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!!
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I hit the Swift Thursday morning around 11:00 am to toss some micro streamers (10 and 12), or some micro Bitch Creek streamers to be exact, to see if I could entice some bows to chase them. No bows but some good sized brookies came to play. They were all between 10-12 inches and there were 7 of them and they were found in or near the traditional spawning beds of the lower Swift. I think the run has started and my records state that by mid October we will be in full swing. They are already stacking up below the Rt 9 bridge.
Friday was a good day with my client Matt as we were the first (probably) to fish the Ware this Fall. The 38 degree air made the fleece necessary at 8:30 as we began to swing the reliable partridge and orange. We had four solid hits and landed two, a rainbow and a beautiful brown. The water level is low but cool enough to keep the trout active. We were also greeted with a decent Trico hatch which the newly planted fish totally ignored.
Then we went to the Swift, walked right past the Pipe, and went down deep into Cady Lane to catch brookies on dries. It seemed that the brook trout population down there has thinned out(as one of our commentors pointed out) as the "herd" moves upstream to spawn. That has to mean that the monster browns will begin to move with them.
Back upstream for a few obligatory casts at the Tree Pool, then lunch, then a session at the crib dam before the day was over.
As I write it is raining. It will not be enough and we will need more!
"I think I fish, in part, because it's an anti-social, bohemian business that, when gone about properly, puts you forever outside the mainstream culture without actually landing you in an institution" - John Gierach
NOTE: THE WARE RIVER WAS STOCKED 9/28
It is September 28 and The Millers is running at 77 cfs (below normal), the EB is at 32 cfs (far below normal) the Swift is at 133 cfs (above a normal flow of 88 cfs) and the Ware is at 29 cfs which is normal.
What does this mean? It means that we are exactly where we were last year at this time. The Millers was stocked last year on 10/7 with a flow of 90 cfs. We are close enough!! The Swift was stocked on 10/3 (it should be stocked NOW!!!) and the Ware got its fish on 10/11 and the flow then is what it is now. The EB got stocked in mid October last year when it finally got some water.
If you're interested the DFW stocked the usual Cape ponds for the catch & freezer burn crowd but the Swift has to wait. Go figure!!!
All we need is a day of rain and it will fix everything. My usual group of "spies" will be texting updates on stocking AS THEY OCCUR and you will know about it ASAP. You'll also get the rundown on fishing location by location, a service that is always lacking on the net. If you like crowds or solitude just stay tuned!
BTW, read the comments over the last two posts about the BIG browns in the Swift. The DFW surveyed the river this past Summer and they used the word "enormous" when describing them. Also realize that this is not a "program" that produces big browns like in Connecticut. This is just HAPPENING on it's own just like the brook trout explosion of the past decade. Do we have something special here?? I think so!
The soft hackle fly pictured above is the Grouse and Flash. (I tie it with partridge which may be considered a grouse in some quarters. It makes no difference). Nick Yardley, the inventor, claimed that it is a good caddis emerger imitation. Actually it imitates any aquatic insect that is getting ready to hatch.
Hook - wet or dry in sizes 12 through 16
Thread - olive 6/0
Body - thin mylar strip wrapped around the hook
Thorax - optional (use something buggy if you tie in a thorax)
Hackle - partridge or starling
Wrap the olive thread around the hook shank and then the mylar. The olive color will show through.
Playing with my new smoker. Smoked chops, zucchini and potatoes. Almost as much fun as fly fishing!!
Ken
"In every species of fish I've angled for, it is the ones that have got away that thrill me the most, the ones that keep fresh in my memory. So I say it is good to lose fish. If we didn't, much of the thrill of angling would be gone."
-Ray Bergman
As many already know I am a true believer in the soft hackle fly and have been a convert since reading Sylvester Nemes book The Soft Hackle Fly over 40 years ago. I love the tradition of these centuries old patterns and the simplicity of their construction. I've tied them as large as size 8 and as small as 18 and they always work. I've tied them with a thorax and without and have used partridge, starling and hen hackle and no doubt other soft feathers to build these flies.
My top Fall producer is the Partridge and Orange. Egg robbing rainbows can't resist this fly as it's rolled along the bottom. It's also a good imitation of the October or Pumpkin Caddis that is starting to make its appearance. Right behind the P/O is the Partridge and Olive which totally represents EVERYTHING but nothing in particular. Make sure you have some Partridge and Olives in sizes 16 and 18 when that other Olive starts hatching on those cloudy October and November days.
I saw a brown trout, well over 24 inches and well over 5lbs, grab a fly and then run into the backing while going airborne twice before breaking off. This event occurred on the Swift.
The Fall stocking starts next week, the last week of September, and will be completed by Columbus Day. You don't have to wait until then. The Swift has been rather empty of anglers which is a shame because there are fish there. The Millers has been producing too.
The rumor mill states that the Millers will get fish by the end of the first week of October.
"There's a story that the cylindrical deer-hair Bomber fly was invented on the Miramichi River in New Brunswick when a wealthy sport tossed a cigar butt into the river and a salmon ate it. You assume it was an imported La Gloria Cubana instead of a rum-spaked crook bought at a gas station" - John Gierach
The Millers is loaded with browns. The comment section mentions it and my last two solo trips took these fish. There are no drag burners here, just a good head of 10 to 14 inch fish that hit on the surface and down deep. A recent stocking?? No way. These guys made it through the Summer and are found at Orcutt, the Upper Trestle, Kempfield and in Erving Center and some have caught them in between. My fish were taken at mid day which was cool but not unexpected because the air temperatures have been in the low 70's, it was cloudy and the sun is at the same strength as it is in late March. Comparaduns in tan around size 16 and any soft hackle will do.
Don't wait until the stocking stocks to arrive and then crowd into the usual places. Fish now especially on a cloudy day.
The Swift flow went hog wild on Monday and the expected rain didn't arrive. If you like high water this will be your place for a week or more!!
New Stuff - 8 years ago I was selling my flies on this site and got totally buried in business. My full time, 50+ hour job took all the time so I had to let it go. I'm going to be back with this (flies you can't find anywhere else) and some new, unique products. More to come!!!!!
Ken, Thank you once again for continuing to educate everyone who enjoys reading all the information you have provided over the years from your Millers River guide to your routine blog updates. I find myself frequently going back to both as I did earlier this week prior to getting ready to hit the upper trestle pool. I hadn't fished it in over a year and couldn't remember exactly how to access the middle without taking a swim in the process. I managed to find that special perch, mid pool and had a blast watching 4 browns annihilate a Chernobyl ant - so fun! Also had lots of success swinging soft hackles in sections downstream from there, but the main point is that you are THE MAN! Keep on writing and teaching us because you can't imagine how many secret admirers you have! ......and now that you're free mid week, I am hoping to find a day to play hooky with you on the EB before it gets too late. Thank you, Paul
Wow, I can't believe it but this blog is 10 YEARS OLD this month. What started as a fragile experiment is now THE trusted source of fly fishing information for Central New England. Many people have been introduced to this sport through this blog. Thousands have gotten to know the Millers River, Swift River, Ware and the EB through this blog and through the Millers River Guide. Tens of thousands have gotten exposure to this blog from Boston area TV and through national flyfishing publications. In short, This blog is known for it's original reports and observations (no mail-it-in videos here) and for a comment section that is beyond reproach!!!!!
When I started this blog in 2006 the blogosphere (and the internet) was a different place. Besides a few "forums" and message boards nobody covered central New England flyfishing. You couldn't "hitch a ride" on another popular website - THERE WERE NONE!!! Facebook and YouTube were barely two years old and Instagram wasn't even embryonic. You had no help so you had to do it yourself. No links to "awesome videos". You needed REAL original content. In short, you had to FLYFISH the rivers you highlighted and then write about your experiences. And the purpose had one goal - to promote central Massachusetts flyfishing on a select group of rivers.
Many support my reporting on certain sections of rivers but there are those that don't. I've always felt that reporting on a good day on a stream and not mentioning that I was at the Upper Trestle, Cady Lane or the Bliss pool was like writing a restaurant review about a great dinner but not naming the restaurant. Are you afraid that if you do you won't get a table the next time around?? By naming the spots where I fish I PROMOTE THE RIVER and not just myself so someone else can share the same great experience. As I've said for years - I've fished and written about a spot all season long but I'm still alone when I fish it. But you're a guide giving away spots on a river!! Correction, I'm a busy guide who gives away spots on a river.
I don't use this blog to promote big-box-internet flyfishing entities and I don't accept discounts from them. I promote owner run, stand alone, fly shops, bamboo rod makers, inventors and environmentalists!!! Someday I'll write about about the fly fishing industry and the marketing slight of hand that's used.
Blogs come and go. Guides come and go. Another 10 years??? Why not!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your Comments - You readers are burying this blog in comments and that's a good thing. No other blog that I know of has as high a percentage of READER comments as this blog. As I've said before your comments make this a blog within a blog. Good work!
The Rivers -
You knew it was going to happen. The rivers kept getting lower during this "dry spell" (I don't want to use the word "drought") which means that the Quabbin faucet would be turned on and the Swift would go UP. And it did and I got to witness this 80 cfs increase first hand. The Swift is now holding at 129 cfs which some anglers like. Me? Not so much. I get a bit worried at this time of year because the brookies need shallower conditions for spawning. Last year we had high water almost into October and no fish were on the traditional spawning sites until the flow was reduced. This may all end on a good note if we get rain as forecast this week. Let's hope so and maybe the drought release from Quabbin should be readdressed given the spawning brook trout!
The Millers - They are playing with the flow at the dam in Orange Center. As I write the flow is an ok 155 cfs but it has been as low as 60. Even with this condition I've gotten good reports on the Millers especially the Upper Trestle Pool which has skunked me this year. The river has a lot of browns in the 10 to 12 inch range and they are working the surfacr.
The EB - A week and a half ago this river was at +200 cfs. It fished great at 80 cfs but the trout got spooky at 58 cfs. As I write it's at 45 and under 24 hour watch!!!! After last week I've got the EB on the brain because the fishing was so good.
The Farmington - Very possibly New Englands' best river but many people haven't fished it because they don't know where to start. If that's the case then backcast to my December 10 2016 post " The Farmington - How to get started". You will be pointed in the right direction!!
"The last thing you change is your fly" The great Lee Wulff
One cannot go to a river like the EB or the Millers during late August to early October and not see them. Large, long, dark forms clinging to stream side stones will greet the angler during his early morning fishing. This is the exoskeleton of the of the Isonychia nymph, one of the largest mayflies around and an insect that emergers all Summer long but especially in the late Summer and Fall.
This mayfly takes it's cue from the stonefly when it comes to hatching and that is the habit of crawling or swimming to shore and then climbing a rock to hatch leaving the shell behind. This act is usually done under the cover of darkness (they would be easy pickings for shore birds if they hatched during bankers hours) although I've seen them at dusk on cloudy days. Needless to say, the nymph is what's important to us instead of the dun.
These are the fastest swimmers in the mayfly family and seem to like to dart around especially at hatch time. Thomas Ames, Jr., in his book Hatch Guide for New England has a number of nymph presentations but I have found that a possum nymph colored black with a sharpie captures form and color. All you have to do is present it correctly. This swimmer doesn't get lost in the drift but swims and darts around. Make it dart around! This nymph is bigger than the Hendrickson. This bug is also a good indicator or clean, well-oxygenated water. Keep a supply ready this Fall.
This weekend - Let's hope for a little rain to freshen up our freestones. The EB has been great this week and I've heard good reports about the Millers and not from the usual places like Orcutt. Seems like the "regulars" are spreading out and that's a very good thing!!
What's the next step? Instead of shelling out big bucks for a "high end fly rod", which will not improve your casting, you should take a casting lesson with a casting instructor. Notice that I said casting instructor and not a fly fishing lesson. One on One time to review your technique and to "retool" you will serve you very well in the future and keep you from being a "one trick pony" on a trout stream. - Me on the importance of casting.
What a morning!!! Nothing on the possum nymphs because the flow, which was low, wouldn't support the drift. I spied the occasional surface rise and switched over to a size 16 partridge and orange and landed 8, all bows. More trout began to hit the surface so off came the SH and on went a tan size 16 parachute. End result - over 20 rose and 15 ended up in the net.
Make note of this: I'm not on the Swift or on the Farmington BUT ON THE EB fishing for god only knows how many trout in a river that hasn't been stocked since MAY.
Lots of fish and switching techniques to catch them is what's it's all about.
Do you want some of this??? Book a full or half day with me ANY day of the week. I saw only one other fly fisher in the 4 hours I was there = weekdays are great!!!!!
