The BIG Flies Of Spring

 

Fishing in rainy conditions may make fisherman seem crazy to the great mass of unimaginative people, but then few fishermen care what they think.”

— John Gierach

Hendrickson/Quill Gordon Wet

We are closing in on the first of the major mayfly hatches of the season ( we are not talking about frenchies or rainbow warriors or gottchas but REAL insects). The first two of the major hatches, especially by size are the Quill Gordons and the Hendricksons.  First off, they are very similar in size and color and that is why they get mixed up.  The Quill Gordons come first and the Hendricksons come right after.  Both have the same color scheme except the QG's are a bit smaller (size 14/16) and have only TWO tails while the Hendricksons are a bit larger (size 14) and have THREE tails.  Both have the grey smokey colored wings. Old time body recipes called for a hendrickson body that was pinkish (urine stained belly fur of a vixen fox was the choice material- good luck with that!) color which will vary depending on the river.  Go with light brown fur or floss.  It works and it's easier!  Also remember that the QG emergers from the stream bottom WITHOUT a nymph shuck and flies away quickly. Hendricksons emerge and then dry off on the surface before they fly to the bushes.

QG and Hendrickson Wet

Tail - None

Body - brown uniflex floss

Thorax - natural rabbit

Hackle - blue dun hen

Note: Because of the style of emergence QG wet flies work REALLY well.

                                                         Hendrickson Emerger

 A mayfly, in this case a Hendrickson, is a beautiful and dainty creature as it rides down the stream   drying its sailboat wings but if you happen upon  this insect as it's    trying to bust out of it's nymphal shuck and break through the surface tension you would see something less dainty and more akin to a human trying to exit a mummy sleeping bag. The insect is stuck in this position until it escapes the exoskeleton prison or is eaten by a trout. This is the most vulnerable stage in a mayfly's life and accounts for most of the "rises" that we see on a stream. It calls for an emerger pattern that will penetrate the surface  with it's head and developing wing but still have most of the body below or in the surface film.

As you can see I've pretty much abandoned the "dun" stage of the insect.

Hook - size 14 dry fly

Body - brown uni-flex floss

Wing - short, fine deer hair tied facing forward   like  an emerging wing.

Thorax - rabbit fur

The Attack On Red Brook

Many of you know the story of this spring creek (a rarity around here) that flows into Buttermilk Bay and is one of the few remaining sea run brook trout rivers in New England.  It has been "attacked" before but TU and the Trustees of Reservations saved it and made it a public treasure.  Well, it's "attacked" again by a development project that appears to have everything from a golf course, a mall and a lot of uppity housing.  And it's a bit sneaky the way that it's being done because they don't want to develop the Red Brook Reservation BUT the land that contains the aquifer from where the water comes from. A large development could greatly effect this stream or maybe even dry it up!

TU and people in Wareham are drawing a line in the sand on this project and they need our help.  Just google up "Waders for Wareham" and you will find it.

I did a quick search on this project and it appears that TU maybe going this alone. Other environmental groups should be throwing in support to stop this project.  The Trustees of Reservations, American Rivers, Clean Water Action, the Audubon Society and the like should team up with TU and the concerned citizens of Wareham before it's too late.

Ken

                                   

The Road Less Travelled

 

 “We do have to think seriously about conservation now, although it is chilling to realize there are catch-and-release fishermen alive today who don’t know how to clean and cook a fish.” John Gierach

 

I find it easy to take a few more minutes and walk to a spot that I know will not be crowded. In fact, most of the sections of the Millers, EB and WB and the Ware will be devoid of anglers. "Two's company and three's a crowd" as the old saying goes but I believe that the best thing you can do for your fishing buddy is to give him or her a hundred yards of space to fish in although it's very possible that a piscatorial type or three will suck up that hundred yards in no time. Maybe it's best to just leave instructions to meet up at a certain place at a certain hour.

                                                   Swift Brookie

One can practice the Gierach School of Angling (crowd avoidance) even on the Swift although most never do and will gravitate to the CR above Route 9 or to the Pipe.  There is a certain spot on the Swift that I do very well at and never have another angler within 100 yards of me but may have dozens walking right past me so they can squeeze into a honey hole downstream. There are many places on the Swift that are good spots but are underfished such as the depths of Cady Lane where I spent many a morning and evening last Summer catching beautiful brookies and the occasional brown instead of standing in the Y pool wondering where all the bows went.

Book A River

60 to 70 degrees last week and single digit mornings this week. As they say "All things must pass" and April is just around the corner so book a day on a river for April, May or June.  The Millers, EB Ware and the WB await you!!!

The All Around Rod

It's a 9 foot, 4 weight with a medium action.  It will do everything that you want it to do on the above rivers and will handle flies down to size 30 with a little care.  Don't get sucked into that equipment black hole that will have you flinging rods that are too short, too light or too long. 

Ken

 

Up And Down The Ware River

 

" I like tailwater rivers, not because they offer better fishing, but because they draw  fly fishers away from my favorite rivers which are not tailwaters.

"Where is everybody? said my client for the day as we stepped into the Ware River.  "They're down the road on the Swift" was the quick reply.   And this is always the case. The dedicated Ware River fly fisher should be happy that the Swift is only 10 minutes way and it appears to be just too much of a temptation to hit the Y Pool and the Pipe and the crowds instead of enjoying a very pleasant freestone experience and catching a lot of trout.  Most people know very little of this river except for the Church Street bridge section and that's good for the rest of us.  Many have NEVER fished it and that included Charlie Shadan of The Evening Sun Fly Shop. That condition was rectified last May when Charlie took about 20 or so one afternoon.  He's another convert!!!

                                                        Charlie at it again!!

 

A River Of Bugs

The Ware is an insect factory, pure and simple.  April will bring out clouds of caddis followed by Quill Gordons with the best QG hatch I've seen in Massachusetts being right here. All this is followed by our friends the Hendricksons in early/mid May.  As you all know (YOU should know) the above hatches are all mid day Spring hatches with the hendrickson spinners finishing up by late afternoon. Summer has great evening fishing!!!

The Trout

Bows and browns are the game with the bows waving goodbye as soon as summer heat hits us. The browns will make it through the summer as long as there isn't a drought like last summer.  If the water level is good in the Fall we get fish again.

Book A Ware Trip    

The next three months will be great on this river.  Pick a day and we will do it.

Ken

"The difference between fly fishers and worm dunkers is the quality of their excuses".  Anonymous

It is safe to assume that outside of the major holidays(and sometimes even them) my fly tying is an everyday activity.  

There is no "fly tying season" for me. Each day starts around 4:30am (earlier in the Summer) with coffee and "restocking the shelves", so to speak or just experimenting with this and that.  As I've said many times "if I couldn't flyfish any longer I'd still tie flies"

Every so often I get hooked on a pattern or style and I'll tie up a bunch.  That happened last Spring with a simple grub.  I don't want to put a name to it simply because in my not-so-humble opinion all "grubs" are a knockoff of Frank Sawyers Killer Bug and that includes Walt and his worm.  This fly is dirt simple:

size 12 or 14 scud hook

Wire for weight on the underbody

Body -shell pink thread 6x or heavier

Thorax - natural rabbit

If you don't want the wire underbody then use a micro shot 8 inches above the fly.  That fly and a micro shot worked very well on the Ware last year.  Just keep it deep.  Yes, you can put a bead on it if you must. 

Al's Rat

This guy from Pennsylvania (Al Miller) came up with this very simple midge pattern.  I love it because it is simple  and simple is usually all we need to fool trout.

Hook - standard dry fly size 20 through 28 

Body - 8/0 to 12/0 thread in black or brown  Try to taper this body, thin in the back, thicker in the front.

Thorax - Al used muskrat, I use rabbit all in natural color.

Book for April, May and June

The calendar is filling up so don't wait too long.

Ken

Not Yet And Bead Chains

"Fly-fishing is  solitary, contemplative, misanthropic, scientific in some hands, poetic in others, and laced with conflicting aesthetic considerations. It's not even clear if catching fish is actually the point" - John Gierach

Top of the EB Access Road

We are all itching to get out there to the freestones which are the heart and soul of our pastime BUT it's still too early.  " Wait a minute. I drove by my favorite stream and it looked fine" one would say but let's look closer.

A lot of water in central and western Ma is still locked up in ice and snow and hasn't come close to melting yet which will raise the rivers. We haven't had a good spring rain yet which will raise the rivers.  March is known for being one of the snowiest months and that snow will melt and, you guessed it, raise the rivers!!!

Here is a sampling of our rivers showing the current flow conditions and the historical average flow for this date. March 6th.

Millers - Current flow - 493 cfs                   Historical flow 630 cfs

Ware -    Current flow - 120 cfs                       "             "   238

(The Ware looks good but the water temperature is only 33 degrees)

EB -        Current flow - 127 cfs *                 Historical Flow 281

(they are playing with the EB flow)

West Branch Westfield - 94 cfs                      "                "    143

Squannacoock - `111 cfs                                "                "     130

Assabet            -269 cfs                                  "                "    283

The Millers, Ware, EB and the WB still have a lot of ice and snow in their watersheds and even without added rain or snow these rivers will go UP in March and April. The Squannacook and Assabet may have already lost some snow pack, or never had it, and that is why they are running close to normal.

                                                          Looking at the Gorge

The photo to the right is of the deep part of Chesterfield Gorge on the EB AND IT'S FROZEN OVER!!!! I believe you may be able to actually walk through the Gorge but don't try it.

Here's the Lesson

It's way too early to hit the freestones and it's way too early to stock these rivers.  Yes, I know that the truck chasers can hardly wait so have them hit Lake Cochituate or Jamaica Pond for fresh stockers but don't stock the rivers too early.  We have plenty of time to fly fish this year.  BTW, if you are a truck chaser you're on the wrong blog.

Bead Chain Soft Hackle

 

Maybe it was John Gierach that got my head turned in this direction or maybe it's this nagging urge to catch smallmouth on a sunken fly.  In any event I've been banging out some bead chain nymph-like creatures for this Spring and Summer.

My personal best Smallie on the Millers went about three pounds (caught on a size 12 stonefly nymph) and I've caught a number in the two pound range without really targeting them.  I used to clean house on Wachusett years ago by slowly working a weighted leech on a sinking line. I think it's time for a pilgrimage this year.

Let's book a trip!!!!!

Ken

Dry Fly Evolution

 "I strongly suspect that much of what we believe about a particular fly rod has little basis in reality. If you're shopping for a fly rod I can think of no greater waste of your time than watching the plethora of "fly rod shoot-outs" that glut the channels of YouTube. Nothing irks me more than to listen to some dweeb prattle on about the performance pros and cons of two rods when he's obviously not a good enough caster to do either one justice". -  George V. Roberts, - Acquisitions Manager, Tail Magazine and Casting Instructor

A 21st Century Dry

It was about 150 years ago that some stodgy old farts from stodgy old England decreed that flyfishing  was a gentleman's sport and could only be played by gentleman's rules: "Thou shall only cast a floating fly to a rising fish."  If you don't we will kick you out of the club! To make matters worse they had the gall to DEFINE what a dry fly is: a wispy hackle fiber tail, a dubbed or quill body, a bundle of feathers for the wing and a few turns of chicken hackle on the collar. 

None of this really made a lot of sense simply because mayflies really don't look like those artificial flies. First, they only have two or three inconspicuous tail fibers and not a miniature paint brush sticking out of their butt. Second, feathered wings (mallard, wood duck, duck quill) are terrible at representing mayfly wings with that 90 degree turn off of the hook shank. Freshly hatched mayfly wings mostly tilt backwards and do not point straight up in the air. (I once was asked by a beginner tier why that was. My answer was that those old timers were not good observers).

The traditional dry to the right looks great BUT on these hard fished streams of the 21st century the trout are beginning to wise up. The great fly tier and fly fishing author Bob Wyatt realized this a while ago.  So did I.  My question as a young man was "how come I can see a dozen trout rising in this pool/run but I can't see what they are after?). I thought they would be after size 14 cream cahills."  The answer is yes, they are after cream cahills in the emerger stage BEFORE that fly hatches and rides the surface as an adult.  When we see a surface disturbance by a trout it's taking a fly just below the surface.  In fact, I believe the trout prefer that stage of insect life cycle.  Very easy pickings.

I tie my dries with a curved hook and no tail.  I want that fly down just in or under the surface film. I use buggy natural fur for a thorax and very fine post wing yarn for the "wing" or indicator if you like.  I have pretty much dropped CDC as a wing material except for special applications because it is too fragile for me and once it gets slimed, muddy or dirty it's usually beyond recovery.  Not very fine post wing yarn which is the good alternative.

Now, I don't think that I will change many minds with this screed (it took decades for me to "see the light" even when I was half blinded by it) but I may change enough to make for some enjoyable days on the stream. Remember, it's the emerger stage that counts, not the adult stage.

Book Me For The Spring

Things are filling up and that's good.  May is the first to go followed by April and June. (I booked one for September which is good too.

Don't wait!!

Ken

The Millers In American Fly fishing Magazine, LARGE Spiders, Plume Feathers And Beating The Crowds

 

"I use anything that's working at the moment," he said. "I've got fly rod tips that are broken, and mix-and-match rod sections that don't quite fit and are attached with duct tape. I only have one rod that's complete the way it came from the factory.

In the Keys last winter, I went through two fly rods in one day, the only two I had," Gartside said. "I rushed off to Kmart and bought a Berkley Hunter fly rod that sells for $19.95. I got it on sale for $17. It's a decent rod, and it caught fish. The Berkley Hunter is in the trunk of my car and I'm still using it." The late, great Jack Gartside (Kind of makes you think twice about laying out a grand for that ultra sensitive super rod that's guaranteed to make you a better fly fisher. Gartside is my hero) - Ken

The March/April edition of American Fly Fishing has something special for the Northeast fly fisher and that is a feature article on our MILLERS RIVER. The article was written by Christophe Perez who has written about the Swift and the EB for this publication.  It is not a cookie cutter, fill-in-the-blanks rush job that could apply to any number of rivers but is a story about the Millers River.  Just in time for the Spring season!!

Read the article and ignore the dude on the cover!!!  And no, he's not rolling a joint!!

Large Spiders And Soft Hackles

I've always had a thing about large soft hackle flies and by large I mean size 8 and 10, especially size 8. They have done well for me on the big freestones such as the EB and the Millers (and maybe the Ware if I remember to use one there) but I always thought that I was missing something until I realized last year what I was doing.  My BIG soft hackles were just a large version of my smaller soft hackles.  So, I decided to mix things up.

Basically everything is the same EXCEPT for the hackle which finds a good use for those way oversized hackle that every partridge skin has. Wrap the hackle on by the tip and DON'T peel off the plume or after shaft feathers but wrap them on too.    Don't think that the hackle is too large because it isn't.

This is a riffle, choppy water fly and works its magic in faster currents. The hackle really sways in the current and when retrieved has that stonefly, damsel fly profile.  It may even look like a small minnow.  It may even look like a small summer steelhead fly!!!!!

The fly in the photo is a large version of a Grouse and Flash and one can make an outsized Partridge and Orange, Purple and Hen, Partridge and Yellow or whatever.

Fish them on the swing or under a large buoyant dry fly.

Booking For The Spring-

The Swift, the Millers, the Ware, the EB, the West Branch (WB) and the Middle Branch (MB) are all on my list of  streams that I guide and fish on.  I know how to avoid the crowds (even on the Swift) and put you into fish while fishing on a beautiful river.  If you are tired of elbow to elbow fishing then contact me for a Spring or Summer trip!!

Ken