Small, Lesser Known Streams And Florida Sun

"I liked the way I could gracefully pick apart a small stream with a tenkara rod and light line and I enjoyed the refreshing lack of clutter.". John Gierach

The West Branch of the Westfield River has been stocked

I love small streams and it might be because so few other people appear to like them.  I'm not talking about unnamed "blue lines" necessarily but small rivers and streams that may get stocked and are still left alone.  My Mill River in Northampton is one of them. Nice pools and riffles with trout but nobody fishing.  Even though I've written about it in the past nothing seems to change and I don't think it will now either.

Why is that?  There are a few theories about it.

1.  Small brooks and streams were once the playground of adventurous young lads who, as they grew, graduated from worms to lures and then to flies and then set their sites on marquee trout rivers BUT didn't forget the small streams either.   All that has changed because I believe that a large number  of today's adult flyfishers did very little fishing as kids and took up flyfishing because it seemed like a cool thing to do.  I knew one adult who said that he needed a hobby and it was going to be golf or flyfishing.  He picked flyfishing.  (If you have to pick between the two then pick golf. You're not ready for flyfishing.)

2.  Small streams don't lend themselves to all of the high tech gizmos and equipment and all of the god forsaken theories that we now entertain ourselves with.  I know of certain people that will not fish some very productive parts of the Swift because it doesn't lend itself to tight line nymphing.  If that's the case then use another technique!!!!

3. People get fixated on marquee rivers and feel no qualms about being part of the maddening crowds that descend on them.  Yes, sometimes the fishing is good but that's because the river is stocked very heavily.  UpCountry Fly Shop, a few years ago, had to tell the people that the trout that they were catching WERE NOT NECESSARILY WILD FISH because they had intact adipose fins.  30,000 trout were stocked in the Farmington that year with no fins clipped!!!!!

4. It's odd but some people actually like a crowded place.  Maybe it's the security of saying you fished a certain river which may add some credibility to your talking points.  Maybe that's the reason Gierach called many of these famous rivers the "theme parks" of flyfishing.

Most anglers that I guide want to get away from the crowds and we  do it.  You can too!!

Florida

80 to 85 every day

Pompano in the surf.  Surf deserted!!!!

Ken

How To Deal With The Plague? Go Flyfishing!

"Anytime there is a new emerging infectious disease that is shrouded in mystery with a lot of unknowns, it captivates people in a way that a regular virus that people deal with on a yearly basis won't." Dr. Amesh Adalja, MD, senior scholar at John's Hopkins Center for Health Security


The EB was stocked on Thursday 3/19

Before I go off on a tangent let's look at a CDC statistic just recently  published.  Between October 1, 2019 and February 1, 2020 between 12,000 and 30, 000 people DIED of the flu in the USA.  I bet that you didn't know that and why should you.  It's not that unusual.  During the 2018-2019 flu season 34,000 died and during the 2017-2018 flu season 61,000 died.  In short, tens of thousands of people die from these infectious diseases each flu season.

So, what should you do with COVID19??  Don't crawl into a fetal position and wait for the grim reaper.  Go for a walk, go for a bike ride or a run OR GO FLYFISHING.  All of this is still legal and safe.  Just stay away from close contact with others and WASH YOUR HANDS.

If you are a slave to the Y Pool and the PIPE on the Swift or the Farmie then now is your chance to explore some roads less traveled.

Most fly fishing is done on a few popular spots on a few popular rivers which leaves miles and miles of underfished water.  Those who read this blog KNOW that this is where I guide and fish.  I don't like crowds and I avoid them, COVID 19 or not!   Now, there are guides out there that will bring you to the most popular spot on a river and then leave you there.  That's not guiding and these guides do that because they really don't know the river either.  Fish with me and you will know the river!!!

I've included two photos of great spots on two famous Massachusetts rivers that are seldom fished.  These places are waiting for you.

Now, if you are sick please get well soon and certainly avoid close encounters of any kind.  If you are feeling well then get out there and fish someplace new!!!

Ken

The Unbeatable Comparadun And Book Me

"Forgiving Others is easier when I remember that I am human and stupid too - Justina Chen

Note: The Ware was stocked on 3/17.  Skip the Swift for once!!!

We can thank the Fran Betters for creating the basics for this style of tying and Al Caucci and Bob Nastasi getting it out to the masses. They created the Comparadun pattern, a hackle-less dry fly in the early 1970's that sent the traditional hackled Catskill style of flies on a downward slide in popularity and basically took over my fly boxes! It is the style of dry fly that I have used to catch 90% of the rising trout that I have caught. (hoppers, beetles and a few Wulff patterns are all of the hackled flies that I use and not that often)

One can go online and easily find the pattern and materials used but the main ingredient is the wing material. The fine hair from a deer mask is the most popular. I've heard that the hair from a Florida coastal deer is great but I've never used it. Shoeshoe Hare's foot fur also works although it doesn't give us the nice sharp profile that deer hair does. (that's why I can't stand the "Usual", a truly ugly fly)

Deer mask and snowshoe hare work great from sizes 12 through 18. CDC is a great wing material for this style in sizes 20 and under BUT very fine poly post wing material is better!  It's more durable and quickly cleans up after releasing a fish.  Now, why does this pattern work? These wing materials know how to float and the allow the body of the fly (the most important part) to ride down in the surface and not be obscured by wraps of hackle. It's simplicity allows it to represent any mayfly from early season Hendricksons to late season BWO's in the dun stage.

This style works great for emerger patterns as demonstrated in Bob Wyatt's great book "What Trout Want: The Educated Trout And Other Myths".

Most of my Millers Trout over the decades that rose to one of my offerings rose to an olive comparadun in Sizes 14 through 18. Same for the EB. I tie the emerger patterns on small scud hooks without tailing material.

Note: when tying very small dry flies (28-32) keep your bodies SPARSE. Too much material means too much weight and water absorption plus too much material gives your flies that "squashed bug" look. Remember, size and profile are what counts. Thread or fine quill will do the job.

Google up "Comparadun" and view the hundreds of photos and videos. I don't post videos by others on this site. It's a boundary thing I guess but I will direct you to them.

Booking It

Lots of action on this front and lots of anglers wanting to learn new water especially in Central Ma. I still have plenty of open dates but if history is any indication they will book up.  Schedule your trip now.  If you spend most of your time hitting the Swift let me show you the Ware or the Millers.  You deserve it!!!

Ken

As The REAL Season Approaches, Traditional Rivers And Book Me

"Hell, give me Greenwell's Glory and Campbell's Fancy, all wet and about size 12 and May on the Big River, and anyone else can have whatever else he wants. I won't need it" Sparse Grey Hackle on the Beaverkill River circa 1930
A Mid Summer Freestone Trout

Many of us have become slaves to the tailwater mystique, lots of trout in what can only be considered an artificial environment.  It fishes well 12 months a year and is mostly exempt from the ravages of flooding and drought. It also lends itself to mid summer day trout fishing which, before the creation of tailwaters, really didn't exist in the way it does now.  Hatches can cover the water with aquatic insects BUT these hatches do not involve many species of insects, only the ones that can thrive in a tailwater environment.  Tailwaters provide sport for fly fishers and they will always be with us.  I fish them BUT I prefer something else - FREESTONES!!

Freestones have a seasonality to them.  High and cold in early Spring, perfect flow and temperatures in the late Spring and early Summer, low and challenging in the Summer and Fall.  I like that!!!  One fishes the Millers or the EB differently in July than one does in May.  I've seen many flyfishers plying the Millers at 2pm on a hot July day and I knew that they would catch next to nothing.  If they waited until 7:00 in the evening and fished until after dark they would think they were on a different river - lots of hatching insects and rising trout.  If dusk scares them then there is always early morning, very early morning and by that I mean before sunrise.  One of my best experiences on the Millers occurred on back to back mornings in early July. I could still see stars when I stepped into the river which was alive with rising trout.  The fishing was great but by 6:30 it was over and I went to the Swift!
                                                                                      An EB Evening

The EB, the WB, the Ware and the Millers will be very fishable by April with Quill Gordons leading the way with plenty of caddis too.  These are my favorite freestones and they hold up through the Summer if you fish them at the right time (evenings or early mornings).

Book Me

I've found that many will fish a river many times but almost always in the same place (that even includes the Swift).  Do you want to explore some rivers?  Book me!!!!

Ken

Deer Hair Revisited AND The Trucks Are Rolling

"Soon after I embraced the sport of angling I became convinced that I should never be able to enjoy it if I had to rely on the cooperation of the Fish" - Sparse Grey Hackle

Everyone knows what the legendary Elk Hair Caddis looks like: big elk hair wing, palmered hackle and then the cut off stubs of the hair flared out over the hook eye.  The earliest of the muddler minnows did the same thing before someone got the GOOD idea of trimming the hair into a bullet shape.

I want a bullet head on my dry caddis fly like the one on the left.  I also want it to LOOK like an emerger like most stream born insects.  There are a few steps to accomplish this:

Hook - light wire scud hook size 12 to 16


                                                                 

Body - I use rabbit of any buggy color.  Now, when applying the dubbing stop advancing the dubbing material at just beyond the 1/2 way point of the hook shaft.  This will give you plenty of space to spin on the deer hair.  The photo on the right shows that.

Am I using elk hair?  I hardly use it at all especially on the smaller patterns.  Deer hair just works better!!!  You can also color up that deer hair with a good sharpie.  Do the trout like my colors? It probably makes no difference to them but it does to me!!

This fly represents caddis, stoneflies and most winged terrestrial insects.  Plus it loves to float!

Ponds and Lakes come first

Well, the stocking crews hit the road last week to load up the usual ponds and lakes with trout.  The rivers and streams (where it REALLY counts) will start up in the next few weeks.  Back in the Dark Ages (1975 and before) opening day was a colossal mob scene that I'm glad is long gone.

Turn your clocks ahead tonight!!!

Ken

Steelie And Shad Bamboo And A Better Flymph

"I have an idiosyncrasy when it comes to fly lines.  I almost always fish my 4 weight bamboo rods with a weight forward 5 line and my 5 weights with a DT5. That's because I usually use the 4 weights on small mountain streams where the casts are short. A weight forward line has more weight out front and loads the rod better at short ranges.  As I said, it's an idiosyncrasy.  The older you get, the more of those you'll have." John Gierach

Nope, I couldn't resist. I've got a mess of bamboo rods ranging from a 6ft 2/3 weight, up to a couple of  8ft 5wts and a few in between but what I really wanted was big boy rod to make long casts in heavy water for big fish.  The catch was that it HAD to be bamboo.

Now, vintage bamboo rods are becoming slightly scarce in certain sizes, namely your 4 and 5 weights but 6, 7 and 8's are fairly common because nobody wants them.  Well, I do!!!  So I checked out Rick Taupier's  great website, swiftriverflyfishing@earthlink.net, found a few candidates and settled on a Heddon Model 20, 9 ft, 3pc, 2tips for  6/7 weight lines. It's a beautiful browntone in excellent condition.  It's heavier than a 9ft graphite BUT it is a dream to cast.  In fact, it wants to cast itself!!!

This is my second rod from Rick. The first was a Swift River Sierra, 7.5ft for a 4 weight (made by Rick). This rod has been with me on the Swift since  2015.  It's a perfect dry fly rod.

If you want to get into bamboo then check out his site.  New classic models are always arriving.  He also has a line of very nice glass rods and like the bamboo they are reasonably priced.


Tweaking The Flymph

I've always liked this fly, an emerger for sure but a fly that didn't know if it was a soft hackle of more of a traditional wet fly.  I took the liberty of changing the body on this fly

Instead of a thin body and then partridge hackle the body got beefed up, (dubbing) the hackle was moved back a 1/3 of the hook shank and then the fly was given a head instead of just a knot. This improved the profile of the fly (at least I think so).  Remember, an emerging mayfly, with the exception of the Quill Gordon and a few others, is still basically a nymph until it breaks through the surface tension of the water and flies away.
this form of flymph just gives us another option.

Ken

Long Rods, Short Rods

"Never have a salesman tell you what you need.  You tell the salesman what you need and then see what he comes up with". - Me

7 foot Orvis Blank                                          

Back in the days of BG (before graphite) a rod of either bamboo or fiberglass rarely exceeded 8 ft in length and was still referred to as a trout rod.  At 8 ft rods of glass and bamboo, for the most part, begin to slow down, losing the crispness of the more popular shorter rods.  The "oddball" length of 7 1/2 feet was a successful attempt by American rod makers of the early 20th century to squeeze out a few more inches of length and still have that "dry fly action" which was becoming all the rage.
                             
                                                                                                                      7ft Glass Fenwick

My first quality rod was a 7ft Fenwick of 5/6wt and I caught a billion trout with it casting everything from heavy nymphs and streamers in the Spring to small dries on Summer evenings. I spent hours on brush choked sections of the Squannacook beating the overhanging foliage by keeping my casts short and low, and easy thing to do with a 7ft rod.

Then came graphite and before you knew it we were casting 9 foot fast rods that quickly morphed into 10 and 11ft rods.  These sticks work great on big water BUT not so great on the close confines of smaller to mid size rivers.  One only has to look into the trees that overhang  the Swift to see the miles of leader material, strike indicators and countless flies stuck in the branches to know that something is wrong.  First, it is not a stretch to say that the most popular fly rod length on the Swift (and the Squanncook for sure) is nine feet and that's the problem. Why is fly rod nation fishing a long rod on a smaller stream?  Better line control??  Give me a break.  Anything 8ft and smaller is easily enough length for a small stream.  I haven't put a rod over 8ft on the Swift in a few years now, using either a 7ft or 8ft graphite or glass in the Winter and then bamboo from 6ft to 7.5ft during the nice months.

The EB = Wide open spaces and longer rods

Let's look at the math - You are fishing a river that is basically a 100 feet across with a 10 ft fly rod.  Rod length equals 10% of that river width.  The next day you are fishing a river that is about 50 feet across with a 7 foot rod. You now have a rod that covers about 14% of that river's width.  Your line control should be better than the day before, right??  Plus you wouldn't have to climb and trees or bushes to retrieve your fly.


Rivers like the EB and most of the Millers and the Ware are wide open and allow you to use a longer rod. Rivers like the West and Middle Branches of the Westfield fish very well with a shorter rod.  Arm yourself appropriately!!

Booking A Trip

There has been a definite uptick in guiding reservations this past week.  If we can string together three days of dry, 60 degree weather I will be swamped with requests which is what I want.  Remember - first come, first served with no down payment!!!!!

Ken