster!!  In 2011 Hurricane Irene shut down every WWTP in the Deerfield Watershed.  Where do you think the waste went??? Even the Farmington has had it's problems.  BUT not the Swift!!  There are no WWTP on the Swift and my guess is there never will be.  The closest we come to a WWTP is the heavily monitored and mostly benign outflow from the Hatchery. WWTP  work well only when everything works well.

Midges

I've had requests for some tiny dry flies suitable for the Swift for this Fall and Winter.  Stay tuned this week for those!!!

Ken

The DSM Caddis And The EB Has Been Stocked

One of the most common items that I post on the  "lost and Found" part of this blog is the "lost rod section." Being old enough to remember when most fly rods were only two piece I can see that we have an epidemic on our hands. Thankfully it's easily remedied.

Most lost sections are lost on the way back to the vehicle after fishing BECAUSE we take down the rod at streamside and then drop a section on the walk back.  LEAVE THE ROD FULLY ASSEMBLED until you are at the vehicle. Problem solved!!! -Me


   
      DMS Caddis                                                                                                                                        

Backcast 25 years or so ago to a June evening on the Deerfield where the Cold River joins in.  I'm doing well with a few trout here and there but my friend Rick is killing them with a caddis creation of his. He gave me one, I liked it enough to tie some up and then promptly forgot about them for a few years until I had a good evening on the Millers with them. I even wrote about them in my blog and then forgot about them again.

Then my friend Lenny, the Patagonia Guide,. put on a clinic below the Duck Pond two Novembers ago.  "What are you using I said after the sixth rainbow?" "YOUR CADDIS FLY" was the answer. That's all I needed to make this fly a staple in my arsenal.

                                                                                     Lenny with another Swift bow

I call it the DSM Caddis. Born on the Deerfield, perfected on the Swift and it works on the Millers. It was the sunken fly most used this past year for me because it works with the soft hackle and peacock construction. It has a gray, somber tone to it just like a natural caddis.  Size 16 is perfect for the Swift while the other sizes work everywhere else.  Size 12 will crush it in the Spring and early Summer.

WORK THE RIFFLES with this fly. See that shin deep flow in the photo to the right?  That's what you are looking for.

You guessed it! I have these flies for sale!!!!!


Rain is on the way

It will start by late afternoon and continue through a lot of Thursday with a good 2 inches of much need rain.  It will not effect the swift but the Millers, Ware and the EB will benefit.  It will certainly improve the fishing. Now, I mentioned the EB which hasn't gotten a Fall stocking.  THERE ARE STILL FISH THERE so go get 'em!!!

Ken

Deep Into Brookies

"All a trout really needs to know is that anything that moves is either food or danger.  If it's big and moving, it's probably dangerous, so flee.  If it's moving and small enough to eat, chow down. They can learn from their mistakes to a certain extent, but to a trout, if something looks like a bug and acts like a bug, it's probably a bug.  It's a good thing, too, or we'd never catch them".- John Wyatt

The seasonal show has begun.  The Swift is center stage for the best run of brook trout in New England. Where else can you fish for and catch brook trout in the 6 to 20 inch range and have a shot at hooking, but not necessarily landing an 8lb+ brown?  Oh, I almost forgot. There are some hefty bows stocked recently. (bows come in third on the list on a typical Swift Autumn)

Eggs work and the smaller the better. My Micro Eggs are tied on size 16 and 18 hooks and are drifted about 4 inches below a micro shot. It is the perfect egg pattern when going after egg robbing bows in very skinny water. Under these conditions the "take" is always visual and is such a fly fishing rush.  We easily have another month of this action out there so don't delay.  Note: Cady Lane drops off a bit as the spawning season continues because the mass of fish have moved upstream.

Midge Action

October may be the best month on the Swift for midges in my-not-so-humble-opinion. My Pinhead was born in October years ago on a day when I could not keep the trout off of the fly. Any spot that was marked by fairly shallow riffles was ground zero especially below the Pipe. Note- the Pipe flushes in a constant stream of midges that originate at the tail end of the hatchery.  Fish with a micro shot or a micro shot and a tiny indicator.  It will work!!!

The Millers

A major traffic accident on Route 2 on Saturday cut down access to areas along the Millers but if you found the river you may have done well.  flows are good and trout (browns) are hitting the surface.  It's shaping up to be a very good Fall on this river.


In the comment section of the last post you will read of one angler knocking it out of the park up in the Bears Den with Partridge and Orange soft hackles.  If you run low I have them.

Ken

The Big Weekend And An Old Fly

"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.

It is dirt easy to tie:

size 12 or 14 wet fly hook

grey hackle barbs for the tail

body is grey dubbing

soft grey hackle

Turkey quill on the top

Happy Columbus Day Weekend

t

The Painted Fly & The Swift is Stocked

"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.

Ken

River Update, Flies For Sale, And The Millers Got Its Browns 10/4

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

Beadheads Or Split Shot (The Deerfield was stocked 10/2, Millers to be stocked 10/4. See Comments

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.

Ken