Swift River Update And A Favorite Hendrickson

Well, I finally made it out to the Swift on Feb. 8th for a few hours. I believe that the flow was down to 314cfs that morning which was the lowest flow since the holidays. That was enough to get me out there. All told, I caught one small rainbow in two hours. I didn't see anyone catch any trout and from the high vantage point just below the "pipe" I couldn't see any trout either. Five weeks before I saw plenty with even higher flows. I think that the answer is that the prolonged high water (500cfs in January) just scatters the fish. The same thing happened in '06. Once the water gets down into the low 200's the "pipe" will attract them again.

My favorite Hendrickson nymph - a year ago I posted the recipe for the Hotspot, a fly with a bright contrasting band of color. The same idea is at work here. A standard hendrickson nymph with a thorax made of RED dubbing. It's all that it takes to set this fly apart.

Try it out and think SPRING!!!!!

Ken

The Millers River Sedge

The Millers River Sedge

Last Sunday, while giving a presentation on flyfishing the Millers and Swift Rivers at the Evening Sun Fly Shop, I flashed on the screen a favorite fly of mine. Some of the folks there asked about it. I call it the Millers River Sedge and it's a good searching pattern in the early stages of a caddis hatch. First, it's tied in the time honored wet style which I love. Second, it has the overall molted color scheme of many caddis species. It works very well in riffle sections on a downstream quartering cast or just dead drifted on a short line. I said that I'd post the tying instructions so here they are:

Hook - wet style, sizes 12 to 14
Tail - a few brown grizzly hackle fibers (optional)
Body - orange, olive, tan, grey (you name it) rabbit dubbing
Rib - fine gold wire (optional)
Wing - two matching brown grizzly hackle tips (not too long)
Hackle - brown grizzly hen

Have fun with it!!

Ken

Shed A Tear, Fly Tyers

As of the first of this year the venerable hook manufacturer, O. Mustad and Sons, has discontinued the manufacturing of it's flagship line of fly tying hooks. Gone are the 94840 (standard dry fly), the 9671 and 9672 (time honored nymph hooks) and the 3399A (standard wet fly). This, I believe, is only a partial list.

I have used these hook styles for almost 40 years but have also used newer brands/styles for the last 15 years. Frankly, I don't see a great deal of difference between them except that Mustad always had a quality product at a much lower price. Some of the new brands have a finish that is too bright for my liking. Mustud's finish was "dull" (which was good) as was their marketing effort which made them lose market share (which was bad).

The above "numbers" are etched into the brains of many of us flytyers who have been around for a while. These were the hooks used by many of the great flyfishers of the last half century. Their books always mentioned them in the tying of patterns which we use today. I can honestly say that I never lost a trout in 40 years of flyfishing due to a Mustad hook. All lost trout were my error. Thank God that I have a good supply of these old standbys but I will be scrounging around for what's left.

Mustad will continue with their "Signature" brand, an upscale, higher priced, questionably improved product.

Things Change.......

Ken

Learn More AboutThe Millers/Swift At Charlies on 1/25

See you on Sunday, Jan. 25th, At Charlie Shadon's Evening Sun Fly Shop. I'll be doing a presentation on the Millers River and giving some insight on some "over looked" spots on the Swift River that have plenty of trout and few trout fishermen.

I start at noon and with a presentation that will last over an hour. The photo on the left is one of those spots. Lots of fish and very few fishermen.

See you there!! Remember, only two months until SPRING!!!!!!!!!! Ken

A Millers Bivisible

This fly worked well for me on the Millers last Summer and did equally as well on the Westfield through the Fall. It was the "secret fly" that I promised to unveil in a future post but never got around to until now. So here it is.

The bivisible style works very well when you are picking your way through pocket water or any fast water situation that will sink a normal dry fly. In fact this fly, with it's palmered hackle and hair wing, is pretty much unsinkable. What does it represent? All of that hackle gives the impression of "wing movement" which makes it a good imitation of a buzzing caddis. Anyway, it works and here is how to tie it:

Hook - dry fly, sizes 12 through 16
Tail - brown hackle fibers
Body - grey or tan dubbing
Rear Hackle - dun colored hackle palmered from rear to just behind the wing
Front Hackle - brown hackle rear and front of wing
Wing - elk for larger sizes, fine deer hair for the smaller. I like a natural color.

I've also caught browns in the flat, calm water of Rezendes Pool with this fly although it really shines in riffles and pockets.

Ken

Slow Start On A New Year

The above photos were taken on Sunday, January 4th showing the Swift running at 350cfs. The photo on the left shows the "pipe" almost submerged in the flow. The other photo shows the culprit - appox. 300cfs running over the spillway above the "Y" Pool.

One can still fish below Rt. 9 but be careful. I actually saw rising trout in the eddy just below the pipe!! One blessing is that the bait boys have not attacked the place. The few I've seen have been striking out.

Time to tie some more flies. I don't like winter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ken

The Swift - High Water And Smelt

Well, all of this rain and snow has finally had it's effect on the Swift River. A month ago we were fishing in a 40cfs current and as of Christmas week we passed 250 and have settled (hopefully) in the mid 260's. There is, no doubt, plenty of overflow from the Quabbin dam and once this condition starts it usually lasts for weeks or even months. Check out the video clip above and then backcast to the clip on my 11/22/08 post. It's the same section with 5 times the current. I find that 300cfs is about where I call it off as far as fishing goes down at the pipe. I then begin to look above Rt 9 or fish by the gauge station from the west bank. The wading is much safer.

Just before I left one of the hatchery workers asked if I had any smelt patterns. He said the intake screens were full of them. That may have caused that massive, slashing rise I saw a half hour before. It certainly wasn't a rainbow chasing an insect.

Time to tie up some Joe's Smelts.

Ken